hlimprovers, Author at Honest Liars Improv

The Honest Liars do Christmas.

By hlimprovers | December 8, 2020

🎄♫ ♫ “Oh the weather outside is sunny

And the players are all so funny

And since we’ve got no place to go

Start the show, start the show, start the show.” ♫♫🎄

The players were busy when they arrived at the Jam Factory because they already knew it was a ‘Sold Out’ show. This meant all available chairs needed to be set up with a few extras for the usual walk-ins!

Wasn’t long before it was time to warm up with the quick-fire games to get the brain working.

The crew arrived to put out the banners and signs so the new punters could find their way. Reserve notices put on the chairs and the front desk organised. Steve, the elf, proved invaluable throughout the entire show and certainly played up to the ‘Christmas help’ elves are known for.

The audience started arriving in rather large numbers, and it was quite the memory game as they checked in, then buggered off to Mood for a drink. The elf was onto it though coming up with the ingenious idea of marking the back of their hands with an ‘HL’ done with a whiteboard marker. A trick that will be used again.

Soon the patrons settled in and Melissa welcomed everyone telling them that if they didn’t give good suggestions, it would be their fault if the show failed. The players, suitably attired in their festive cheer, arrived on stage to much cheering and whooping from the primed crowd.

The usual warmup games began the show with Kevin proving to be a very popular Santa during the ‘Scenes from a Hat’ game.

In the ‘Alphabet’ game, Wendy and Kathy were arguing over money for Christmas. As there was only $10.00 left in the bank, Kathy quickly told Wendy she’d have to go out to work. After all it was Wendy who depleted the account buying the kids gold-encrusted diamond earmuffs.

The word suggestions for the ‘Clap’ game proved exceptional. John and Kelly were given a body, Kim and Wendy’s was newspaper and Kathy and Melissa had scuba gear. It turned out the dead body was doing Pilates, and his head was at 180°, the newspaper was used to pick up the cats’ poop (yes, many cats) and the scuba gear was purchased with the kids’ stolen pocket money.

Kelly, once again, shone with her ‘Sign Language Expert’ antics. This time Jon was being interviewed as an expert in teaching dung beetles how to play underwater hockey. It soon became apparent that he didn’t have much success. As dung beetles float, he had tried putting teeny tiny concrete shoes on them, but most of them drowned. Then he had a problem trying to find dung for them. In the meantime, Kelly was doing a fantastic job ‘signing’, (well, miming) all these different things.

It was then time for the students to show off their skills. The cheering ramped up as they came on stage for their two games. ‘Space Jump’, (not an easy one) and the ‘Alphabet’ game. The suggestion for the alphabet was Christmas themed, and they were kids. It soon became apparent that they were from the same family hell-bent on changing Christmas to Halloween or even a birthday. Until it was let out of the bag that one of them was adopted! A twist no-one saw coming. These four are rising players who will get better as they hone their skills.

In the second half of the show, the games ramped up with the comedy.

‘Pocket Note’, a firm favourite with audiences, saw Doctors Kim, Mark and Jon assigned to doing house calls on Christmas Eve. As they were lamenting their fate, Mark reminded them that the Hippocratic Oath, clause 24 states “Get Covid again” an obvious thing for the financial wellbeing of the medical fraternity. And later on, when Mark looked into the drugs cabinet, there was a sign that said: “show me the money” proving his earlier point.

‘Themed Restaurant’ made its debut at the Jam Factory and was well received. The dining was set in a Funeral Home restaurant which made for some classic one-liners by the players as they waited on the table.

See for yourself:

‘Film Noir’ saw Jon, a somewhat lax pool lifeguard miserable with all the primary kids until he saw the smoking hot teacher, Melissa, approaching. The teacher was chain-smoking cigarettes, and her thoughts of the pool guard were that he had a face only a mother could love. It couldn’t be a ‘Film Noir’ without the romance, and it ended with the two of them heading off to the changing room for something the audience could easily guess.

The final game ‘Hollywood Director’ was set in the Pyramids with the waking up of a 3000 year old mummy. Not satisfied with the acting the director changed the genre to horror then to western. But it was what was written in hieroglyphics that stole the game as it changed with each take.

As the audience made their way out from the show, there were lots of comments of

“We’ll be back!”

“Great show.”

“Thanks for the laughs.”

All things that the players love to hear.

Chairs away, signs in, lights out—time to head to Mood for a Christmas drink with some of the audience members.

🎄 Happy Christmas, everyone!! 🎄

Thanks to the players:

Kathy
Wendy
Kevin
Kelly
Melissa
Mark
Kim
Jon

Thanks to the Crew:

Fee
Sally
Steve
Caleb – sound.

