Daylight Saving, Honest Liars Style

By hlimprovers | October 5, 2026 | Comments 0 Comment

Daylight saving had arrived, the evenings were stretching out, and Honest Liars were ready to make the most of the extra hour of daylight—with plenty of laughs thrown in.

With the warmer weather, the players headed into the theatre. Perhaps there was something in the air because the laughter started during the warm-up—and didn’t seem to stop until the last audience member had left.

Once again, it was lovely to see plenty of familiar faces among the crowd. Returning audience members are becoming a regular feature at Honest Liars shows, along with first-timers coming to see what happens when you put a group of improvisers on stage, give them absolutely no script, and let the audience provide the inspiration.

The show opened with ‘I Can Do It Better’, where each player attempts to outdo the one before. The audience suggestion was selling a laminator, which might not immediately strike you as the stuff of comedy gold.

The Honest Liars thought otherwise.

The sales pitch began with a salesperson from a local company, then moved on to Temu and, eventually, Australia, where apparently the laminators come complete with spiders.

Well, if it comes from Australia. You probably should check the box before plugging it in.

Next came ‘Complaints Letter’, involving a disgruntled motorist writing to the traffic department about a traffic ticket. Rather than try to explain exactly where that correspondence went, we’ll let the players speak for themselves.

WATCH THE VIDEO BELOW

Then it was time for ‘The Cube’, which produced four delightfully ridiculous stories.

The first featured Gala as Jon’s invisible friend. Unfortunately for Jon, she wasn’t exactly the sort of imaginary companion who encouraged good life choices. Her suggestions included putting sausages up car exhaust pipes, and from there things progressed—or perhaps regressed—into further criminal activity.

Clearly, not all invisible friends should be listened to.

The second story transported us to a goulash festival in Budapest, with Ian and Gala as the judges. It turned out the competition was quite literally between Buda and Pest, with both sides presenting their finest goulash.

Naturally, the judges were wearing bathing suits. Even more naturally, they threw goulash around. Some things in improv are probably best not examined too closely.

The third Cube story found Kelly asking her boss, Ian, for that most unreasonable of workplace benefits—a lunch break. She had been stacking mannequins continuously and was understandably concerned about the complete absence of food.

Her boss explained that there were no food breaks, although she was welcome to take any one of the four smoko breaks. Kelly pointed out that eating cigarettes only made her sick. Ian immediately identified the problem: she was eating the filtered ones. Workplace health and safety may wish to have a quiet word.

The final Cube story took place at a dog kennel, where Kelly arrived to leave her beloved dogs, Boris and Timothy, for a month. Kennel owner Jon couldn’t help noticing that Boris and Timothy looked remarkably like a pair of white African rhinos. Still, a customer is a customer, and Boris and Timothy were duly welcomed.

Unfortunately, when Kelly returned a month later, there had been a slight mix-up. Another client had apparently claimed Boris and Timothy and departed with them, leaving behind two miniature terriers. One can only imagine the conversation when that client arrived home.

The evening continued with more games, plenty of excellent audience suggestions and the wonderful unpredictability that makes live improv such fun. The audience plays an important part in every Honest Liars show. Their ideas provide the seeds from which the scenes grow—and occasionally send the performers down paths nobody could possibly have anticipated.

The final game of the night was ‘Twitch Interview’, and it certainly sent everyone home laughing.

Ryan faced a succession of interviewees hoping to secure the highly sought-after position of capybara trainer. There was just one small complication. Each interviewee arrived with a different mannerism or twitch, and Ryan had to gradually take on each new behaviour himself.

As the interview continued and the mannerisms piled up, things got increasingly ridiculous. By then, the audience was in stitches watching Ryan attempt to cope with everything being thrown at him while somehow continuing the interview.

And that brought another Honest Liars evening to a close.

