Review: A reflective Dai Henwood still brings the laughs in return to the stage

Dai Henwood has returned to the stage in the midst of his treatment for bowel cancer.

REVIEW

It’s indisputable at this point that Dai Henwood is one of New Zealand’s greatest comedians. A fixture on our screens for two decades, a Billy T Award winner, and the only solo comic to have won the Fred Award for Best Show at the International Comedy Festival twice, Henwood’s career as a standup is unrivalled.

While he is never far from a television studio, it’s been nine years since he last did a solo comedy show and a lot has changed for him in that time.

Living with incurable bowel cancer, he could have been expected to pack it in and focus on his health. But as he makes clear multiple times in Dai Hard – his return to the stage – he is not done with living yet, nor has he let things dent his sense of humour.

While Henwood addresses his condition from the outset, and several times during his set, this isn’t a show about cancer or dying or anything like that. It’s not a show overly focused on anything, really. Instead, Henwood brings together a series of personal anecdotes, from teenage misadventures with alcohol to road trips to timber museums and embarrassing encounters with All Blacks.

It’s a more understated set than one might expect, particularly given his more energetic performances in his early career. The punchlines still land, though, and the quieter delivery helps some of them hit harder, with Henwood delivering many daft metaphors and stories as unquestionable statements that you can’t help but agree with.

The physical comedy is sparse but well executed, starting early with his version of an aggressive seal that has him bound across the entire stage. There’s a scattering of impressions, too – a shroomed-up Mike Tyson and an extreme Australian caricature being the main highlights – all placed far enough apart that they don’t dominate but still deliver when they arrive.

The show kicked off with MC Justine Smith bringing familiar material back for her short sets but she remains one of our most natural performers on stage and sells each anecdote. Rising star Courtney Dawson delivered a strong set for the opening act, mocking her recent TV appearances, her experience as a young mother and her mixed heritage, killing with a strong set on the Newshub closures that finds the humour without tearing down the journalists.

The styles of each comic complement the next, and there’s a good flow from Smith’s first set through Henwood’s show. While it may be calmer than Henwood fans may expect, overall he produces a strong set that brings the laughs at every opportunity.

He ends the show over a near-standing ovation imploring everyone to be kind and spread positivity, and it only clicks then how free the show is from delving into heavy topics like politics, or engaging in cruelty or mockery – aside from some self-deprecation. For 90 minutes, Dai Hard provides a perfect escape and a flawless night of comedy free from whatever else is going on in the world or Henwood’s own life, and it feels more vital and entertaining because of that.

Dai Hard was on at Auckland’s SkyCity Theatre on July 4.