The next show at the Jam Factory is on Sunday 7th February 7 pm

Book your tickets, have a drink at Mood Lounge first, then join us for loads of laughs.

1^st Sunday of every Month
Jam Factory, Historic Village
Show Starts: 7 p.m.

The Lead up to the Christmas Show.

By hlimprovers | December 3, 2020

Leading up to Christmas and final show, the Honest Liars were able to squeeze in a couple of ‘one-offs’.

In both cases, the shows were so successful that the players were asked for a repeat performance in 2021. Obviously, as it is Improv, a ‘repeat’ is not possible. BUT future performances are!

However, before the shows happened, it was a craft evening for the players. Something completely different, although the laughs still were in abundance.

A wooden Christmas tree was to be erected on the Strand (part of a community event), and the Honest Liars were given the task of painting the wooden ‘baubles’ that were to be hung on it.

Never one to shirk an opportunity for wine, nibbles and laughs the players arrived at the Historic Village and began the task of painting funny faces.

The ‘serious’ task soon evolved into ‘crazy’!!!

Task completed. Faces painted, wine and nibbles finished, time to go home.

A delight to see the tree up and reflecting the fun of Improv.

Then came the shows.

The first one at The Mount Golf Club offered a spectacular venue as the stage was set in front of the massive windows that overlooked the golf course.

Thankfully the players faced the audience so were not distracted as the games began with ‘Scenes From a Hat’, covering topics from the “World’s Worst weather forecaster”, “What you shouldn’t say at a job interview” to “What the voices in Trump’s head are saying”.

The winners of the ‘Alphabet Duel’ were Melissa and Jon who were renovating their home over Fee and Steve having a baby. It was clearly apparent that it is much more stressful to renovate!

‘The Dating Game’ was another winner as Kevin (the bachelor) had to pick from Kay who had Tourettes, Melissa, who was overly interested in horses and Kathy who was Melania Trump. As soon as Kevin said he was the wealthiest man in the world ‘Melania’ was up on her feet wanting to take the bachelor there and then.

When it came time for ‘Hollywood Director’ Kevin set the direction for a great game having the players in a hotel near the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Melissa, Jon and Kay immediately all leaned into the plot to the enjoyment of the audience. Switching from Straight to Horror and finally to Western culminated in the guests (Jon and Kay) leaping from the window as an earthquake hit.

Finally, a new game was introduced ‘Theme Restaurant’ which had Kim and Steve sitting at a table entirely in the dark. A twist to the story was that it was also a blind date. The rest of the players were the wait staff and, as this was a lights out restaurant, menus missed the table, napkins were put in places other than laps and Steve mistook the seeing-eye dog as a hairy waitress. The diners were finally told not to eat the blowfish as the kitchen was also operating in the dark.

The Golf Club’s successful show was followed several days later by the players entertaining the Probus group for their end of year function.

A slightly different format to begin the show as the audience had been dining first. The Honest Liars, equipped with Christmas décor and loud, rambunctious music, gate-crashed the dining room and got everyone to bring their wine and follow the music up to the theatre.

The games began with the usual warm-up of Scenes from a Hat followed by the Duel Alphabet. This time Fee and Kevin battled against Kay and Melissa. And although Kay was a murderous daughter who wanted the Christmas pudding recipe from her mother. It was the fact that Kevin was heading off to the moon leaving Fee gleefully finding the alone time conducive to hanging out with Pedro, the pool boy that got the biggest round of applause. They were declared the winners.

The audience enjoyed the antics of Space Jump as Sally didn’t want to jump from the plane, which then evolved into her giving birth when Mark called the next scene. Fee was third in changing the game to three criminals trying to escape through a hedge, and finally, Kay came in as a cheerleader spelling out Probus. One by one the scenes finished as each player existed out.

The Dating Game saw Sweetie, (Kay), arrive and having to choose from the three contestants. Mark had an issue with mice in Monaco, Melissa collected tea leaves, and Sally played an excellent Winston Peters. Watch the clip to see it unfold.

Kevin played The Hollywood Director as he tried to get three actors to perform in his new movie about making moonshine in New York for Alan a gangster arriving at any minute. As Kay and Melissa made the moonshine, Fee, playing Alan’s mole, arrived and, after saying the password, was allowed in. From a very vanilla scene, the Director changed the genre to be Elizabethan. Alan became Alan the Great, and the mole turned into a wench. But the movie didn’t shine until it became a Western. Alan was now Bad Bart, and the wench became Annie who, with guns blazing, arrived to collect the whiskey for herself.