From Australian spiders hiding in laminators and sausages stuffed up exhaust pipes to bathing-suit-clad goulash judges, cigarette-eating employees, misplaced rhinoceroses and prospective capybara trainers, it had been another night where absolutely anything could—and did—happen.

The audience laughed, the players had a ball, and the comments afterwards made it clear that everyone had thoroughly enjoyed themselves.

That’s the joy of Honest Liars improv. Nobody knows what will happen next.

And, judging by this show, that’s probably just as well.

Thanks to:

The Players	The Crew
Jon + MC Steve Ian Ryan Kelly Mark Gala	Admin: Fee & Sue Tech: 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.

Spring into Laughter with Honest Liars Comedy Improv

By hlimprovers | September 7, 2026 | Comments 0 Comment

Spring arrived in Tauranga with a full house, plenty of laughter and one rather unfortunate broken bell.

On Saturday 5th September, Honest Liars returned to the 16th Ave Theatre for another evening of improvised comedy, and this time the theatre wasn’t just full—it was filled to capacity. Even better, for the first time, more tickets had been sold in advance than there were walk-ins on the night.

Perhaps people are learning that leaving an Honest Liars ticket until the last minute is becoming a risky business!

It was also lovely to see so many familiar faces among the audience. People who had been to previous shows were returning for another dose of unscripted silliness, alongside newcomers who were about to discover that at an Honest Liars show, nobody—not even the performers—knows what’s going to happen next.

And what better way to herald the arrival of spring?

The evening opened with ‘Objections’, the fast-moving game where players must argue their case until somebody objects and takes over the floor. The audience suggestion was one of life’s great domestic controversies: should the toilet seat be left up or down?

What followed was hardly a sensible discussion of bathroom etiquette.

The arguments wandered through household toilets, bidets, toilets on planes and even criminal activities before someone pointed out that toilet seats are, apparently, binary—they can exist anywhere within the range of fully up to fully down.

We’re not entirely convinced that’s what binary means, but this is improv. Facts are occasionally sacrificed in the pursuit of a good laugh.

The enthusiasm wasn’t confined to the players, either. At the end of one game, our MC brought proceedings to a close by hitting the bell with such gusto that he broke it.

That’s commitment.

‘Pocket Note’, a regular Honest Liars favourite, transported everyone to a maternity ward, where a soon-to-be father appeared rather more concerned about playing Candy Crush and getting to the game than the imminent arrival of his child. His helpful suggestion to the mother was, essentially, that she hurry things along because he had tickets.

Enter the doctor, who was apparently willing to assist in speeding up the baby’s arrival so Dad could make it to his game.

Into this already questionable medical situation came the audience-written pocket notes. “The apple didn’t fall far from the tree,” “It’s raining me,” “I still haven’t found what I’m looking for,” and “It’s running a lot better” all appeared at beautifully timed moments.

That’s the joy of ‘Pocket Note’. The performers have no idea what they’re about to pull from their pockets, yet somehow the most random phrases can sound as though they were written specifically for the scene.

Next came ‘The Dating Game’, bringing with it the usual collection of people you probably wouldn’t find on your average dating app.

The contestant, gloriously named Toyota Caravan, had three potential dates to choose from: a sewer diver, someone convinced they were the Tooth Fairy, and someone who believed they were a magic carpet capable of transforming into a submarine.

You know—the usual Saturday-night dating pool.

By asking each potential date three questions, Toyota managed to work out their peculiar identities. Whether any of them were considered suitable long-term relationship material is perhaps another matter entirely.

Then came ‘Civil War Letters’, and a simple audience suggestion—taking out the night basket—provided the starting point for a correspondence between Colonel Joshua Humperdink and his beloved Marianne.

In his first letter, the Colonel assured Marianne that he was surviving the war but had made an unfortunate discovery: wicker isn’t waterproof. Tired of wet feet, he had solved the problem by inventing a porcelain chamber pot.

A touching wartime innovation.

