Poetry, banter and beer to hit Murrays
Two poets and storytellers will be propping up the bar at Murray’s Irish Bar this weekend telling tales about the country we live in.
Chris Gallavin and Jono Corfe will be performing as a fundraiser for the Manawatu Writer’s Festival.
Gallavin is a regular media commentator on television and radio and he also wrote and hosted a two-hour documentary on the Scott Watson case that aired on TV1 last year.
He said he will perform poems by heart that he believes define New Zealand.
‘‘My act is very much in the vein of the old Sam Hunt, Gary McCormick and Tim Shadbolt tours, 1/3 comedy, 1/3 history, 1/3 poetry. It is very interactive, engaging and entertaining and specifically designed for audiences who know nothing about poetry.’’
He said he works in with Jono Corfe ‘‘to increase the banter and the laughs all the while giving the audience a journey through the story of their country via poetry’’.
Jono Corfe is the author of The Great Kiwi Pub Crawl and is an ex-radio DJ in which Gallavin said his show was an ‘‘interactive, political satire based, comical rant’’.
‘‘Highly intelligent Jono’s hero is the late John Clark of Fred Dagg fame. In fact we have a couple of sketches based on the John Clarke and Bryan Dawe routines.
Jono is also a seasoned pub quiz organiser having organised and delivered over 500 quizzes at pubs right across Canterbury.’’
Gallavin said the pair fully appreciate that poetry is often indigestible for people, so they strive to keep it ‘‘light and upbeat – with well picked poems and sketches that tell stories and keep the laughs going’’.
‘‘Having said that, we enjoy taking an audience on a journey – sometimes high, sometimes low and thoughtful. The key is to keep it varied and for segments to be long enough to engage and not too long to bore.’’
Dinner and Date: A night of entertainment and New Zealand Poetry like you’ve never heard it before: With Chris Gallavin and Jono Corfe is on July 2, 8pm at Murray’s Irish Bar.
The Manawatu Writer’s Festival will open on September 8th and will run until September 12.