The NZ Comedy Festival is set to unleash itself upon the funnybones of Auckland and Wellington from April 29. TimeOut has rounded up a dozen or so local and international stars of this year's fest to discuss their approach to funny.
From: Britain.
As seen on: Various things in Britain, most famously Mock the Week and Never Mind The Buzzcocks. Also, I'm the guy off the posters with my name on.
Name of show (and how long did it take you to think it up?): My show doesn't even have a title this year, other than Mark Watson. But it still took me a while to think of it.
Conceptual description of show in 10 words or less: Barrage of frantic stand-up. Theme: importance of life. Eight words. Boom!
Are props required? If so, what's the most important one? I use a big screen for a special opening to the show, so you'd be well advised to get there slightly before the advertised start time. Other than that, no props.
Can we bring our mum? Oh absolutely. Mums tend to enjoy my vulnerability and bashfulness. They always want to feed me. There is one quite rude bit but you could always cough to distract her.
If you don't have another telly/radio/whatever gig, what would you like it to be? I'd quite like to front a reality show where we find out once and for all who the best person in the world is. Then we can bring the genre to an end.
How many Auckland Comedy Festival appearances is this for you? This will be my fourth. The first year nobody really laughed much. But I've kept chipping away at them.
What have you learned from your past appearances? See above - I learned the hard way that Auckland crowds are pretty tentative at first, certainly less excitable than Aussies. However, they come to love you a little at a time and the relationship ends up being a very fulfilling one.
In a year like 2011, what is there to laugh about? The same stuff as in other years really: the absurdity of the human situation. But I realise it's been a pretty tough year for New Zealand and hopefully the comedy festival can make a small dent in the gloom. If not, the Rugby World Cup should do it. The All Blacks never fail to rise to that occasion.
Who's your favourite live comedian of all time and why? Tim Key - also my best man though, so I'm biased. He is an indescribable combination of comedy, poetry, music and a man having a small nervous breakdown.
Complete this sentence: "Please come to my show because ..." I've come all the way across the world and it would be pretty disappointing if I were just talking to an empty room. Also, I have a baby to support these days. Do you really want a young family to starve? What kind of monster are you?
* SkyCity Theatre May 4 to May 7
-TimeOut
