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Author: hlimprovers

Another Comedy Improv Full House

Another Comedy Improv Full House

People had booked early for the comedy improv night, and with the walk-ins, it proved to be another full house for the laughs that followed.

Yes, the rain came, but so did the audience and the players were definitely ramped up and ready for another SHOWTIME!

To get the players into the swing of comedic genius, the first ‘practice’ game of ‘Categories’ had some rather good suggestions from the audience. The Pets category had dubious ones, such as tarantula and children, but the “hedgehog” flavour was booed off in the ice cream category. The audience enjoyed the answer of “Camilla Parker-Bowles” in the category of Accessories, and the player could stay for another round.

Once again, the audience came up with some great lines for the ‘Pocket Note’ game, such as: “This is my first time” and “This is hot”. They all played into the story as the players investigated a dog’s murder. The fact that there was a pregnant woman, a dead chihuahua and the investigator was a priest does make you wonder how the players come up with a story that flows. Aptly enough, the very last note picked up ended the game perfectly – it read, “I killed my dog”.

comedy improv pocket note

‘Improvisers Anonymous’ is a great game where one of the players leaves the room, and the audience suggests what the IA meeting is about and what their addiction is. The player then returns and has to guess. This time, the addiction was putting on socks.

In ‘Press Conference’, Jon and Ryan had to guess who they worked for and what the company had done. They did this by having the rest of the players in the audience and being members of the press. The suggestion was that Netflix and streamed an orgy on the children’s channel.

After they had apologised, the first question was asking if this was an attempt to stop putting on political ads. Then, Jack Johnson from Child Psychology magazine asked if they had plans to offer trauma therapy. A preschool teacher also asked them if it was deliberate that they replaced Teenage Ninja Turtles with such graphic imagery.

It didn’t take too long for the players to get that it was pornography and then, a moment later, twigged that it was Netflix.

improv comedy press conference

The bar was busy during intermission, and then it was back into the laughter.

‘The Returns Desk’, a new game, saw Jon operating a desk where people bring back faulty items. The key is that each player has no idea what the article (suggested by the audience) is, which meant Jon must give them clues. They only knew that the three items were small, medium and large. Enjoy the video!

 

‘Sign Language Interpreter’ had Kelly doing the interpretation of an interview. Jon had on his show the esteemed professor who taught alligators endurance running. Just how he taught them was definitely left field, and it had Kelly running in circles.

comedy improv

The show finished with another outstanding game of ‘Twitch’. Jon was interviewing for the position of Toilet Cleaner. The twitching candidates ranged from only cleaning their home toilet, prison toilet cleaner and another who was simply a fan of toilets. Jon ended up twirling, sniffing and making pirate noises amongst other brilliant twitches, much to the audience’s delight.

Many stayed on for drinks after the show and got to know the players; then it was lights out and time to wander home after another very successful Honest Liars Improv performance.

Thanks to players

Kathy
Ian
Steve
Ryan
Mark
Kelly

Thanks to

  • Emcee: Jon
  • Crew: Fee
  • Sound engineer: Henare.

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

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

book now

Laughing Through the Roadworks.

Laughing Through the Roadworks.

Cameron Road was certainly a mish-mash of cones and one-way side roads but didn’t seem to deter the players, and they navigated their way to the theatre.

At least the evening was fine, not too cold and a perfect night for playing improv games.

Showtime began with the usual warmup game of ‘Categories’. All players flexed their brain power and dug into their memories to find articles to put into the Board Games, Cars and Lollies categories. Then it was straight onto the main games starting with the favourite, ‘Pocket Note’.

This riotous game saw Mark, Ian and Sally in Pac ‘n Save with quite the dilemma. Little green men had left copious amounts of slime in aisle 12, but no one seemed to want to clean it up. A quick look:

 

A brand new game was introduced, ‘He Said, She Said,’ where Jon and Kathy gave each other stage directions while still keeping the story advancing – (which was harder than you’d think). Jon was trying to convince Kathy to build a giant moose in which they’d hide. When the enemy had dragged it inside the walls, they would then be able to come out of the moose and kill them. It wasn’t until Jon agreed to put a bar inside that Kathy agreed. Needless to say, they never did get in to kill the barbarians!

