Uncategorized Archives - Honest Liars Improv

The Heat Was Ramped Up!

By hlimprovers | March 24, 2024

It wasn’t the Honest Liars’ fault that the heat was ramped up!

Well, that was what the players said.

The Honest Liars arrived at the theatre full of laughter and ready to get into the games. Even the warm-up had everyone in stitches, which bode well for the show. The first patron arrived early, sending the players from the stage to the back room. A couple of players took off to the bathroom when suddenly, the fire alarm shattered the peace.

Thankfully, the 16th Ave Theatre president was on hand and immediately issued the evacuation order. So everyone made their way outside to the curb, standing around wondering why. Could it have been one of the missing players? They were both thoroughly questioned when they appeared on the pavement.

There was no time to worry if this event was going to stop the show as not one but two fire trucks turned into 16th Avenue with sirens blaring.

Out came the firefighters. Poor chaps had no chance with the female Honest Liars watching their every move and asking if they were in the 2024 calendar. The heat was certainly ramped up as the firefighters made their way into the building.

The all-clear came, but not before the players grabbed a group selfie with the fire engine.

Safely back indoors, the audience members began arriving, giving themselves enough time to get a drink and find their seats. Then it was Show Time, and Jon ran out onto the stage to welcome all and let the games begin.

Now, the players do look out for one another, and this was made abundantly clear as Kathy spied the untied shoelace on Jon’s shoe and so helpfully tied it up for him. Of course, this went along with a lot of banter, and, like the show, nothing is scripted.

The opening warm-up game ‘Sex With Me Is Like’ began with “tying my shoes” (no surprise there), but it brought out all sorts of improv, like the use of leather, young boys, tongues and Velcro.

A few favourites were played, and then a new game called ‘Faster, Faster, Backwards’ was introduced to the audience. The idea of this game is that a scene is acted out in two minutes, then the same scene is repeated in one minute, then 30 seconds, then 15 seconds, and it ends with the whole scene going backwards. Set in a hospital, the story took all sorts of twists and turns, from Ramen noodles to chopping off an arm.

When it got to the 30-second round, the players were hectic but still had control and told the story.

‘The Dating Game’ saw Steve, who lived in his mother’s basement and didn’t get out often, talking to the three contestants: Sue, a Shame Therapist; Sally, who had a waste management obsession; and Ian, who was morphing into a dragon.

One of the questions he asked was, “What kind of sandwich would you be?”

The Shame Therapist replied, “How do you feel about crusts?”

The waste management obsessor, “What does your mother do with the crusts?”

And the dragon said that “steak and burnt toast” would be his favourite.

Here, he asks the shame therapist what her username would be.

In the game ‘He Said, She Said,’ the scene was a jailbreak. Kathy was making a wooden chainsaw, which Brett snatched away from her. Even though these two had shared a cell, it was only now that Brett saw the large cauldron and realized that the chainsaw was magic.

Now, the trick to this game is that each of the players directs the other in some form of movement before saying their line. Kathy directed Brett to dance, which had the audience in fits, but not before Brett had directed Kathy to first show him the dance moves.

The dancing created the magic so the chainsaw could do its thing and create a hole through which she could get through. But as she did, the hole closed up, leaving Brett dancing for his life to get the hole open again.

The show ended, and the Honest Liars had successfully delivered another round of improv games. It was time to turn out the lights, turn off the music, and head home with a head full of laughter and fun.

But don’t worry, another show will be held on the first Saturday of next month, and you can get tickets here:

A great show – Thanks to the players

Brett
Ian
Jon – Emcee
Kelly

Mark
Steve
Gala
Kevin

and…

Crew: 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.

First Show of 2024

By hlimprovers | February 10, 2024

A packed-out crowd turned up for the first show of 2024, and the players were on fire!

The skies opened, and the gods sent down a bucket load of rain almost as if they were saying, “Now let’s see who is going to venture out tonight!”. But it was all in vain because the players turned up and were ready to perform improv for the packed-out audience.

The first game, ‘Sex with Me is Like….’, got the audience and the players into the laugh-out-loud mood. With descriptions like:

“Sex with me is like eating Chinese food because I’ll eat anything.”