Unfortunately for Colonel Humperdink, Marianne’s reply revealed that she had a similar chamber pot back home. Even more unfortunately, Farmer Timothy had been visiting and showing her how to use it.

As the letters travelled back and forth, Farmer Timothy seemed to be spending an alarming amount of time with Marianne. The Colonel’s suspicions grew, the correspondence became increasingly fraught, and romance finally gave way to divorce.

From wicker baskets to marital collapse in a matter of minutes. Improv really does know how to move a story along.

Here’s a snippet of the story of the night basket.

There were plenty more games and laughs throughout the evening, helped enormously by an audience willing to throw out excellent suggestions and to become part of the fun. That’s one of the things that makes live improv so different from other forms of comedy. The audience isn’t simply watching the show—it helps create it.

The night finished on a high with ‘Puppets’, where two audience members came on stage to physically control the players’ movements. Judging by the fun they were having, being handed temporary control of an Honest Liar is possibly more entertaining than it ought to be.

Finally came ‘Twitch’, bringing the evening’s high jinks to a suitably energetic conclusion.

And then it was over.

Another Honest Liars show, another theatre full of laughter and another collection of completely ridiculous stories that had never existed before that evening—and will never happen in quite the same way again.

That’s the magic of improv. You can arrive knowing absolutely nothing about what you’re going to see and leave having witnessed toilet-seat philosophy, maternity-ward mayhem, a submarine masquerading as a magic carpet, and the sad collapse of a Civil War romance over a porcelain chamber pot.

Spring has officially arrived in Tauranga.

And apparently, it’s slightly unhinged.
Thanks to:

The Players	The Crew
Jon + MC Steve Ian Ryan Kelly Mark Gala	Admin: Fee & Sue Tech: 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.

Honest Liars Fill the Theatre

By hlimprovers | August 4, 2026 | Comments 0 Comment

Another Full House, Another Fantastic Night of Improv Comedy

If there was any doubt that Tauranga loves improv comedy, it was quickly put to rest on Saturday 1st August. Despite the crisp winter temperatures outside, the atmosphere inside the 16th Ave Theatre was warm from the moment the doors opened. Once again, every seat was filled, proving that Honest Liars continues to attract audiences eager for an evening where absolutely anything can happen.

One of the highlights of the night came before the first game had even gathered momentum. A brand-new member of the troupe made her debut performance. Taking to an improv stage for the very first time takes courage. There are no scripts to hide behind, no rehearsed lines to remember, and no guarantee of where the next audience suggestion might lead. Despite understandable nerves, she embraced the challenge brilliantly, earning plenty of laughs and proving she was more than ready to become one of the Honest Liars family.

The evening opened with the ever-popular Objections, where the audience supplied the wonderfully ordinary suggestion of toothpaste. Of course, within seconds toothpaste was anything but ordinary. One moment it was being praised, the next it was being condemned, and before long it had become the centre of increasingly outrageous arguments. One of the joys of improv is watching performers take the simplest object imaginable and transform it into something gloriously ridiculous. Toothpaste certainly received the full Honest Liars treatment.

No Honest Liars show would feel complete without Pocket Note, and this month’s offering was another gem. The setting was a zoo with one rather significant problem—it didn’t actually have any animals.

Undeterred, the zookeepers simply began eyeing up the audience instead.

Pointing into the crowd, one confidently declared they’d spotted a likely specimen. Then, just when things couldn’t become any stranger, a handsome construction worker arrived during his lunch break. Naturally, he too became prime exhibit material as the pair enthusiastically discussed creating what could only be described as a man’s zoo.

As always, the hidden notes introduced by the audience steered the scene in wonderfully unexpected directions. Phrases such as “Can things be quicker,” “Got drunk last night,” and “She got around” were woven seamlessly into the unfolding story.

The biggest laugh of the scene came when one of the zookeepers casually asked whether the construction worker would like to know what was in her lunch.