The show ended with the fun game of Puppets. Kevin and Kay were on their first date, which happened to be in a mental hospital. Somehow they ended up in the toilet where beautiful music was playing. The puppeteers, Mark and Sally, certainly had a riot putting these two into the most awkward positions.

Finally, all players came out on stage for the last time to thank the audience and receive the well-deserved applause. Another successful show and an excellent warm-up for the final Christmas show of the year! A heads-up – the Christmas show has already sold out. But keep a watch out for the Honest Liars coming back on the first Sunday in February 2021.
Thanks to the players:

Mt Golf Club Probus Group

Melissa
Fee
Steve
Kathy
Kevin
Kay
Jon

Melissa
Kevin
Sally
Mark
Kay
Fee
Kathy (Emcee)

The next show at the Jam Factory is on Sunday 6^th December 7 pm

Hope you’ve got your tickets, have a drink at Mood Lounge first, then join us for loads of laughs.

1^st Sunday of every Month
Jam Factory, Historic Village
Show Starts: 7 p.m.

Great Fun Over Four Weeks

By hlimprovers | November 11, 2020

Another successful round of workshops has ended the year in a celebratory mode.

Thankfully the dreaded Mr Virus didn’t put in an appearance to stop the latest round of workshops as it had done so in the past. Instead, a lively bunch of keen people turned up at the Taster to give Improv a go.

With games like ‘I Am A Tree’ everyone jumped right in, and the first session was a real hit.

Much to the delight of the teachers, most of those trying Improv decided to keep going. The students quickly grasped the concept and basic skills of Improv which made for loads of fun over the following three weeks.

Finally, the last day arrived, and the ‘students’ gleefully turned up full of vigour and enthusiasm. It began with a run-through of what they had learnt, followed by some warm-up games. One of these was a players’ favourite the ‘Cat Walk Dance’—a great way to limber up and learn the art of teamwork.

Then it was time for games. Some were ones they had already done; others were new.

‘Super Heroes’ saw a global crisis that all the cows were gone – where would the world get their cheese? And so the heroes were called. Mr Fantastic Man, Neil, wasn’t much help, so he called in Mr Itchy Willy. George, playing this part, flipped the humour by being Mr Willy who was itchy.

These were the sorts of twists that abounded throughout the session.

Oh, and by the way, the heroes lassoed the moon and got the cheese from there. Cows no longer were needed.

‘Scene in a Minute’ a new game for the group, had a short scene played over three times, with the third time played within 30 seconds. A tough ask? The students nailed it.

The audience suggestion for one of these was “Takeaways” and Sue, Caitlyn and Neil brought their game. Stressed mum, Sue was not impressed that the pizza was late while her spoiled brat of a daughter, Caitlyn, complained about everything. Finally, the pizza arrived by a stoned delivery guy, Neil, who didn’t care. That is until mum decided to phone his supervisor, who turned out to be his wife ending the scene perfectly.

The morning rolled on with more laughter as scenes were made up on the spot.

The ‘Dating Game’ was a bit more of a challenge for the newbies. But it seemed like nothing was going to hold them back.

Matt was the bachelor who left the room while quirks were given to each contestant. Back he came and then, through a series of questions, he had to figure out what each quirk was. He soon got that Caitlyn had a phobia with the colour red and Ian’s obsession was with chamois. Neil was a little harder, but he finally worked out that Neil was morphing into an octopus. The hints each of the contestants gave were genius.

Another couple of games brought a close to the workshop. So a bottle of bubbles was popped, and the players and teachers sat down to debrief and enjoy each other’s company.

Certificates were handed out, and the mandatory photo was taken. But the players were in no hurry to leave preferring instead to continue to chat with the new friends they had made.

Honest Liars were delighted that all the players (bar one due to prior engagement) committed to the Intermediate workshop. There is some serious talent amongst them, so look out for them at the next show.

Thanks to the Students:

Neil
Ian
Sue
Wendy (past student)

Caitlyn
Matt
George
Steve (past student)

Thanks to the Teachers:

Kathy, Melissa, Kay

The next show at the Jam Factory is on Sunday 6^th December 7 pm and the students will be there!

Book your tickets, have a drink at Mood Lounge first, then join us for loads of laughs.

1^st Sunday of every Month
Jam Factory, Historic Village
Show Starts: 7 p.m.

Honest Liars Playing Over Time

By hlimprovers | November 3, 2020

November’s show saw the Honest Liars going over time much to the delight of the audience.

The players arrived early enough to set up the Jam Factory ready for the audience. This is not as simple as putting out the chairs. A trial of moving the stage to a side wall is currently happening. So the strong were allocated to moving the blocks while the brainy ones were working out the jigsaw!

