A few fingernails were bitten in trepidation for the Easter show, but the players all agreed that the show must go on.

Not only had many locals (and players) left town, but the Jazz festival was in full swing. By the Sunday evening, the jazz goers were winding down after a full-on weekend, so it didn’t look hopeful that there would be an audience.

Never ones to be defeated, the players arrived at the Jam Factory, and after setting up the chairs, warming up the vocals, there was just enough time for a quick bite to eat before the audience arrived. And, yes, ticket sales had happened, so people were expected.

Just before the show began, loud music threatened to drown out any narrative. A rock band was giving a concert on the lawn outside the Mood lounge opposite the Jam Factory. A quick discussion and the players agreed

The Show Must Go On!

Board games and Horror films were the first suggestions for the game of ‘Categories’ in which it was decided that ‘Frozen’ was not a horror film!!

The ‘Themed Restaurant’ was set in the Rocky Horror Show where Kevin and Sue were celebrating their anniversary. The staff came to their table with lines of “The sweet is Transvestite” “On the menu is Dr Frankfurter”, and one waiter brought in the Time Warp song by jumping the table to the left.

A new game for the audience was ‘The Twitch’. This saw Kathy interviewing people for a job at a gas station and taking on their mannerisms. You will see how that worked in the snippet video below.

‘He Said, She Said’ was another new game and saw Kelly and Brett as plumbers in the public toilet. Brett was the seasoned plumber who could dive in with hands and grab the shit out without blinking, whereas Kelly, the apprentice, had to suit up with shoulder-high gloves. In fact, she put on a second pair just to be absolutely sure.

‘Pocket Note’ was back and saw Brett, Kelly and Matt on the Moon for a bachelor party. Looking for strippers was quite an ordeal, but with lines (given by the audience) such as “Thou shalt not shag the bunny”, “My girlfriend looked good in that too,” and “Get the cooking oil” proved to be pivotal to the story. The players couldn’t have asked for more perfect notes.

The show ended on an absolute high and the game ‘A Day In The Life’ had one audience member, Jayden, telling the emcee, Kathy, all about his birthday, which had finished with coming to the show.

The players then played out the day with Jon as Jayden being woken up by Mum, Kathy and Grandma, Kelly.

Three naps, a scavenger hunt and family coming for a party had all the players offering a hilarious rendition of Jayden’s day. The large table that grandma had made had many players carefully trying to fit it into the small space, then Brett, playing a double door fridge, was brought in as the gift from mum.

The fridge turned out to be a small beer one! But the table was definitely large.

Thanks to Jayden and his family for providing the players with a great story to tell (and sending photos of the real things).

Finally, the curtain came down (metaphorically), and as the audience filed out, it became apparent that the competing music band had been zoned out, and the show was a success.

Mood lounge was still open, so the players wandered across for some snacks and a drink before heading home to the respective beds.

ANNOUNCEMENT!

The Honest Liars have been invited to perform an hour-long show at the Auckland Improv Festival!

If you’re in Auckland Sunday 25th April the players will be at The Covert Theatre in Ponsonby. You can book your tickets here:   FESTIVAL SHOW

Thanks to players

Thanks to the Crew:

Fee and the players!

And thanks to Jayden, his mum and sister for a delightful story.

The next show at the Jam Factory is on Sunday 2nd May 7 pm hot on the heels of the Auckland Improv Festival  …  FESTIVAL SHOW

Book your tickets for our regular show, have a drink at Mood Lounge first, then join the players for loads of laughs.

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

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

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.