 

A round of hilarious games followed with ‘Rant & Rave’ discussing the good and bad sides to physical education in schools, and the ‘Clap Game’ and the ‘Good, the Bad and the Ugly’ having the audience in fits of laughter with the great one-liners and storytelling from the players.

The ‘Dating Game’ saw Cleo, a crazy cat lady, firing questions at Mike Tyson, a man with the hobby of removing haemorrhoids and a woman with explosive diarrhoea. It was a no-brainer for Cleo, who chose Mike Tyson for her date because she loves a man who packs a punch.

improv the dating game

The ‘Foreign Film Dub’ was the 1948 French classic ‘Possible Heart Break’. However, the translations given by Ian and Sue certainly twisted and turned the story in all sorts of directions, from Bunnings to divorce.

Time for a game that hadn’t been played for a long time, the ‘Alphabet Game’. Fee and Kevin were charged with stealing the Pope from the Vatican, but where exactly was he?

The show ended with another classic, this time seeing Sue interviewing for an environmental assistant. ‘The Twitch’ is a game where the interviewer takes on the mannerisms of the interviewees, making it one of the more dramatically physical but funny games in the show. Sue did a stellar job adding each twitch which range from a simple “Ah” and pointing to running around the chair while saying, “I’ll be back”.
improv comedy
Another cracker night of comedy with the funny bones definitely on show for all to laugh at. The audience members certainly enjoyed the night.

Thanks to players

Kathy
Ian
Jon – MC
Sally
Mark
Kevin
Sue

Thanks to

Crew: Fee
Sound engineer: Anthony.

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

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

book now

Improv on a Winter’s Night

Improv on a Winter’s Night

It was a cold winter’s night when the Honest Liars arrived to play improv games and entertain the crowd.

Cameron Road was in full swing with road works, and they had finally reached 16th Avenue cutting the entrance off. Some stressful moments for the players finding ways to get to the theatre, but no ‘Road Closed’ sign was going to deter them – or, as it turned out, audience members from having a good laugh.

The heat pump was cranked up, and the bar opened when the first patrons arrived, and it wasn’t long before a near-capacity crowd were seated with drinks in hand, ready for the show. The lights dimmed, and stage lights came up as Matt, the emcee, welcomed everyone with blistering comedy before the Honest Liars players ran onto the stage.

A couple of ‘Categories’ rounds warmed up the players, getting their brains switched into improv mode before the games began.

‘Pocket Note’ saw Ian and Sue planning a wedding in a cemetery. An excellent spot for Goths to gather. However, not all was as it seemed because Mark, the best man after one pocket note, declared he fancied the groom. To begin with, Ian was adamant there was nothing at all amiss, but as the story progressed, it became obvious that he and the best man were more than just friends. Needless to say, the marriage was off.

Improv Pocket Note

Kelly, once again, became the ‘Sign Language Interpreter’ as Mark interviewed Ian about his ability to teach otters to knit. The dialogue between them had Kelly in all sorts of weird and wonderful contortions.

It’s no wonder this game is a crowd favourite.

In the ‘Dating Game’, Steve had the option of going out with Tina Turner (Sue), Brett, a politician morphing into a human or Kelly, whose profession was anal bleaching. After a few questions and guessing everyone, he decided that Kelly would be his best bet, although he did ask if he could also take Tina.

Improv dating game

The players then lined up in pairs for the ‘Clap’ game. And to be clear, that’s when the players must steal a line by clapping!

The scenes were set with Mark and Brett having Bangkok as their topic, Jon and Steve with ‘shit my pants’, and Sue and Kelly with ‘elephant’.

The stories went from one drunken night in Bangkok ending up in jail, shitty pants being put on a ceiling fan and spraying the room, and an elephant breaking down the front door and squashing Grandma.

Mark, Jon, and Sue were all attending ‘Improvisers Anonymous as they were addicted to brushing their teeth. Ian was the newcomer, and had to guess why he was there…. take a look at the video.

The last game of the night was ‘The Twitch’. This is a game that puts the emcee in the hot seat. So Matt was interviewing for an actor for his porn movie. Each person that arrived had a twitch, and Matt added the twitch to each interview. By the time it was over, he had six twitches (some with verbal additions) that he had to remember. The audience roared with laughter.

On that high note, the show ended, and everyone went home happy. The players had a drink to wind down before wandering off, satisfied they had enjoyed another round of improv games.