Finally, warm-up began then it was off to Mood for a pre-drink and some laughter.

The ‘Categories’ game started the show with all the players testing their knowledge on different types of pizza toppings to types of criminals. In the category of Shellfish, it soon became apparent that there are many different coloured crabs… and even ones that don’t live in the sea! But as the players latched onto this cheating, they were quickly buzzed out until the winner was finally left standing.

The ‘Sign Language Interview’ is always a hit and this night was no exception. Jon interviewed Brett, who was an expert on teaching Sloths to juggle. Kelly, who was signing, had to get into all sorts of bizarre contortions to ‘translate’. It included up and down on the floor as Brett explained that Sloths are not that good at juggling when they’re upside down. It didn’t help that the interviewer, Jon, kept repeating the words upside down each time Kelly had stood up.

‘Pocket Note’ offered the audience a chance to deliver some cracking good lines. From “It’s tiny”, “Goodness, what a big one!” to “Your hair smells like vomit”. But the line that stole the game came at the end “I have nightly anus cramp”, and it fitted right in. Steve, Mark and Kathy were onboard Steve Irwin’s charter boat with no wifi. It seemed such a fitting place to be for such pocket notes and created lots of laughter.

After the mandatory half time to replenish drinks, the players moved on into an ‘Alphabet Duel’. This was the first time a touch of theatre sports has been done by the Honest Liars.

Wendy and Kelly began round one with a suggestion from the audience that couldn’t be beaten. A Bris ceremony (and that’s a circumcision if you don’t know). Turned out that Timothy, who was having the procedure, was an adult, not a baby. So when Fee and Jon had their turn about Australia, they had to try and pull out all the stops to win. Even when Fee admitted that Timothy was her lover and had just had a circumcision, it didn’t help. The audience quite rightly cheered the loudest for Wendy and Kelly.

After ‘Movie Trailers’ it was time for another winner, the ‘Dating’ game. Jon, Mark and Steve were the eager bachelors, and as Kelly quizzed them, it became apparent which one she would pick. As a crash-test dummy, Steve was out because of the damage he had. Mark was also a no-go as he morphed into a zombie. But Jon, a coach in the Karma Sutra, was a winner in Kelly’s eyes for what he could bring to the relationship.

A slight twist to the game of ‘Rant and Rave’ saw Kathy, Mark, Steve and Brett ranting and raving about urine on the toilet seat, the size of cubicles in public toilets, portaloos and bidets. Yes, the topics were very potty.

Finally, the show ended, the stage was reassembled to its rightful place, chairs stacked and the lights switched off. Naturally, the players headed off to Mood where some audience members were waiting.

Thanks to the players:

Kathy
Wendy
Steve
Kristina
Fee

Kelly
Mark
Jon
Brett

Thanks to the Crew:

Fee and Kristina

The next show at the Jam Factory is on Sunday 6th December 7 pm

Book your tickets, have a drink at Mood Lounge first, then join us for loads of laughs.1^st Sunday of every Month
Jam Factory, Historic Village
Show Starts: 7 p.m.

Something Different

By hlimprovers | October 20, 2020

Friday night and the players arrived at the Historic Village for something a bit different.

Well, some arrived earlier to set up a table in the Incubator shed for the Test Tube event.

This was a get-together of creatives; all types from artists and sculptors, magicians, dancers and of course, comedians in the form of the Honest Liars.

Fee stayed on at the table to answer questions and promote the shows while the other Honest Liars prepared for a 30-minute taste of Improv held outdoors. Nothing betters a free performance to give punters a feel of Improvised comedy!

The stage was set, (not so much a stage but a grassy knoll), the musicians had finally done their last number – wait, one more… no… one more and then another one for good luck.

Finally, the audience had assembled, and the kiddies sat on the bean bags in the front row full of eager anticipation.

Children? The players were undoubtedly going to have to curb their usual R16 antics!

The games began with a round of ‘Alphabet’ which had Brett and Melissa doing a bank heist. The problem was that Brett turned out to be an anti-capitalist bank robber who didn’t want to steal any money. In fact, he’d also forgotten to bring the guns.

The ‘Good, Bad & Ugly’ offered excellent advice, including what to do with a relative who was too religious. The advice ranged from politely leaving leaflets about satanic cults around the home for education to redecorating their room with static wallpaper with an upside-down cross pattern.

Three groups of two players were in the ‘Clap’ game and topics suggested from the audience were brain surgery, lozenges and a giraffe. Steve was the brain surgeon, and Kathy wanted her dog to have a brain transplant so it could speak Spanish.

