The Billy T Award nominees for 2023 - from top left, clockwise: Janaye Henry, Jack Ansett, Maria Williams, Gabby Anderson, and Abby Howells. Photo / Supplied
The Billy T Award nominees for 2023 - from top left, clockwise: Janaye Henry, Jack Ansett, Maria Williams, Gabby Anderson, and Abby Howells. Photo / Supplied
Review by Ethan Sills
Podcast Production Manager for NZME. Ethan also reviews theatre and comedy shows.
There have been many niche, out-there concepts used as the basis for Comedy Festival shows over the years, but Abby Howells’ latest show is a real hall of famer.
La Soupco is based on a screenplay Howells wrote when she was 11 years old. It is a post-World War II nautical-themed romance set in Spain for little reason, where the characters don’t have names and have some forward-thinking tastes in music.
But while Howells does give us some dramatic readings of the 20-year-old screenplay throughout the show, don’t expect an hour-long re-enactment. La Soupco is presented as the epitome of what Howells was like as a child and teenager, living with undiagnosed autism and trying her best to fit in and find love.
After her last show dealt with the history of women in comedy and dived into her own dark experiences in this area, Howells’ look further into her past finds an equally personable but lighter show that showcases her bubbly if nerdy persona to full effect - even if she insists she is the last person you want to cross, as she will bear that grudge forever. Having only been diagnosed with autism last year, Howells takes pleasure in poking fun at this late-in-life revelation that seems to have only been a surprise to herself and her parents., despite her many obsessions including military operations, marine tragedies and trains (though she clarifies to the audience that she’s “no friend of Thomas” in one of the best lines of the hour).
Billy T Award 2023 nominee Abby Howells. Photo / Supplied
While Howell has a litany of self-deprecating jokes that play on her autism in various ways, the focus of La Soupco shifts during the hour, her diagnosis becoming a gateway into looking at her childhood and her experiences dealing with bad boyfriends and scheming netball teammates. This ultimately becomes a show about childhood dreams and expectations, and what we envision for ourselves when we’re younger versus how we turn out. It makes the show more endearing and charming than it could be, and avoids the trap of overly re-examining the past but instead embracing the present.
When both the show and the screenplay near their conclusion, the rush to find a “full circle” moment tying all the anecdotes together feels heavy-handed, but Howells does an excellent job of integrating her childhood screenplay through the show, aided by the painted cloud backdrop and some well-timed lighting.
Ultimately, La Soupco strikes a wonderful balance between a theatrical concept and traditional stand-up, the integration of the screenplay and the full breadth of stories elevating the overall story. Howells’ subtle but quickfire storytelling packs in a dozen jokes a minute while still giving room for the personal, quieter moments to shine, and more than sells the ambitious premise behind the show.
2023 Billy T nominee Gabby Anderson. Photo / Supplied
Gabby Anderson - Bad-ish Teacher
It’s rare to get a show that delivers exactly what it says on the tin, but Gabby Anderson does just that with her latest hour, Bad-ish Teacher. If audiences come in unsure how literal the title will be, the whiteboard and Penguin Classic pile of books at the door should be enough of a sign. Anderson then makes it clear from her opening jokes, running on stage to a class bell and setting the ground rules, including the toilet pass audience members can use if they need to leave.
Yes, this is a show about being a teacher, Anderson diving into her day job while also looking back at her own upbringing and what led her to her work. Teachers were scattered through the crowd during Thursday night’s show, to the point that Anderson suggested it could be a union meeting. It’s a timely reference given the ongoing teachers’ strikes over pay with the government, and Anderson does comment on wanting to join an industry with a strong union, but what feels like an off-the-cuff comment only reaches its potential nearly an hour later as the show reaches its climax.
It helps make Bad-ish Teacher perhaps the most political of all the Billy T nominated shows this year, but you wouldn’t think that from the outset. Anderson has a deceptively dorky persona, her smile rarely leaving her face and delivering most of her jokes as if she’s embarrassed by them, but it masks the subtle ways she’s linking her stories together.
