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Honest Liars improv comedy Tauranga
Honest Liars Improv Comedy Kicks Off 2026 in Tauranga

Honest Liars Improv Comedy Kicks Off 2026 in Tauranga

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The Honest Liars Turned Up the Heat (and the Absurdity) at 16th Ave Theatre

The first Honest Liars Improv Comedy show of 2026 arrived with impeccable comic timing: right in the middle of a classic Tauranga heatwave. The sort of day where even your thoughts feel slightly wilted. But heat, it turns out, is no match for a group of improvisers armed with water bottles, determination, and an alarming willingness to make absolute fools of themselves for public enjoyment.

Despite competing with a UB40 tribute show and Shakespeare at the Quarry (which feels unfair, given that they are two very different but equally powerful cultural temptations), the audience still turned up in strong numbers at the 16th Ave Theatre. Many were brand new to improv, which is always a delight. There’s nothing quite like watching someone discover, in real time, that yes, this is all made up, and no, there is absolutely no safety net.

Thankfully, the theatre’s air-conditioning had been cranked up before the audience arrived, meaning brains could fire properly and no one slid out of their seat mid-scene. A strong start already.

The show opened with the ever-popular Good, Bad & Ugly, a game that proves once and for all that asking improvisers for advice is a bold and deeply questionable life choice. One brave audience member asked how to decide which ice cream flavour to choose. What followed was a masterclass in escalating logic.

  • Good: Go every day and choose a different flavour. Sensible. Optimistic. Dairy-forward.
  • Bad: Get a job at the ice-cream shop, volunteer to close, and lick every flavour until clarity arrives. Questionable hygiene, but thorough.
  • Ugly: Have a frontal lobotomy so you never have to make a decision again. About ice cream. Or anything. Ever.

And just like that, the audience knew they were in safe, if slightly unhinged, hands.

An audience favourite, Pocket Note, followed, transporting everyone onto a cruise ship that somehow ended up stuck in a cave. The joy of this game lies in watching players attempt to justify increasingly impossible circumstances with absolute conviction and seamlessly weave in the audience-provided notes. If you haven’t already, the video below is well worth a watch, pure, nautical nonsense at its finest.

Next up was Complaints Letter, featuring Steve and Shawn painstakingly writing a letter one word at a time to Auckland Zoo. The grievance? The elephants are too wrinkly. According to the letter, these excessively wrinkled elephants exude bad vomit over visitors, which is apparently “just not good enough.” The complaint was formally signed by the unforgettable H. R. Benjamin Esq.

The Zoo’s reply (courtesy of Kathy and Ryan) was gloriously defensive and completely baffled. The elephants, they explained, were perfectly fine. In fact, all the animals receive Botox to combat wrinkles, including the scorpions. Particularly helpful, as it stops them from being sweaty. The Zoo suggested, quite reasonably, that H. R. Benjamin Esq. never visit again.

A brand-new game made its debut: Time Warp. Kathy and Steve began a scene visiting the in-laws (already a dangerous premise) before Jon rang a bell and hurled them backwards and forwards through time. The result was joyful chaos, emotional whiplash, and a growing appreciation that this game is far easier to watch than to explain. The video below will clarify everything.

The show closed with Puppets, a guaranteed crowd-pleaser. Two audience volunteers served as puppet masters, physically positioning a player each as they attempted to play out a scene in which the Eiffel Tower collapsed during an earthquake. Grace was not the goal. Commitment was. And commitment was delivered in spades.

Puppet masters in full force.

puppets improv game

The night wrapped up with big laughs, warm applause, and that particular post-improv glow where everyone leaves a little lighter than they arrived. A cracking way to launch 2026, hot weather, cool air-con, brand-new audience members, and improvised nonsense doing exactly what it does best.

Same time, same chaos—see you at the next one.

Thanks to:

The Players

The Crew

Jon + MC

Kathy + MC

Sue

Gala

Ryan

Shawn

Steve

Admin:

Fee


Tech:

Callum

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.

honest liars improvhonest liars improv comedy

 

Honest Liars Improv October 2025 show
Honest Liars Improv October 2025 show

Honest Liars Improv October 2025 show

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Laughter Beats the Black Caps at 16th Ave Theatre

You’d think the international cricket would have stolen the crowd — Black Caps versus Australia at the Bay Oval is no small distraction — but it turns out that laughter wins every time. A lively audience packed into Tauranga’s 16th Ave Theatre for the October show, to see the Honest Liars in action, and what a night it was.

From the moment the lights came up, the room buzzed with energy. The warm-up game, Categories, had everyone calling out suggestions faster than a ball bowled at ninety miles an hour. “Shades of red!” and “Types of relationships!” set the tone for a night of quick thinking, clever wordplay, and the kind of chaos only improv can create.

Then came The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, with Gala, Steve, and Ryan offering their “expert” advice on life’s great dilemmas. When frostbite was suggested, the wisdom ranged from sensible medical help to fashion advice involving “accessorising with blackened fingers.” But the audience really lost it when the topic of boredom in retirement came up. The good advice was wholesome — “find a hobby or try meditation.” The bad? “Get involved in everyone else’s drama at the retirement village.” And the ugly? “Follow someone like Jeffrey Dahmer — just leave out the serial-killer part!” It was wickedly funny and entirely unrehearsed, proving that even questionable advice can be comedy gold.

