Extra chairs were called for, and it’s always good when it’s a full house!

After sunny skies, rain descended, but, once again, it did not deter the Honest Liars from getting to the theatre on time. Warm-up vocals and a run-through of the show’s games were done before it was time to leave the stage and head off to a side room as the audience arrived.

The patrons purchased their drinks and found seats, although extra seats were brought in for this show, with so many walk-ins, the Honest Liars had to create another row of seats.

Right out of the box was the first game of ‘I Can Do It Better’. This starts with two players who set the scene, but then all the players have the chance to jump in, exclaiming, “I can do it better!” and take the place of one actor. A load of fun and with the suggestion from the audience of ‘shoplifting’. It started with the perpetrator in a toilet cubical with all sorts of goodies and the store detective peering over the door. The stolen items ranged from condoms to camels to razor blades. The arrest was violent, and the characters ended up vampires. That’s comedy improv; you never know where it will lead!

The next game was ‘Pocket Note’. This one relies on the suggestions from the audience, who offer up sentences that are written down on notes (see a few of them in the image below)

The scene was set with Jon, Brett and Sue surviving a plane crash. Sue’s dog, Fluffy, was desiccated entirely, so the first note was read from the 1st Aid Manual: “Eat all the cats and dogs”. Having injured her arm, Sue conveniently picked up the note “Where are the drugs kept?” which was both appropriate and timely and sent the audience into roars of laughter. The notes were weaved in as the story continued, but it was the last one when they were discussing Fluffy that stole the show – “well potty trained, not flees, free to a good home”.

‘Returns Desk’ operated by Jon saw Brett, Ryan and Steve returning damaged or non-functioning items of which they had yet to learn what they were. These small, medium and large-sized items were a vape which made you fart, a breast pump that delivered dust and a rocket made of chocolate. In order to guess, each one asked a series of questions to Jon, who also gave clues, but the questions that brought out the most laughter were “my children were not impressed” (the rocket), “this doesn’t taste anything like it should” (the breast pump), and with the Vape Jon said there were different flavours including “Fluffy” – a great reference to the earlier game.

After intermission, a quick round of ‘Sex With Me’ warmed up both the players and the audience, and then it was into ‘Complaints Letter’. This had Sue and Brett writing a letter of complaint one word at a time to a vasectomy clinic. They complained that, among other things, they were left in a shopping mall, that it was all so complicated, and all they wanted was a plain vasectomy with no frills. They ended the letter saying they didn’t know what would happen “when this explodes in my face”. They demanded chocolate and McDonalds as compensation.

The clinic responded, starting with a restraining order and continuing with all sorts of denials and accusations. They did, however, offer one concession: a single Happy Meal, which would consist of one nugget and three fries.

A few more games were played before the show ended with the brilliant ‘The Twitch’ game. Jon was on form copying all the twitches until, in the end, confusing them up, sending the audience into loads of laughter.

You can see how he handled interviewing for a parking attendant on our YouTube channel, The Twitch.

Check out more photos from the show in our Gallery.

Thanks to players

Thanks to
Crew:
Admin: Fee
Sound engineer: Ian

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.