After a slightly hesitant start, as she lays the groundwork for the hour with some teacher-centric humour, Anderson slowly builds up momentum as she moves through her anecdotes, slipping in callbacks and setting up more to be called upon later on. Her own stories of growing up the middle of five children and intense warnings from her parents feel out of place initially until they form the basis of punchlines later on.
Bad-ish Teacher is one of those rare shows that sneaks up on you, building steadily through the hour as more and more of Anderson’s thinking and intentions are unravelled. The title equally only becomes clear in the last few minutes when Anderson starts pulling all these threads together, and you realise you truly have been at a union meeting for the last hour - and feel all the more enlightened because of it. Don’t let the grins and grimaces fool you - Anderson has a sharp mind and sharper wit, and this initially quiet little show will stick with you more than you will ever expect.
Bad-ish Teacher is on at The Basement Theatre’s Studio.
Billy T Award 2023 nominee Jack Ansett. Photo / Supplied
If you have been to or heard of Jack Ansett’s Are You Taking the Piss? this week, you likely already know what the big story is. Ansett achieved some viral notoriety after sneaking into the Weet-bix Kid’s Tryathlon as a man in his 20s and going through the race just to see if he could.
That story is the main course of his latest Comedy Festival show, but before we get there Ansett has a series of starters and side dishes that help make the case for his life as a professional troll.
The whole hour is based around the rarely addressed element of being a full-time standup - having far too much free time on your hands. Ansett has used that downtime between gigs to act as a troll online, taking on the elderly on Facebook community groups and warring with bad Marketplace sellers. Like many comedians these days, a PowerPoint serves as a backdrop to the show, as Ansett runs through the many emails and DMs he deals with, and the occasional fish-filled profile picture of those he interacts with online.
There’s no big moment or clear throughline during the hour, but Ansett, having been performing stand-up since he was a teenager, keeps you hooked throughout with his confidence on stage and his impeccable timing. He has a mastery over his own distinctive voice and is able to heighten many of his jokes with a well-timed shriek, screech or overdrawn syllable that hits it home harder.
Ansett is also willing to make himself the main butt of the joke, particularly when it comes to his resemblance to David Bain and how that led to an audition to portray, one of the best anecdotes of the festival and a fresh take on a go-to story in New Zealand comedy.
When we do reach the Tryathalon story, we have reached peak trolling. No matter how much prior knowledge you have of the story, Ansett sells it fresh with every retelling and it kills as always. He is helped by the fact that it is such a ridiculous thing to do, one that would be impossible to replicate, that his clear and unquestionable commitment to his craft.
The hour does slightly peter out at the end - the last joke is well written but not the big final bang you’d expect - but Ansett’s self-deprecating peak behind the curtain at the realities of a comedian’s life makes for a consistently hilarious hour anchored by a story that leaves you wondering if this is what he’s willing to do for a laugh, just what his next stunt will be.
Are You Taking the Piss? is on at Q Theatre’s Vault
2023 Billy T nominee Janaye Henry. Photo / Supplied
Janaye Henry - Crush Season
Before her latest show has even started, Janaye Henry has probably already made history. Not only is she standing just inside the door, greeting every audience member as they arrive - a rarity in New Zealand - she has had laid out a snack table overflowing with lollies and chips, insisting everyone takes one as they arrive.
The simple act is probably one of the smartest moves I’ve seen a comedian pull. Rather than lingering in the wings and waiting to win the audience over when she hits the stage, Henry takes back control before we’ve even sat down, making it clear in the nicest possible way that this is her show and she isn’t her to prove herself - she already knows she’s the boss.
That confidence oozes through every minute of the next hour of Crush Season. Her hour focuses on the highs and lows of her love life, from her few dalliances with boys - some on national television - to her current and former girlfriends and the messy world of love.
