Spiegel Fest show will have you laughing
Eli Matthewson’s Daddy Short Legs at Taranaki Arts Festival’s Spiegel Fest.
Fans of Aotearoa’s comedy scene will already know Eli Matthewson’s name and talent. He has been a regular on the comedy circuit for many years, in NZ and overseas, as well as plenty of television appearances including a short, but enjoyable, stint on Dancing with the Stars this year.
Last year, his critically acclaimed show Daddy Short Legs was crowned the winner of the 2021 Fred Award, honouring the best show at the annual New Zealand International Comedy Festival, and it was this show he brought to Taranaki for his onenight stand at Spiegel Fest.
Within minutes of stepping up to the microphone in the Crystal Palace Spiegeltent, Eli showed the crowd exactly why that Fred Award was so well deserved. His charming patter as he takes the audience on the journey of his life is well thought out. While there are plenty of quick and fairly obvious one-liners thrown in, some of the show’s best moments come when he reacts to the audience in front of him, quickly adapating to, and rolling with, any comments or local references they throw at him.
Eli masters the fine balance of delivering what is a mainly scripted show with the impression of it being a series of jokes and comments that have just popped into his head that very minute, while keeping the polish and steady pace.
Saturday night’s audience was a fairly mixed group, with some people clearly dedicated fans of Eli’s brand of comedy, and others who had never heard of him, but are likely to have gone home and started following him on all the socials after such an entertaining night. That’s the magic of Spiegel Fest, it’s a festical that offers audiences the chance to dip into a range of shows and genres, to find new things to love as well as enjoy returning favourites and the team at TAFT do a fantasitc job in curating the perfect festival mix of shows.
Spiegel Fest is the launchpad for the Taranaki Arts Festivals’ official festival season for 2022-2024 and with shows like Daddy Short Legs featured, it’s clear the season is going to be great. With a few days left on the Spiegel Fest calendar, it’s worth making sure you grab tickets to any of the remaining shows and treat yourself to a great night out.