The note revealed:

“A butter chicken tsunami.”

The timing couldn’t have been more perfect. There was a split second of silence as everyone processed the phrase before the theatre erupted into peals of laughter. Those magical moments, where a completely random suggestion lands perfectly, are exactly why no two improv performances are ever the same.

Our newest Honest Liar returned to the stage for Alphabet, one of improv’s trickiest games. Two performers must hold an entirely natural conversation while beginning each sentence with the next letter of the alphabet. Easy enough on paper—far less so when you’re also trying to build a coherent scene.

The audience’s chosen topic? A loom.

Watch the full game below:

Not exactly the easiest subject to chat about alphabetically, but both performers embraced the challenge with enthusiasm. It was another impressive performance from the newest cast member, whose confidence visibly grew as the evening unfolded.

Next came He Said, She Said, where each performer gives physical instructions for the other to carry out. This particular story revolved around gardening, although it quickly wandered into wonderfully absurd territory. There were garden gnomes, oversized holes appearing where they probably shouldn’t, playful accusations flying in every direction, and enough physical comedy to keep the audience laughing throughout. Watching performers faithfully follow increasingly ridiculous instructions while somehow keeping the scene alive is always a delight.

Another audience favourite, Sign Language Interview, once again demonstrated just how wonderfully impossible improv can become. The interview featured an “expert” explaining the highly specialised skill of teaching antelope to do woodturning. Spare a thought for the sign language interpreter, whose job was to physically translate every increasingly bizarre detail. Before long, she was stretching, twisting, balancing and, at one memorable point, lying on the floor spinning in circles as she desperately tried to keep up. The audience was in fits of laughter as both the interview and the interpretation grew increasingly outrageous.

The evening continued with more games, more wonderfully imaginative audience suggestions, and plenty more laughter echoing through the theatre. One of the pleasures of an Honest Liars show is that every audience becomes part of the performance. Their suggestions spark the stories, shape the scenes, and often create the biggest laughs of the night. They may not be on stage—except for the lucky few recruited as puppeteers during Puppets—but their input is every bit as important as the performers’.

If this show proved anything, it’s that even on the coldest winter evening, there’s no better place to be than inside the 16th Ave Theatre, where imagination runs wild, the audience becomes part of the action, and everyone goes home just a little happier than when they arrived.

Thanks to:

The Players	The Crew
Jon + MC Steve Ian Ryan Kelly Mark Gala	Admin: Fee & Sue Tech: 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.

Honest Liars Bring Winter Laughs to Tauranga

By hlimprovers | June 12, 2026 | Comments 0 Comment

A Cold Winter Night, a Warm Theatre, and Plenty of Laughs

Winter may have officially arrived in Tauranga, but inside the 16th Ave Theatre for the first show of winter, there was nothing chilly about the atmosphere.

As audience members escaped the cold evening air and settled into their seats, the theatre quickly filled with warmth, anticipation, and plenty of friendly chatter. By showtime, the venue was packed, creating exactly the sort of energy improv performers love. When the Honest Liars cast burst onto the stage to enthusiastic applause, everyone knew they were in for an entertaining evening.

One of the opening games was a great warm-up for the players. I Can Do It Better. This fast-paced challenge sees performers attempting to outdo one another in increasingly ridiculous ways, with confidence levels soaring far beyond actual ability. It set the tone perfectly for the rest of the night and had the audience laughing from the outset.

The evening soon moved into an audience favourite called Pocket Note, where a seemingly ordinary workplace became the setting for extraordinary nonsense. The location suggested by the audience was the Huntly power station, where workers were supposedly responsible for keeping the country’s lights on.

As often happens in improv, things didn’t stay sensible for long.

The workers appeared to be struggling with their coal-shovelling duties, resulting in power outages across the country. Meanwhile, the series of mysterious notes, written by the audience, were inserted into the story. Each containing increasingly bizarre messages. Among the gems were warnings such as “Don’t eat that pizza,” declarations like “I don’t have a passport,” and some highly questionable dating advice involving one-night stands and swiping left.