Thanks to players

Brett
Ian
Jon
Kelly
Mark
Steve
Sue
Matt – MC

Thanks to

Crew: Fee
Sound engineer: Anthony.

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

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

book now

Coronation Night Show

Coronation Night Show

Yes, the Honest Liars gave a capacity audience a stellar performance in their coronation night show.

It certainly was a right Royal occasion, and the players were in high spirits as the theatre filled up to the brim with an extremely receptive audience.

The lights went down as people settled into their seats with drinks in hand, and then seemingly out of nowhere, in came the ghost of the late Queen. As she’d not been invited to the Coronation, nor did she think there was anything decent on telly (her words), she’d accepted the call to emcee the improv show. And it didn’t take long for the audience to get their laughing mojos well and truly in place. Click the video:

 

‘Categories’ warmed up the players as they battled to win the top spot for the most knowledge on chocolates and viruses. No surprise that the Dr amongst the players won the virus battle.

The first, and always popular, game of ‘Pocket Note’ started the show off with triplets out on a school trip to Buckingham Palace. These three kids had to work into the scene sentences like “He likes it when you stroke his ears”, “The summer of my discontent”, and “Candle in the wind”, along with several others. But when Ryan told his brothers that there was an inscription on the back of the throne which read (picking up a note) “the view’s no good from here”, the audience erupted when Ian quipped “, must have been looking at Camilla”. The boys managed to return to the bus and head home after an eventful tour.

pocket note improv

Another firm favourite, ‘Sign Language Interpreter’, saw Kevin interviewing Dr Rowin Spit (aka Ian), an expert in teaching aardvarks to walk on tightropes. Can you imagine how hard that would be? But Dr Spit was so worried that the aardvarks were getting run over crossing roads that he devised a plan to string rope from trees to straddle the roads, making it safer for them to cross.

However, they all came to an unfortunate end when giraffes ran into the ropes, sending the aardvarks flying and killing themselves in the process.

Kelly had no difficulty signing the whole story, much to the delight of the audience.

Interpreter improv

After a round of ‘The Dating Game’, which saw Ian (the bachelor) deciding that Sally, a barber pole dancer was better than either Popeye or the dentist pulling out hearts, it was time for ‘Foreign Film Dub’. This played out as an action, kung-foo porn-style movie from China. Needless to say, it went in directions no one saw coming.

‘Press Conference’ saw Jon and Steve facing the press gallery with questions about the photocopying of their buttocks and sending them out to all IRD registered taxpayers.

Next are a couple of shorts taken from the games ‘The Oracle’ (explained in the last blog post HERE) and ‘My Movie’, which saw the Queen direct the players into making a movie changing the genres from horror, western, 70’s porn and Disney:

 

 

After another couple of games, the show ended with ‘Themed Restaurant’. This time it was a birthing centre restaurant. The staff brought a variety of dishes to the table. None were edible and had the diners completely baffled. This time you can watch the entire game!!!

 

The Honest Liars were delighted with the amount of laughter they had gotten from the audience, and both players and patrons left in high spirits.

The Coronation night over the King may have had a bigger audience, but the Queen stole the show.

Thanks to players

Jon
Sally
Steve
Ian
Kevin
Ryan

Emcee: The Queen, AKA Kathy

Thanks to..

Crew: Fee
Sound engineer: Kelly

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

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

book now

No April Fool’s Joke

No April Fool’s Joke

The Honest Liars Show for April happened to land on the 1st, but it seriously was no April Fool’s joke.

With the end of daylight saving and the start of the Tauranga Jazz Festival, this would be enough to put off having a show. But even a bit of rain wouldn’t stop the players from getting on stage to have fun.

The Jazz music was in full swing in the main theatre as the Honest Liars arrived in the green room to set up and warm up. And the warm-up saw a new way of sharpening the mind with ‘The Oracle’ game. A question from the ‘audience’ (those not on stage) was answered by a waving oracle saying one word each, leading to the wild and weird.

The Oracle Game

The weather didn’t deter anyone from venturing out, and soon the Greenroom was buzzing with a keen audience getting their drinks in. The show opened with Kathy, the emcee working her magic and the laughter and applause echoed around the theatre as the players ran onto the stage.