There’s no central story or one big break-up that Henry digs into, and there’s no huge commentary on the world of romance or societal pressures around it. Instead, it’s a free-flowing chat about the various “crushes” in her life and their lasting effect on her. After an opening skit that pokes fun at the “meet-cute” trope, Henry frames the hour as a “mass speed date” as there’s no time to catch up with all her potential suitors, and only a few of us will walk away with a rose at the end.
She has said previously that her choice to be on stage as everyone arrived was inspired by Rose Matafeo, and you can see the influence of the Billy T and Fred Award winner in Henry’s set. Crush Season is reminiscent of the theatrical stand-up that has been popular over the last decade, with her traditional stories packaged inside a delivery that blurs the line between Henry’s natural self and a heightened persona.
Henry’s confidence and ease on stage is clear throughout, breezing through her stories and giving the simplest of stories the most serious of attention. When one audience member revealed during Tuesday night’s show that they know someone that Henry is talking about, she takes the surprise information in her stride and carries on without letting it hold her back.
A great moment near the end sees Henry turn the tables on Captain James Cook, complete with a rap and dance break that brings the draped staging to life. While it does feel out of place amongst the rest of the narrative, and would have worked better slowly being scattered throughout the rest of the hour, it is an exuberant burst of energy that still fits in with Henry’s delivery throughout the rest of her show.
While it may not offer much new in terms of thoughts on love and romance, Crush Season is a brilliant showcase for a rising star that effortlessly showcases her personality and marks her out as a star to watch. Plus, who can say no to a free lollipop?
2023 Billy T nominee Maria Williams. Photo / Supplied
Maria Williams - ADHD... The Musical!?
Two years ago, Maria Williams’ Anxiety... The Musical!? was one of the highlights of the 2021 Comedy Festival. The shambolic, powerpoint-led production won her Best Newcomer in Auckland - a prize she had already won previously in Wellington.
Now up for the Billy T Award, given to an up-and-coming star, for her sequel show ADHD... The Musical!?, Williams at one point in the middle of her hour yells “When am I going to come?”
Well, her latest effort is sure to solidify her as one of the country’s top new comedian talents. Her latest show takes the elements that worked so well for Anxiety and takes them to new heights, bringing back the PowerPoint materials for a genre-defining mix of musical parody, kids show nostalgia, family rivalry and mental health acceptance that works far more seamlessly than it should.
ADHD... The Musical?! is largely about Williams’ recent ADHD diagnosis - one she helpfully got after coming up with the title at the end of 2021 - interspersed with her own stories of her childhood dreams to becoming both the next Jason Gunn and a popstar who transitions from a slutty phase to musical theatre icon. The show opens with a song about the pains of ADHD inspired by Les Miserables, one of several parodies that add to the musical element of the title.
Interwoven through that is her childhood obsession with Gunn and his multitude of shows, which all ties in with her many dreams of stardom. The Gunn nostalgia could have been a cheap ploy to win over the other millennials in the crowd (I had completely forgotten Bumble existed until resurfaced here), but Williams commits with one of the quietly bleakest early 2000s kids TV parodies you’ll ever across.
It is a rollercoaster of a show, complete with puppets, audience participation, multiple costume changes and a wonderfully edited montage featuring one of the world’s top pop divas. There is a lot to it but ADHD... The Musical!? is a beautiful piece of organised chaos, a seemingly shambolic series of semi-sketches and musical parodies that all feed into one another and build towards a truly impactful climax.
Williams’ creativity is on full display throughout, capturing the highs and lows of having ADHD with a story about failed dreams and new goals, and proves you don’t need to be the start in someone else’s show, when you can write yourself into something as perfectly shambolic and satisfying as this.
ADHD... The Musical!? is on at Q Theatre’s Vault
The Billy T nominees are all performing until May 27th. The winner of the award will be announced on Sunday night at Last Laughs.
