Full House, Full Laughs: Honest Liars Bring the Heat to a Chilly June Night

It may have been a cold winter’s evening on 7 June, but inside Tauranga’s 16th Ave Theatre, the temperature rose fast, not least because the Honest Liars kicked things off at a strip club.

The improv comedy troupe turned out in full force for another riotous show, and so did the audience. Near-capacity ticket sales were boosted by enthusiastic walk-ins, making for a packed house that buzzed with energy before the first scene even began.

The audience favourite game, Pocket Note, took place in the world’s most hilariously budget strip club, with Jon and Mark baring all (creatively, of course) as strippers, and Sally playing a very enthusiastic patron. Armed with hidden audience-supplied lines like “talk louder,” “please release me, let me go,” and the cryptic “never grow a moustache,” the trio oiled up and jandal-shimmied their way through a scene that had everyone gasping with laughter.

Check out a wee snippet:

Next up was the ever-popular Dating Game, featuring Kathy as the glamorous and wanting a new husband, Melanka. Her options were… colourful, to say the least. Mark played a suspiciously proud rectal surgeon, Ian had a tender obsession with keeping scrotums warm, and Ryan was mid-transformation into a dinosaur. Through carefully probing questions (and a few double entendres), Melanka made her pick. We won’t spoil who she chose — but let’s just say Jurassic love might be in the air.

After the interval, the players rolled into Sex With Me, the audience-suggestion game that guarantees both groans and giggles. The suggestion? Making coffee. What followed was a parade of caffeine-fuelled innuendo. From “sex with me is like a short white” to “sex with me — the ones you buy are so much better than the one at home,” the cast had the audience howling with laughter.

Then came The Cube, a storytelling game that crammed four wild narratives into one rotating scene. The audience’s suggestions? “Not your Dad,” “Cannibal Party,” “Spiders,” and — brace yourself — “Dildo.” The standout moment had to be young Ian announcing to his on-stage mum that he’d landed the role of Dildo Baggins. The moment of dawning horror on Mum’s face was pure improv gold. The newest player in the Honest Liars troupe, Shawn, was scared of spiders, but Sally demonstrated how to squash them. Shawn did an excellent job!

The night wrapped with a final round of Twitch, a fan-favourite game that brought everyone together for one last round of glorious chaos.

As always, the Honest Liars delivered comedy mayhem with quick wits, wild characters, and more one-liners than you could shake a jandal at. The theatre rang with laughter long after the final bow.

And then, as all good clowns must, the players packed up their props, wiped off the glitter (figuratively speaking), and went home, leaving behind a room full of the memories of grinning faces and sore cheeks (the smiling kind, of course).

Thanks to players

Jon & MC Steve Kathy & MC Sally

Shawn Mark Ian Ryan

Thanks to
Admin: Fee
Sound engineer: Anthony.

Book your tickets for the next show and join the players for loads of laughs.

1^st Saturday of every month.
16th Ave Theatre.
16th Avenue, Tauranga.
Show Starts: 7.30 p.m.
Licenced bar available.