After a cracker warm-up of ‘I can do it better’, which saw the players buying tampons and measuring penises, it certainly set the tone for the rest of the show.

In the game ‘Pocket Note,’ there was a fungus outbreak at the local beauty salon, and with one note reading, “Have you seen my boobs?” it turned out that’s the exact reason the customer was there. However, the salon didn’t use silicon but a new invention of suction. By the end of the game, the salon was actually a fertility clinic which explained why there was a pregnancy right when you thought it couldn’t get any funnier.

improv pocket note game

A new game was introduced, ‘Perspective’. Four players talked about their take on Trump getting arrested and aliens having something to do with it.

improv perspective

It was then the ‘Dating Game’, which had Kelly choosing between Summer with her explosive farting, Mark, who was morphing into a chimpanzee, and Brett, a horror porn star. Between the disgusting smell that wafted around and a loose chimp jumping all over the place, Kelly decided on the horror porn star who had already made 600 movies alone this year.

Another new game came next called the ‘Returns Desk’. Summer, Sue and Brett were ushered out of the room so the audience could pick the items they were returning. The small one was a tooth, the medium size a vibrator, and the largest was Waiheke Island. Steve did a stellar job giving each one just enough hints so they would know what the item was.

Watch this snippet where Sue was returning the vibrator but didn’t know what it was.

In ‘Sign Language Interpreter’, Brett was an expert in teaching squirrels Kungfu. This gave Kelly a workout as she interpreted the interview between Steve and Brett. (This particular game is proving very popular with the audiences.)

The show ended with a horror ‘Themed Restaurant’ bringing out all sorts of crazy characters from the Rocky Horror Show to Silence of the Lambs. Not exactly the most romantic or peaceful restaurant to dine in.

Another successful show ended with the audience and players alike going home with smiles.

Thanks to players

Kathy
Kelly
Ian
Mark
Sue
Brett
Sally
Summer

Thanks to:

Crew: Fee
Sound engineer: Ant.

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

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

book now

Another Great Improv Show

Another Great Improv Show

The Honest Liars were in fine form for the March show.

Another fine, balmy night welcomed the players as they arrived at the theatre for the March show. The air con still wasn’t working, so windows and doors were flung wide open, and the stand fan cranked up to full blast to cool down the Black Box Stage area.

The Emcee, Melissa, had come from Christchurch specifically to be part of the show and what a great emcee she proved to be. Of course, Melissa is no stranger to Honest Liars, as she had been part of the troupe for many years before moving away.

The show opened with a highly receptive crowd giving outstanding suggestions for the warm-up game for all the players of ‘Categories’.

Then it was into the games proper as Brett, Kelly, and Kevin gave good, bad, and ugly advice to the audiences’ problems in ‘The Good, The Bad and The Ugly’. The first problem set the scene for the rest of the show: “How to break the news to your partner that you’ve given her the clap.”

A more subtle question followed next with someone asking, “how to deal with being lactose intolerant but loving cheese”. The advice was forthcoming, but the ugly stole the limelight by suggesting one becomes bulimic. The cheese can be eaten for the taste sensation but thrown up before it gets into the digestive area.

improv game good bad & ugly

Always a crowd favourite, ‘Pocket Note’ didn’t fail as Ryan, Sally, and Sue went carjacking. The trouble was they picked a police car. Never fear; they found some hash in the back seat, which they used. Ryan then lay down in the back before discovering he couldn’t get out because of locked doors and a grill to the front. Sue slowly drove the car to KFC, where they ordered some ‘zinger burgers’, and the twist came when Sue confessed to being a cop.

improv game pocket note

Dr Bob Spit came next in the game ‘Sign Language Interpreter’. Kevin from the BBC had the task of interviewing him because of his expertise in teaching dolphins how to be doctors. Kelly, the interpreter, was kept busy with the sign language miming as the game progressed into a hilarious interview.

Improv sign language expert

‘My Movies’ saw Brett, Sue and Kelly trying to pitch movie titles to the director Melissa. From Jelly Priests to Jolly Porcupines and Belly Dancing Wolverines, the audience was in stitches as titles were thought up on the spot from letters shouted out. The intriguing ideas were then played out for a minute or two before the director went on to the next pictures. But the most laughs came when the three letters offered were KKK. This saw Keep Kings Kinky and Koalas Keep Kicking. Then the director twisted the game by adding different genres, such as Western and American Gangster styles.