After hearing the audience suggestion of meeting a tinder date in a mortuary, Kathy pointed out that it was an interesting theme for a family audience. But not to be deterred the players delivered a funny ‘Change’ game to the delight of the adults and kids alike.

During this game, there was an interruption. A small dog wandered into the scene and proceeded to poop in the bushes for all to see. Kathy, quick as a wink, rushed on shouting “Hola, hola” hoping that perhaps this was the dog with the brain transplant. She left the stage, the dog sauntered off, order returned, and the game continued.

‘Foreign Film Dub’ saw Steve and Kristina acting out the scene and Melissa and Brett as the translators. The film title ‘I Can Dance’ was in Bulgarian and Steve gave an excellent rendition of the national dance as he tutored Kristina who managed to keep her laughter under control.

The night ended well with all the players drifting off to Mood and having a well-deserved libation as the Test Tube event wound down.

Thanks to the players:

Kathy
Melissa
Kristina
Steve

Kelly
Wendy
Brett

Thanks to Fee on the table and special thanks to Sue who helped put this post together.

The next show at the Jam Factory is on Sunday 1st November 7 pm

Book your tickets, have a drink at Mood Lounge first, then join us for loads of laughs.

1^st Sunday of every Month
Jam Factory, Historic Village
Show Starts: 7 p.m.

Busy Times

By hlimprovers | October 12, 2020

Within a matter of 48 hours, the Honest Liars had hosted two workshops.

The first one was a little outside the box as the wonderful folk at Media Works asked the players if they would come and entertain them during a conference day they were having. This involved staff from radio stations based in Tauranga, Thames and Coromandel and was to be held at the Falls Retreat in Karangahake Gorge.

It started well as the Honest Liars sat and discussed the line-up over a coffee.

But neither the players nor the radio personal had any idea that this lunch was going to be in a public restaurant where other people would be. Well, free show for the onlookers, although they probably wouldn’t have got any of the in-jokes that the players dropped throughout the gig.

The show kicked off with a quiz-style question and answers with all the participants up onto their feet, answering multi-choice questions and sitting down if getting it wrong. How could they? All the questions were loosely based on what Honest Liars had been able to glean about their audience. But, there was a winner and chocolate came his way.

The ‘Alphabet Game’ clinched even more secrets being let out of the bag to the delight of the audience.

However, it was a little disconcerting when the restaurant staff picked the middle of the ‘Change Game’ to bring out the pizzas and place them on the tables. But the humour of the situation wasn’t entirely lost by any.

A couple of games specifically more in the corporate workshop realm rounded off the hour, and the players left them to get on with their conference.

Two days later…

Now it was time for the Free Taster. The ‘teachers’ arrived knowing it was going to be busy. And, sure enough, there were 17 people in total… not counting the teachers.

This made for a wonderful couple of hours.

The usual warm-up games were played with one being ‘Body Touching’. Yes, that’s right folk, Kathy called out a number and a body part and the players had to connect.

“four ankles!”

“four pinkies!”

But the favourite was:

“four bums!”

It certainly got everyone loosened up and laughing.

Players were broken up into groups for “Plan a Party” which had magic carpets, ponies and unicorns and Donald Trump arriving.

“I am a Tree” had all sorts of different poses and got the players thinking outside their comfort zone and they added to the story.

Two lines were formed to play the “Yes And” game with murder and mayhem and “The Johnson File” covered divorce papers, doctors files and even a missing chapter of the bible.

Everyone loved “Space Jump” seeing players dancing with sore ankles, climbing a tree, doing yoga and even delivering an alien.

The Taster workshop proved to be a hit, and those who attended certainly had a ton of raw talent. Laughter abounded, and by the end, everyone left feeling uplifted and many indicating that they wanted more.

Thanks to the Teachers: Kathy & Melissa

Thanks to Support Players: Fee, Kay, Wendy, Sally, Steve

And a huge thanks to all who came along to try their brains at Improv.

The next show at the Jam Factory is on Sunday ^1st November 7 pm

Book your tickets, have a drink at Mood Lounge first, then join us for loads of laughs.

1^st Sunday of every Month
Jam Factory, Historic Village
Show Starts: 7 p.m.

A Change Makes A Difference.

By hlimprovers | October 6, 2020

It began with an idea that proved to be a winner!

The Honest Liars decided to make quite a change with the layout of the stage. It worked!!!! The audience thought it was brilliant, they could see what was going on, and the players had more space to frolic about with their comedic antics.

It was a smaller group of players this time, only six, but they still managed to put on a show that had the audience laughing. Once the stage had been positioned, it was time to put out the chairs ready for the seven people who had tickets to arrive (and the hope of a few more walk-ins). Then it was time for a run-through of the games that were going to be played.

