Two newcomers, who also both happen to be from foreign shores, decide to tell a Kiwi audience the origins of a quintessentially Kiwi classic, the humble Pavlova? This should be interesting.

The audience, no matter whether 20 minutes early or walking in part way through the show, are met by the very inviting Sandra Pace and Loud Jess. Sidebar – If you were a Kiwi coming into the venue before kick-off, Jess may have given you a grilling, and Sandra a hug, but that was just part of the fun that created a true audience experience show.

This is more than just a show that combines two comedians doing some great comedy about their time and experiences in Aotearoa/New Zealand and their views as people who have chosen to live here. It gives us an intimate insight into why they chose the Land of the Long White Cloud (or was it something else?). Why they stayed, and how happy they are to be here.

Very little is left unpacked within each of these eloquent comedian’s pieces, during which there is a generous amount of interplay between the pair and a respectful amount of solo time given to each other’s performance time. From how much tackle one had enjoyed, to a tackle that came from familial experience, these two intertwined their tales artfully, wistfully, and with a cohesion that might have come from years, not months, of having worked together.

There’s not a lot of crowd work involved and uninvited interruption is dealt with deftly and professionally however, audience participation was encouraged throughout the show by the use of prompt boards with slogans such as “Yeah Nah”, “Nah Yeah,” Boo” and a couple of more choice words which peppered like a well-added condiment to a dish that was served hot and at times, pretty bloody juicy!

There were a couple of moments where one or the other would help to guide the show back on track, but this didn’t detract from the experience and made the show more off-the-cuff and less rehearsed.

Singularly these two are fireworks but collectively they create a show that sparked the audience passionately regardless of their origin. The use of under-seat props, just like the big shows do, was a brilliant way to again bring the audience to why the pair was on stage tonight.

To answer a longstanding question between us ANZAC people. Who created the Pavlova?

Final show, May 17^th , 7PM at The Basement Theatre Studio.

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