Spring was in the air, so it was time for another Honest Liars show.

Although the day was overcast, the players brought the sunshine as they arrived at the theatre, ready for the springtime show they were looking forward to performing.

Laughter abounded during the warm-up games as the players practised the rules of the different games. But it wasn’t long before the first audience member arrived, so it was off to another area to continue loosening up.

The audience settled into their seats after getting their drinks and chatting to friends. The lights dimmed, and Jon, the emcee for the night, ran onto the stage to begin the evening’s entertainment.

After introducing the fellow players, it was time for the brain-storming game of ‘Sex With Me’. The first audience suggestion was “washing dishing”, which proved excellent. The players came up with:

• “Sex with me is like washing dishing – my wife and I avoid it all week.”
• “Sex with me is like washing dishing – I have to wear rubber gloves.”
• “Sex with me is like washing dishing – I have a machine to do most of the work.”

Then it was onto “shouting at kids” with lines such as:

• “Sex with me is like shouting at kids – I’m now allowed to do it in playgrounds.”
• “Sex with me is like shouting at kids – only old people are interested in doing it.”

And so it went on, making it very obvious why the Honest Liars must rate their shows R18.

The first game, Pocket Note, always a firm favourite, brought out some epic one-liners from the audience. One suggestion after Jon asked the audience a question was, “Can you say that again?” Jon repeated the question, not realising that was the suggestion. Sometimes, the audience participation brings just as much laughter as the players do.

“He Said, She Said” was set in a New York train station, but Kelly and Brett took it in a very different direction as they played the game of directing each other’s stage moves. Please look at a quick snippet of the game to get an idea of how it’s played.

In the “Complaints Letter”, Ian and Jon wrote (well, spoke one word at a time) a complaint letter to a mobile/broadband/power company complaining that their products suck. They went on to explain that the internet was too slow, especially watching porn.

The company, Gala and Mark, wrote back saying they were crazy and didn’t know what they were talking about as their company did not provide pornographic internet.

Then, it was the turn of the interview of an expert, with Kelly being the ‘Sign Language Interpreter’. Jon interviewed Brett, an expert at teaching bison the art of fishing. During the interview, it soon became apparent how it was done. A small bison was lowered over the side of the boat in search of sharks. Two larger bison linked elbows (🤔) to use the winch (bison don’t have fingers!). Sadly, the small bison became food for the sharks, and no fish were ever caught. Jon suggested teaching the bison how to pack shelves at Pak’ n Save would be better and probably easier.

Here’s a medley of Kelly’s interpretation of the interview – quite the workout!

After the intermission, ‘The Dating Game’ saw Steve, who had a hobby of collecting nipple tassels, Gala morph into a goat, and Mark, a professor of broccoli. Ian, who was Sven from Sweden, had to discover these quirks by asking each contestant three questions. He finally decided that the nipple tassels were going to be a much more exciting date than any of the others.

A couple more entertaining games followed, including ‘Foreign Film Dub’, which saw Kelly and Jon in the 1978 Estonian classic ‘Education of a Mother’. As the film was in the Estonian language, better known to the Honest Liars as gobbly gook, Steve and Brett had to interpret what the actors were saying. The movie took twists and turns that even the film actors were unaware of. But through much laughter, a story was told.

Finally, it was time for the last game of the evening, one that saw Jon having to remember and do all the different ‘twitches’ the players came up with for their interview. The job was for a horticulturist, but it wasn’t until the last applicant arrived that the position was filled. In the meantime, it was fun to watch Jon saluting, pointing, bobbing, and spinning each one with its verbal outcry.

The audience had been brilliant with their audacious suggestions, raucous laughter and loud, appreciative clapping. And so they left the theatre, vowing to return another night.

Thanks to players

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.