After a good warm-up, the players headed over to the Mood Lounge for a break leaving the crew to man the door. By the time they were back, there were certainly more than seven eager patrons filing in. In fact, it ended up being a nearly full house as more tickets had been sold at the last minute!

The players arrived on stage to battle it out for the best ‘World’s Worst’ hypnotist/publican/boss and midwife. Quickly followed by another warm-up game, ‘Questions’, where the players must speak in question form only.

Then the games began in earnest with ‘Four Ways to Die’ after which was the hilarious ‘Hollywood Director’ game. Kevin played the director trying to come up with the best take on the audience suggested scene of prostitutes in an alleyway. Kathy was an excellent pimp handling a prostitute (Jon) with problems and Melissa a very demanding customer. The director tried different genres from Western to Shakespeare, each one getting funnier and the problems getting worse.

It was decided to lengthen the half-time as not only did the audience need a bathroom break, but many needed to refresh their drinks from Mood.

Back with the show and ‘Film Noir’ was another hit. The suggestion from the audience had Jon and Melissa in Disneyland. Melissa, a princess, was tired of just having children around so when she spied Jon, she decided he could be the one. Little did she know that Jon, being British, gets turned on standing in queues for 3 – 4 hours. Have a peek and why he said it.

The rest of the 2nd half had the ‘Superheros’ battling a shortage of peanut butter and Fee, Sally and Kevin giving ‘Good, Bad and Ugly’ advice on home loans and procrastination among other things.

Two brave members of the audience came up onto the stage to assist in the ‘Change’ game. There Kathy, a criminal lawyer, was trying to talk to the client, Fee, who couldn’t make up her mind if she’d killed just one celebrity or many all for 15 minutes of fame.

Finally, the curtain came down. Well, not literally as there is no curtain! The players said goodnight to the audience, reassembled the stage back to where it was, turned off the lights and headed to Mood for a celebratory drink and a wind-down.

Thanks to the players:

Kathy
Kevin
Sally

Melissa
Jon
Fee

Thanks to the Crew:

Mark and the players!

The next show at the Jam Factory is on Sunday 1st November 7 pm

Book your tickets, have a drink at Mood Lounge first, then join us for loads of laughs.

1^st Sunday of every Month
Jam Factory, Historic Village
Show Starts: 7 p.m.

Next Workshop – Jam Factory Saturday, October 10th 10 – 12

Make Your Bubble.

By hlimprovers | September 8, 2020

Level 2 did not stop the Honest Liars Improv show going ahead at the Jam Factory last Sunday night.

Nor the fact that many dads were spending time with their kids and family celebrating Father’s Day. Even so, there was a very respectable turnout considering all the obstacles.

Forever the positive people, the players set up the Factory for a show and as the punters arrived, they were signed in, sanitised and instructed to move the chairs to create their own little bubbles. Laughter is definitely needed in these times.

The show began with Jon getting the players warmed up with the ‘Categories’ game. And, as was fitting for the occasion, famous fathers was the first category to be suggested and so it began with Winston Churchill, Lincoln and the Queen… wait a minute, that’s not a father!!! Then buzz out the player was the message from the audience.

‘Foreign Film Dub’ had Sally and Kevin playing two French lovers in lockdown in a film title ‘Sacré Bleu’. The translators, Kathy and Kim had them going from bedroom antics to Kevin making crepes with extra gluten for Sally whose allergy to gluten made her swell up to large proportions.

The ’Cube’ game with Kevin, Brett, Kelly and Kathy had suggestions ranging from a motorcycle to rats. But it was the suggestion of ‘horny’ that gave Brett the idea of putting Kevin into the zoo enclosure with a rhino telling him to watch out for the two horns. Kathy and Brett then had the word ‘eggplant’. But the quick-thinking Kathy gave a great twist as she complained to her ‘husband’ that the eggs had not grown after she’d planted them, nor had the toast or the bacon for that matter.

Kelly was the complete star of the show with her sign language as she ‘translated’ the interview with the expert who taught lions to do brain surgery. The audience were in both hysterics and awe with how she managed to ‘sign’ the pack of lions, their surgery skills and the mating rituals they did.

In ‘Pocket Note’ Mark was meeting up with two women in the infamous IKandy bar. Sally was rather posh and didn’t think Mark was at all like his profile pic whereas Kelly was more interested in the shots on offer. From “You’re looking good today, Chief” to “Sticky on the bottom” the notes proved another winner helping with the flow of the scene.