Honest Liars Improv October 2025 show

The pace never slowed. In Change, players had to instantly switch their lines whenever the MC called “Change!”, leading to an unforgettable argument about Guy Fawkes. Then it was time for Pocket Note and a hysterical plane scene where Jon and Steve’s “pilots” had no idea how to fly, getting lost in each other’s eyes, seeing a pregnant woman in labour floating down with a parachute and leaving Sally to literally save the day. The audience’s suggestions were incorporated brilliantly, with the final note, “Another one bites the dust!” wrapping up the scene perfectly.

But the highlight of the night? The now-legendary Complaints Letter. The suggestion: the U.S. government. Gala and Ryan took turns writing the letter one word at a time, creating a wonderfully bizarre complaint to Donald Trump. Jon and Steve’s “official reply” went delightfully off-course into a debate about different types of cheese. By the end, the audience was in stitches, clapping and cheering for more.

See the first letter here (contains offensive language):

 

As the curtain came down (so to speak), the crowd left with grins wide enough to rival the Bay Oval floodlights. Cricket may have had the headlines, but for those inside 16th Ave Theatre, there was no contest — comedy won by a landslide.

If you missed out this time, don’t worry — the Honest Liars will be back next month with a fresh batch of games, unpredictable hilarity, and maybe even a few new “ugly” bits of advice. Sign up for our newsletter to get info on the next show: Newsletter

Thanks to the players

The Players

The Crew

Jon + MC

Kathy + MC

Sue

Gala

Ryan

Shawn

Steve

Admin:

Fee


Tech:

Callum

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.

buy ticketshonest liars comedy improv

improv comedy night
Improv Comedy Night Delivers Unscripted Laughter

Improv Comedy Night Delivers Unscripted Laughter

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Another beautiful Tauranga evening as the players went to the 16th Ave Theatre for a fun-filled improv comedy night.

The show opened with a new game, ‘My Movie.’ It’s for all the players and designed to be fun for the audience and brain-activating for the players. Two or three letters from the alphabet are gleaned from the audience, and the players are then asked for a film title. The chosen film must offer a tagline and a wee snippet from the film. Some of the titles were bizarre, to say the least!

For example, the letters K and H became the film Kinky Hamburgers.

my movie comedy improv

The ‘Returns Desk’ saw Jon trying to elicit information from the ignorant consumer about what and why they were returning their object.

Kelly marched right on into Victoria’s Secret to return a shark-toothed thong. She told Jon that her mother had been very disappointed with the gift she’d given her, which made the audience react with delighted laughter. Well, can you imagine it?

comedy improv

Kathy was an old lady returning a microwave that only cooked cold, and what a shambles that turned out to be at her garden group. Steve, as Frankenstein’s assistant, Igor, dragged in a Space X rocket that only operated underwater, which the master was not happy about!

It was time for ‘Letters from the Civil War’. This game involved Colonel Jeremiah Humperdink and his sweetheart, Cecilie, who wrote letters to each other.

The theme suggested by the audience was a Dear John letter, and the Colonel was very, very drunk when he wrote it. Oh dear, whatever did he say?

Well, take a look for yourself and see what he wrote and what the response was:

 

See the full game on our YouTube – Civil War Letters

An excellent ‘Sign Language Interpreter’ had the audience in stitches as Kelly interpreted the interview between Jon and Ian, the woolly mammoth trainer who found frozen woolly mammoths in Canada, brought them back, put them into a swimming pool to defrost, and discovered they came to life performing synchronised swimming! This was a rather challenging interpretation for Kelly, who ended up jumping and falling and trying to synchronise actions in a pool.

improv comedy night

No show is complete without ‘The Twitch’ game, and, once again, Jon was in the hot seat, having to mimic all the twitches each applicant had as they came in to be interviewed for the dentist position. This had Jon exhausted by the end, much to the audience’s delight. A great game to finish up another fun improv comedy night.

Thanks to players

Jon & MC
Steve
Kathy
Kelly		 Gala
Mark
Ian

Thanks to
Admin: 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.

buy ticketshonest liars comedy improv

the heat was ramped up
The Heat Was Ramped Up!

The Heat Was Ramped Up!

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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.

the heat was ramped up

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.

team photo

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.

helping hands

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.

the heat was ramped up

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.

he said she said improv

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.

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

book now

First Show of 2024
First Show of 2024

First Show of 2024

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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.

honest liars improv

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.

sign languageThe 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.

The Twitch comedy improv

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.

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

book now

Another Comedy Improv Full House
Another Comedy Improv Full House

Another Comedy Improv Full House

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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

Honest liars improv
Laughing Through the Roadworks.

Laughing Through the Roadworks.

By |

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

Improv on a Winter’s Night

By |

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 show
Coronation Night Show

Coronation Night Show

By |

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

Another Great Improv Show
Another Great Improv Show

Another Great Improv Show

By |

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