“Sex with me is like eating Chinese food because I never have enough.”

“Sex with me is like eating Chinese food because my wife gets upset when I bring some home”, and there were others, such as “Sex with me is like launching a boat…

Of course, there’s no show without the game ‘Pocket Note’, and the players didn’t disappoint. With the suggestion of a theme park and one person not wanting to be there, it soon transpired that Gala’s ‘son’ Ian, was scared of everything the park offered, including Steve the clown, who turned up with balloons in hand.

From lines from the notes:

“Can you please stop scratching?”

“How many goodly creatures are there here?”

“My wife’s having a baby”, which turned the clown into a sad, complaining employee who had to be at the park.

Finally, with the words from the lawyer they had on the phone, “I won’t pass the drug test”, the story ended.

It’s amazing where these stories go from simple suggestions from the audience.

In ‘Scene Three Ways’, the suggestion of pottery the game began with Kelly attending the Pottery 101 course. Gala soon had her on the wheel and creating a vase when Brett, a ghostly figure, began the haunting. Of course, the two women couldn’t see him, but as Jon, the director, changed the genre from romance to horror to porn, the ghost upset the pottery experience at every turn.

Once again, ‘Sign Language Interpreter’ had the laughter at full volume as Kelly mimed what was being said between Kevin, the interviewer, and Brett, the Professor who taught cows yoga.

If you want to watch the whole game, go to our YouTube channel.

The Dating Game had three contestants vying for the bachelor’s approval. Kelly was transforming into a tree, Gala was Courtney Love, and Brett was obsessed with toothpicks. You think they were strange; the bachelor wasn’t that much better. See for yourself:

After a few more games, such as ‘Foreign Film Dub’, ‘The Returns Desk’ and ‘The Cube’, it was time to wrap it up with the grand finale of ‘The Twitch’, which saw Jon interviewing for a funeral director without much luck. Each prospective candidate had come with some form of twitch or mannerism that Jon had to copy. The trouble was that quite a few were being interviewed, which had Jon entirely exhausted by the end.

On that note, the show was over, and the audience meandered out of the theatre still with smiles on their faces. The players relaxed with a well-earned drink before heading home, satisfied with their fun night.

Thanks to players

Brett
Kelly
Ian
Mark

Steve
Gala
Kevin
Jon (MC)

Thanks to

Crew: 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.

Another Comedy Improv Full House

By hlimprovers | October 22, 2023

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”.

‘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.

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.

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.

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

Laughing Through the Roadworks.

By hlimprovers | August 28, 2023

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.

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”.

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.

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

Improv on a Winter’s Night

By hlimprovers | June 28, 2023

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.

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.

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.

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

Coronation Night Show

By hlimprovers | May 26, 2023

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.

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.

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.

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

Another Great Improv Show

By hlimprovers | March 28, 2023

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.

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.

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.

‘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.

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

Full House for the 1st Show of 2023.

By hlimprovers | February 27, 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.

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.

‘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.

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

Last Improv Show of 2022.

By hlimprovers | January 16, 2023

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.

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

New Games, Same Players.

By hlimprovers | October 21, 2022

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.

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!

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.”

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.

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.

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

NEXT WORKSHOP: SUNDAY 30th MARCH

NEXT SHOW: SATURDAY 1st MARCH

ENGAGE US TO ENTERTAIN YOU

Category: Uncategorized

The Heat Was Ramped Up!

By hlimprovers | March 24, 2024

It wasn’t the Honest Liars’ fault that the heat was ramped up!

First Show of 2024

By hlimprovers | February 10, 2024

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Another Comedy Improv Full House

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Laughing Through the Roadworks.

By hlimprovers | August 28, 2023

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.

Improv on a Winter’s Night

By hlimprovers | June 28, 2023

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

Coronation Night Show

By hlimprovers | May 26, 2023

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

Another Great Improv Show

By hlimprovers | March 28, 2023

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

Full House for the 1st Show of 2023.

By hlimprovers | February 27, 2023

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

Last Improv Show of 2022.

By hlimprovers | January 16, 2023

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

SEE YOU AT THE NEXT SHOW!

New Games, Same Players.

By hlimprovers | October 21, 2022

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