Stand up laughs
Two born-and-bred Porirua comedians will take to the stage at this month’s International Comedy Festival.
Titahi Bay’s Nick Rado has come a long way since he left for Britain in 2002 – he is one of only 15 or so full-time comedians in New Zealand and shuttles around the world each year gigging on the stage and television. He was nominated last year for a Billy T Award for his Comedy Festival show Rado and Juliet, and returns next week with Nick Rado’s Comedy Bunker.
The routine is about how irrational worries take over our lives, and how to combat them. It was inspired by a colleague of Rado’s while he was working in a highstress radio producer job in London. The workmate rubbed Rado up the wrong way and he would spend his 45-minute journey into work obsessing about him.
‘‘That whole commute I would just have this imaginary fight with this guy,’’ Rado says. ‘‘From that I sort of thought ‘why do we do this?’ and realised there’s so much comedy in it as well.’’
Rado has a soft spot for standup comedy, but is to join the panel on TV’S 7 Days.
‘‘I love live [performance] but I’m one of very few comedians who likes going on as a host, an MC, when the audience is really cold. It’s a really good feeling to be able to warm up a crowd.’’
Parekotuku Moore will explore what it means to be a diva in her show Who Dat Sheila?
Moore will take on a variety of characters to tell the stories of urban, suburban, Maori and pakeha, even Porirua divas.
‘‘Certainly the sassy sheila is a confident woman but she’s a bit doolally as well,’’ Moore says. ‘‘It’s an opportunity to take the piss out of divaness.’’
Moore works by day as manager of the Stop Violence Network, and finds a lot of source material in her day job.
‘‘I’m very passionate about my work and a lot of material centres around my work,’’ she says. ‘‘I find relationships absolutely fascinating.’’
Moore’s ideal career would be on television as a cross between Graham Norton, Oprah and Joan Rivers – wacky, compassionate and with a vast lifetime’s store of jokes to draw on.
Parekotuku Moore’s Who Dat Sheila?, May 15 to 19 7pm, at Cavern Club, 22 Allen St, Wellington. $23-$20 Nick Rado’s Comedy Bunker, May 15 to 19 8.30pm, at Cavern Club, 22 Allen St, Wellington. $18-$15.