The best line though came, not from the players, but from an audience member. In the ‘Press Conference’ game, Jon and Brett were sent outside while the audience concocted a scandal the two would face. It was agreed that they owned Mammas Donuts and were responsible for taking the holes out of the doughnuts. Back inside they came to face the ‘press’. A hand from the audience shot up and the first question was, “So where have you taken the holes from the doughnuts?”

The entire audience collapsed with laughter and shouts of “nooooo” before the emcee could explain to the baffled audience member that the questions have to be subtle and hints.

The players went outside again and a new suggestion was created.

Everyone thought it was a great and entertaining faux pas and just went to prove how wonderful it is to have audience participation.

The last game of the night was another favourite, ‘Puppets’ as it involves a couple of members of the audience coming up on stage to participate by being puppet masters. Kevin and Kelly were at the emergency room as it transpired that Kelly had a drinking problem and was there to get her stomach pumped.

Mood Lounge, across from the Jam Factory, was extremely busy that night looking after the players pre and post-show along with audience members wanting to have a drink before and at intermission. What a great place to hang out, especially to wind down after the show.

Thanks to the players:

Kathy
Kevin
Sally
Kim

Kelly
Mark
Jon
Brett

Thanks to the Crew:

Fee and the players!

The next show at the Jam Factory is on Sunday 4^th October 7 pm

Book your tickets, have a drink at Mood Lounge first, then join us for loads of laughs.

1^st Sunday of every Month
Jam Factory, Historic Village
Show Starts: 7 p.m.

Next Workshop – Jam Factory Saturday, October 10th 10 – 12

The Busy Month of August.

By hlimprovers | September 1, 2020

The busy month of August began with a show at the Bayswater Retirement Village.

With Covid back in action, it was not exactly a packed-out audience, but a very vocal one and the report back was that the residents thoroughly enjoyed the evening. They say laughter is the best medicine, and it seems it was that night.

The audience enjoyed the antics of:

Fee, Kevin, Jon, Mark, Neil and Kathy as they embraced the wearing of head mics for the first time having to take them on and off with as much decorum as possible.

You may remember in the previous blog that the Honest Liars had some workshops going on in Waihi. Well, even with level 2, the teachers turned up and were able to keep going, due to the pretty decent area to work within.

There were a great bunch of students from the young ones right through to the adults. All were keen and brimming with energy (especially the kids as well you can imagine!). Some up and coming improvers shone through over all the classes.

Then it was showtime.

The players arrived at the local kebab eatery in the heart of the town and made sure they were well replenished before heading off to the theatre.

The wonderful Kathy led the troupe emceeing the show with laughter, pizzazz and a bit of cheek thrown in to the delight of the audience. The warm-up game ‘Categories’ had the players reeling off different types of pets including chilli pepper and banana (obviously not accepted). And in the ice cream flavours out came a cabbage one which made the audience and players alike screw their faces up.

In ‘Foreign Film Dub’ Fee and Kevin spoke only French while the translators wove the story of the two love birds. It transpired that one of them (not mentioning names) “you know I like the rough stuff” as a bit of strangling was happening. However, the blue pills passed to Kevin turned out the be cyanide and the game ended… well with poison, of course, it ended although the audience would have liked it to continue as they were enjoying it so much.

‘Pocket Note’, another crowd favourite, saw Kim, Sally and Kelly throwing their keys into the pot at a wife swap. The trouble was that only Kim and Sally had wives to which Kelly was quite happy about especially when one of the ‘notes’ said “my chlamydia is acting up again” giving her the spare wife. The audience suggestions had the players tied up, losing a blue pill and social distancing along with other great lines as the scene went along.

Then Kim became Dolly from San Diego for the ‘Dating Game’ as she questioned Brett, charged with assault with a deadly animal – Jon, a cross-dresser and Kevin whose Viagra had kicked in. You can use your imagination as to how that worked out.

In between the games, some of the Waihi students (teens and adults) had the stage for two games. The first, ‘Space Jump’ Had Ethan begin in the Jurassic era followed by SJ creating a fitness centre. Sam then joined changing the scene to kids sneaking out of school by jumping out of the 2nd-floor window and when Cindy came in, she tried to get the kids to go to bed. Four wonderful scenes were created.

Following the intermission Kimi, Lucy and Katherine played the ‘Alphabet’ game. Not an easy one to play, but they nailed it. With the suggestion of a honeymoon, the three students gave it a great twist by being planners for weddings, honeymoons and funerals.

At the end of the show, Ethan and Lucy came back on stage to be the puppet masters for Kevin and Kelly who were the puppets. The game was a first date taking place at the local dump. The audience couldn’t stop laughing and even Ethan and Lucy found it hard to contain their hilarity as they moved the players around.