‘Improvisers Anonymous’ showed Sue, Ryan and Sally giving hints to newcomer Kelly as to what the addiction was. Kelly was definite when she finally announced that she was addicted to Op Shopping.

‘Puppets’ brought two audience members volunteering to be the puppet masters of Kelly and Brett. There was an altercation between a married couple regarding vacuuming up the dog. But watch the video below to see how it went.

Thanks to Sean and Sophia for pulling the strings.

 

Finally, it was time for ‘Themed Restaurant’, and the diners were at a Karen Restaurant where the staff were insulting and lazy, thus ensuring Kevin and Fee were given nothing to eat, a glass of water and a huge bill and told to get out.

Some of the audience stayed behind to have a drink with the players and enjoy the final part of the evening. Then it was time to say goodnight, and everyone made their way home, satisfied it had been another excellent improv show.

Thanks to players

Melissa MC
Sue
Ryan
Kelly
Brett
Sally
Kevin

Thanks to..

Crew: Fee and Kathy
Sound engineer: Anthony

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

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

book now

Full House for the 1st Show of 2023.

Full House for the 1st Show of 2023.

Seats had to be added as it became a full house for the 1st show of 2023.

After weeks of horrendous rains, floods, and cyclones, battered the North over Anniversary weekend, the players were grateful that the show was in Tauranga, where things hadn’t been quite so dire.

Waitangi weekend saw sunshine in the Bay and the 1st comedy improv show welcomed in 2023 for the Honest Liars. Last-minute ticket sales boosted the audience, but the unexpected number of ‘walk-ins’ got the players running for more chairs.

Honest liars improv

The audience settled in with drinks in hand, and from the moment Jon (emcee) ran onto the stage and began the banter, the players knew it would be a great night.

After a good game of ‘Categories’ to warm everyone up, it was onto the ‘Good, Bad and Ugly’ advice game. A boisterous and appreciative audience got involved offering excellent suggestions, including one that sent them into peels of laughter. “What advice do you give for erectile dysfunction?” The recommendations from the players went from “consulting with your doctor” to “chop off the penis – you obviously won’t be using it!”

‘Pocket Note’ saw Ryan, Mark and Ian trying to win a prize for the taxidermy of a naked mole rat (as you can ascertain, the audience’s suggestions were on fire!). The notes woven into the plot were quite challenging: “I’m in the dog box”, “I’ll never let go, Jack”, “I’m having a baby”, and “I touch myself”, giving the story quite the twists and turns. It turned out that Ryan couldn’t find a naked mole rat, so in the end, he got a chihuahua pulling teeth from Mark’s mouth to give it fangs. The last note Mark picked up, “I’m on the highway to hell”, was very apt for the now toothless taxidermist.

pocket note improv

‘My Movie’ is a game where the players pitch movie ideas to a producer. The titles of their movies come from letters called out by the audience.

This one deserves the video.

‘Improvisers Anonymous’ is an Honest Liars’ creation and a game that takes something straightforward and turns it into a hilarious, innuendo-filled session for the addicted trying to quit.

This time the group were into hanging out the washing to such an extent that it was intruding chronically on their lives. Summer got so good at it that she even did it for the neighbours. Sue had to have more kids in order to have a good supply which was thwarted by her husband buying her one of those evil machines that take the fun out of it. And finally, Ian confessed that he had watched his mum doing it and spied on the neighbours, but the pegs got him in the end. Kathy, the new addict in the session, finally guessed what it was she was addicted to after listening to all the hints that had been forthcoming.

What can be better than a symphony? Well, the Honest Liars’ Emotional Symphony was conducted by Jon. Summer, Ian, Steve and Ryan did a stellar job, as you can see in the video below. (Although Ian did lose the plot at the end because the noise Summer was making jogged a comedic memory.)

Two audience members volunteered to be the puppet masters as they worked their puppets, Kathy and Sue, to tell the story of a bank robbery which went wrong. Other games included ‘Foreign Film Dub’ and Themed Restaurant.

The ‘Twitch’ game ended the show as Jon interviewed for a shoelace designer. Each candidate had a different mannerism that Jon had to copy and continue to do. By the time the interviews were over, he was exhausted. Mind you, it didn’t help that an extra five Honest Liars from the audience also stepped up to be interviewed.