The mystery finally unravelled when it became clear that the workers weren’t feeding coal into the boiler at all. Instead, they had somehow been shovelling chocolate. As explanations go for a nationwide power crisis, it was certainly one of the more memorable ones.

Another highlight was Complaints Letter, a game that demonstrates just how difficult — and hilarious — communication can become when four improvisers are responsible for writing letters one word at a time.

The audience suggested a complaint about ring binders, and the players embraced the challenge. The resulting letter informed our MP, Mr Peters, that the binders were buckling under pressure and desperately needed strengthening. Matters escalated dramatically when the complaint revealed that a previous binder failure had resulted in a rather unfortunate summer injury involving a gouge to the writer’s left testicle.

As if that weren’t enough, the reply letter somehow managed to become even more absurd. The correspondents confidently identified the source of the problem as a man named Richard, who apparently had no business designing stationery in the first place. The response concluded with appreciation for the customer’s contribution to Mr Peter’s political party and the promise of a special medal shaped like a testicle.

Customer service has rarely reached such heights.

The second half featured Puppets, one of Honest Liars’ most delightfully chaotic games. Inspired by an audience suggestion reminiscent of an Avatar-style movie, the performers, with help from puppeteers chosen from the audience, found themselves in a fantastical world facing an unexpected threat: penguins.

Lots and lots of penguins.

What followed was exactly the sort of mayhem audiences have come to expect from improv comedy. Characters struggled heroically against their feathered invaders, storylines twisted in unexpected directions, and performers somehow managed to keep a straight face as they navigated the increasingly ridiculous situation. The audience certainly didn’t.

And a new game, the Relay, was introduced to the audience. With five players taking turns to tell the story, it certainly was a rollicking good yarn. See for yourself with the video.

As the evening drew to a close, the audience left with smiles on their faces, still discussing favourite moments as they headed back into the winter night. The performers took their final bow to generous applause, knowing they had shared another memorable evening with the Tauranga community.

One of the joys of improv is that no two shows are ever the same. The performers begin with only a handful of audience suggestions and create entire scenes, stories, and characters on the spot. Sometimes the results are clever, sometimes they are chaotic, and occasionally they are gloriously nonsensical. The Honest Liars’ shows manages to be all three.

Most importantly, they deliver exactly what people come for: laughter.

If you missed this show, don’t worry. Honest Liars will be back next month with more unscripted comedy, unexpected twists, and plenty more opportunities for audience suggestions to send the performers down wonderfully ridiculous paths.

After all, you never know when a national power outage might turn out to be caused by chocolate.
Thanks to:

The Players	The Crew
Jon + MC Steve Ian Ryan Kelly Mark Gala	Admin: Fee & Sue Tech: 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.

NEXT SHOW: 7th NOVEMBER

ENGAGE US TO ENTERTAIN YOU

NEXT WORKSHOP: TBA

Tag: relay

Daylight Saving, Honest Liars Style

By hlimprovers | October 5, 2026 | Comments 0 Comment

Daylight saving had arrived, the evenings were stretching out, and Honest Liars were ready to make the most of the extra hour of daylight—with plenty of laughs thrown in.

Spring into Laughter with Honest Liars Comedy Improv

By hlimprovers | September 7, 2026 | Comments 0 Comment

Spring arrived in Tauranga with a full house, plenty of laughter and one rather unfortunate broken bell.

Honest Liars Fill the Theatre

By hlimprovers | August 4, 2026 | Comments 0 Comment

Another Full House, Another Fantastic Night of Improv Comedy

Honest Liars Bring Winter Laughs to Tauranga

By hlimprovers | June 12, 2026 | Comments 0 Comment

A Cold Winter Night, a Warm Theatre, and Plenty of Laughs