There was time for a celebratory drink after the show, then it was off back to Papamoa for a well-earned rest (especially those who had been also teaching).

The next show at the Jam Factory is going ahead, however, due to Level 2, seating is limited so get your tickets now so you don’t miss out.

Thanks to the players Bayswater:

Kathy
Neil
Kevin

Jon
Fee
Mark

Thanks to the players Waihi Show:

Kathy
Fee
Kevin
Jon

Kim
Sally
Brett
Kelly

Thanks to the students who perform at the Waihi Show:

Sam
S.J.
Kimi
Lucy

Ethan
Cindy
Katherine

Thanks to the teachers who were at all workshops:

Kathy
Fee
Kevin

Next show is on September 6th so save the date!

Book your tickets, have a drink and snack at Mood Lounge in The Historic Village first,
then join us for loads of laughs.

1^st Sunday of every Month
Jam Factory, Historic Village
Show Starts: 7 p.m.

If you’re interested in the Next Workshop:

Jam Factory
Saturday, October 10th 10 am – 12 noon

The Improv Students.

By hlimprovers | August 20, 2020

Busy, busy times over the past months – well until COVID reared its ugly head again!

We had just begun a round of Beginner workshops back in March when we all went into lockdown level 4. Certainly, put a dampener on things, but the students were keen to keep going once the all-clear balloon went up.

We got a few more students to sign up and so began the Beginner workshop from the start again. Yay, we managed to get the entire four weeks in with the students learning in leaps and bounds.

This series culminated in the students having guest spots in the August show to which they played wonderfully to a full house. Some have gone on to attend the Intermediate round of workshops. Sadly, this was thwarted after the first night due to that ugly virus mentioned early.

But we’re all convinced that these students will be back much to the delight of the teachers.

Alongside this was the workshops being held at the Waihi Theatre. Slightly different as students were ranging in ages from kiddies through to adults. It started with the adorable 8 – 12-year-olds. Wow, what energy these kids had and it was excellent to see the shy ones blossoming even just from the start of the session to the end.

Then it was the turn of the teens. Not so many in the class, but enough to get great enjoyment from their take on the suggestions once the games began. Again, like the younger ones, the teens brought energy and enthusiasm.

Each Friday evening after classes, the tutors would have some dinner before driving home and thankfully crawling into their beds for a well-earned sleep.

Although COVID has put a bit of a dampener on the workshops, the enthusiasm from the students has not diminished.

Another Free Taster is set for October 10th (all going well). Come along if you think you’d like to have some fun and find out if Improv is for you. Simply fill in the contact form at the bottom of this post to register your interest.

Thanks to the teachers:

Melissa
Kathy
Fee

Kay
Neil
Kevin

Our thanks to all students who attend the workshops – it’s great to meet you and have some fun.

Next Workshop

FREE Taster
Jam Factory,
October 10th
Time: 10am – 12noon

Please contact us if you’re interested

[contact-form to=”support@honestliarsimprov.co.nz”][contact-field label=”Name” type=”name” required=”1″][contact-field label=”Email” type=”email” required=”1″][contact-field label=”Message” type=”textarea”][/contact-form]

NEXT WORKSHOP: SUNDAY 30th MARCH

NEXT SHOW: SATURDAY 5th JULY

ENGAGE US TO ENTERTAIN YOU

Author: hlimprovers

The Honest Liars do Christmas.

By hlimprovers | December 8, 2020

The Lead up to the Christmas Show.

By hlimprovers | December 3, 2020

Leading up to Christmas and final show, the Honest Liars were able to squeeze in a couple of ‘one-offs’.

Then came the shows.

Great Fun Over Four Weeks

By hlimprovers | November 11, 2020

Another successful round of workshops has ended the year in a celebratory mode.

Honest Liars Playing Over Time

By hlimprovers | November 3, 2020

November’s show saw the Honest Liars going over time much to the delight of the audience.

Something Different

By hlimprovers | October 20, 2020

Friday night and the players arrived at the Historic Village for something a bit different.

Busy Times

By hlimprovers | October 12, 2020

Within a matter of 48 hours, the Honest Liars had hosted two workshops.

A Change Makes A Difference.

By hlimprovers | October 6, 2020

It began with an idea that proved to be a winner!

Make Your Bubble.

By hlimprovers | September 8, 2020

Level 2 did not stop the Honest Liars Improv show going ahead at the Jam Factory last Sunday night.

The Busy Month of August.

By hlimprovers | September 1, 2020

The busy month of August began with a show at the Bayswater Retirement Village.

The Improv Students.

By hlimprovers | August 20, 2020

Busy, busy times over the past months – well until COVID reared its ugly head again!