It was a well-deserved drink the players had after the show, and all went home tired and happy from an extremely fun night of laughter.

Thanks to players

Summer
Sue
Kathy
Mark
Steve
Ryan
Ian
Jon (emcee)

And thanks to..

Crew: Fee
Sound engineer: Anthony

 

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

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

book now

Last Improv Show of 2022.

Last Improv Show of 2022.

A great lineup of games was planned for the last show of 2022, and the players were ready.

It seems to be a habit that the Honest Liars shows clashed with all important games by the All Blacks. This show was no exception, although it wasn’t the men’s rugby but the semi-final of the Black Ferns game. They didn’t disappoint, and neither did the Honest Liars.

Fireworks were also in competition (Guy Fawkes)

but the players brought firecracker retorts and sparkling wit to what proved to be a brilliant fun-packed show.

Even the pre-show warm-up proved that the quick thinking was evident as the crew setting up couldn’t stop laughing.

A few keen audience members arrived early, chasing the players off the stage and into the back room. And by show time, the theatre had filled up, patrons had their drinks, and it was time for Jon, the emcee, to come out onto the stage and introduce the players.

The game of Categories always helps both audience and players warm up. The subjects of ‘types of cars’, ‘ways to die’ and ‘music’, the Honest Liars and audience alike set the mood for the rest of the show.

A crowd favourite, Pocket Note, followed with Sally, Mark and Kelly trying their best to rid the world of covid. Sally proved to be the guinea pig for a new vaccine which tasted awfully fishy but with a hint of strawberry. However, the side effects proved horrendous, turning her into a baby wetting her pants and needing an adult diaper. Then a different vaccine from the jar of green sticky stuff resulted in memory loss, which, thankfully, was only short-term. The audience suggested notes tied in perfectly, giving them many moments of laughter.

This was followed by the Clap Game, which saw three stories evolving as each pair tried to steal a line from another team. Chris Luxon appeared in bozo clown boots, monsters had trouble scaring children, and bank staff had difficulty staying awake.

Next was the Dating Game with some weird suggestions from the audience. Kathy became Dolly Parton, Sally had multiple personalities, and Ryan took on the strange hobby of making ponchos from road kill.

Steve, a shy, stuttering chicken slaughterman from Tauranga, arrived to ask the questions. It turned out that Dolly would play with him from 9 to 5, Ryan would take him on a long drive getting souvenirs (the fresher, the better) on the way, and Sally went from Martha to Mary to a man called Marven.

But the motorboating that Dolly gave the shy Steve brought the house down.

In a café in Paris, Foreign Film Dub ended the show’s first half, and the audience replenished their drinks and made a bathroom stop before getting back into their seats for a surprise performance from the 16th Ave actor, barman David. His solo monologue entertained everyone before the Honest Liars ran back onstage.

Ryan and Brett, from Tesla, had to face the questions in Press Conference as they navigated their way through being caught out with batteries, the real cause of Covid. Questions came from players and the audience alike, and the lads did well with political answers but finally guessed who they were and what they were charged with.

The game The Cube had four players, all doing four individual, amusing scenes. The suggestions given were:

  • Brett and Kathy = Square dancing husband.
  • Kathy and Steve = My mum.
  • Steve and Kelly = Stealing a jar of pickles.
  • Kelly and Brett = You.

Bizarre topics, but the players brought the stories to life as they rotated around the cube three times. The laughter resounded around the theatre from a son attending stripper school, organising a bar mitzvah, medication causing hallucinations, and the Okay Corral square dancing competition.

Finally, the game of Twitch got started. This is where the players get their revenge on Jon. You can see from the video below they went all out with their twitches.

Jon was interviewing for a crisis manager at Tesla.

SEE YOU AT THE NEXT SHOW!

Thanks to players

Kathy
Kelly
Mark
Brett
Sally
Steve
Matt
Jon (MC)
Ryan

 

Thanks to:

Crew: Fee and Sue
Sound engineer: Anthony

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

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

book now

New Games, Same Players.

New Games, Same Players.

New games were introduced into the show, but the players were the same. Even those returning from holidays got to tread the boards.

The sky had opened, and the torrent of rain came down in sheets as the players arrived at the theatre. The Honest Liars were pleased to get inside the theatre after jumping over the little rivers gushing down the gutters and washing down the path.

Within five minutes, the rain had eased off, not that anyone noticed as they set up the chairs and began a warm-up session to get their fun mojos up to speed.

Warm up

The audience arrived and visited the bar before getting their seats in anticipation of enjoying a good night’s entertainment, and they were not disappointed.

Jon, the MC, welcomed the players onto the stage and began with three rounds of the game of ‘Categories’, where they had to identify different types of breakfast cereals, nuts, and the weather. This got the laughter started, and the performers lit up.

‘Pocket Note’, always an audience favourite, saw Matt, Mark and Kelly planning a murder. It was a somewhat twisted plot as it became evident that the scene was set in a Comedy Horror House, and Matt had been brought in as a consultant on the best way of murdering someone. Notes woven into the dialogue ranged in absurdity from “you are very sexy”, “I’ll tell your father,” to “I need to go poos”. The most appropriate note was after Matt had offered to tell them the best form of torture; the note read, “hit me, baby, one more time”.

The first new game was introduced to the audience, ‘Story, Story, Die’. This is where players tell one consistent story. The MC points to a player who must immediately pick up from where the story left off, even if it is mid-sentence. When a player hesitates or repeats words, they ‘die’. The story goes on until the last player is standing.

The topic given by the audience was a safari. The story began with Drucilla and Keith trying to get tickets to go and see the zebras. It ended with them eating camel toenails – don’t ask!

Improv comedy Story, story, die

The next new game, ‘Improv Anonymous,’ saw Kathy, Brett and Matt welcome new member Kelly to the group meeting. There they poured their hearts out over their addiction to stealing teapots. Now, Kelly had been sent out of the room while the audience had offered the subject. The idea of the game is that the ‘new’ member has to guess what exactly the addiction is from the clues, some not so subtle, given by the others.

Brett began by sharing that it had all started when he was a kid, and now he still can’t go to Paeroa.

Matt’s predisposition to teapots had come about because he is British, and Kathy was the Queen and was teased as a child with family singing “Lilibet short and stout”.

Kelly was very much on the mark when she stated, “My name is Kelly, and I’m addicted to stealing teapots.”

Improv Anonymous,

Before the interval, two courageous audience members, Ryan and Bryce, came up on stage to be part of the ‘Emotional Symphony’ game. Along with Matt and Mark, they were each given an emotion to sound. There was rage, jealousy, happiness and horny, and Jon conducted the cacophony of strange sounds into a loosely described musical number. All of this to the delight of the audience.

A competition was held with the game’ Rant and Rave’. Steve and Mark were given the topic of Polocrosse, of which neither of them knew what the sport was. They had to rant about it, then quickly switch to raving when the MC rang the bell. Matt and Brett had the rather intriguing suggestion of belly button fluff to rant and rave about. Both teams did well, but the audience decided that the belly button fluff was the clear winner, especially as Matt had said it made excellent teapot covers, a great callback to the addiction of stealing teapots.

‘The Cube’ game had four players acting out four different games, providing another avenue to reference previous lines from other games. Laughter certainly rang out as the audience picked up on these.

But the new game ‘The Twitch’ had the audience laughing the most. Jon was interviewing for a straddle truck driver, and each applicant arrived with a different twitch or quirk. Jon had to copy each movement and sound, and as each person came in, he had to add the new quirk. In total, there were six different twitches and Jon was seen throwing arms up and out and legs up and over the arm of the chair, yelling out “Yeeha”, standing up saluting with “God save the King”, flipping his head back and putting in a few “woop woops”. Among all this, he still had to conduct the interviews.

Improv comedy The Twitch

 

Improv comedy The Twitch

A game that will definitely be seen in future shows.

The show ended with the ‘Puppets’ game. With the topic of Hurricane Ian, Charles and Ellie from the audience volunteered to be the puppeteers, and both did an excellent job. See for yourself with the snippet below.

 

Kelly and Brett certainly found themselves in some rather strange poses but managed to keep the story going.

As the audience left, still laughing, the players converged at the bar for a round of well-deserved drinks. It was agreed that the suggestions had been the best. This audience was full of fun energy spilt over to the players. A great night all around.

Thanks to players

Jon (MC)
Brett
Kelly
Steve
Kathy
Matt
Mark

Crew: Fee and Sue
Sound engineer: Ant

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

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

book now

Springing Back Onto The Stage.

Springing Back Onto The Stage.

Springtime! The first show heralding in the warmer months, and the players sprang into action.

The Honest Liars were in fine form and delivered an excellent selection of games to the receptive audience. Emcee Jon buoyed up the mid-sized (once again competing with the All Blacks, who finally had a win) audience beginning with a very concise lesson in clapping. After the quick-fire round of categories to wake up the players, the show got down to business with the first game of ‘Pocket Note’.

The suggestion was organising a birthday party which saw mother Sue dealing with her two delinquent children, Steve and Kelly, as they argued about whether to have a pirate or cowboy party. After picking up a note, Mum told the children, “mum is dying”, which definitely put a different slant on the proceedings. Her instructions (another note) to her boy, Steve, was to say at her graveside “what’s that smell?” had the audience in fits of laughter. Timing is everything with this game, and the notes produced a wonderful storyline.

improv comedy pocket note

The Honest Liars played the ‘Jailbird’ game for the first time on stage. One player (Sue) was sent out of the room, and the audience suggested why the criminal Sue had just landed in jail. In this case, it was for punching Serena Williams in the face while at the South Pole.

Sue was then brought in and thrown into a cell with two others. By way of clues, she had to figure out what she’d done.

See for yourself:

 

Another audience favourite, ‘Sign Language,’ saw Kevin interviewing Dr Shorty McSqueeze (Brett) about his expertise in teaching tigers to pole dance. This had Kelly, the sign language interpreter, in all sorts of poses as Dr McSqueeze explained how he found the tigers moving around the skinny trees of Borneo chasing monkeys. The tigers made an easy transition to the poles. His idea was to take the pole-dancing tigers on tour. Of course, they wouldn’t be paid money as there would be plenty of food with the audience because there’d be no cage. Mind you, Dr McSqueeze hadn’t thought it through as the interviewer pointed out he’d start to lose audience numbers as time went on.

Kelly was up and down, squeezing and twirling as she interpreted this overly descriptive story.

Improv Game Sign Language

Finishing off the first half was the ‘Emotional Symphony’ in which the players were given an emotion to verbalise. Jon then conducted them just like an orchestra, from which he created a rousing musical composition. The audience well received Kevin’s interpretation of a horny emotion. However, as the symphony increased in speed, he didn’t have much time to catch his breath, bringing the whole game to a wonderful climax which delighted those watching.

Comedy Improv Emotional Symphony

With the audience refreshed, the second half began with ‘Rant and Rave, ’ one of which saw Brett and Kevin discussing the good and bad side of Teachers. It was a subject that brought out all those boyhood traumas of getting the strap from vile teachers but flipping it to raving and seeing that the strappings weren’t so bad.

The fun of the ‘The Cube’, in which four stories are told in one hit, had the audience in stitches as each tale evolved. But the highlight was when Sue used the enlarging ray on one particular area of Jon, who came back to complain that it had grown to 15 feet and could she shrink it. By the third (and final) round, it was apparent that Sue’s aim was far from accurate. She’d shrunk his feet instead, and he still had the enlarged and extended member that even a car had run over.

Comedy Improv The Cube

The last game of the night was a Vampire ‘Themed Restaurant’. Kevin and Fee were celebrating an anniversary, but it appeared the staff were genuine horror characters. They should have known that it was real because the first drink, a bloody Mary, was made from blood. Ghouls, vampires and monsters came back and forth to the table for various reasons until finally, one vampire bit into Kevin’s neck. Before Kevin had a chance to do the same to his wife, a steak was plunged into his back, and he collapsed. Of course, Fee still had to pay the bill.

Comedy improv Themed Restaurant

The show ended with everyone enjoying not only the drinks from the 16th Ave Theatre bar (thanks to the bar staff) but a fun-filled evening of great games by the Honest Liars.

Thanks to players

Brett
Kelly
Sue
Steve
Kevin
Jon

Thanks to..

Crew: Fee and Sally
Sound engineer: Summer.

Springing Back Onto The Stage Springing Back Onto The Stage

 

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

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

book now

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