William Shatner promises '100 minutes of laughter'

William Shatner performing on stage. Photo / Supplied

William Shatner is set to bring his one-man show to Auckland. Sarah Pollok asks him what audiences should expect.

Shatner's World: The Return Down Under has been described as a 100-minute theatrical voyage through your life. So what should audiences expect?

One hundred minutes of laughter! I don't think of it as a voyage through my life, I think of it as entertaining you with things that have happened to me over the years. It may not tell you the straight-line story of my life but instead use stories, songs and visuals to tell you the bizarre and loving, sad and funny things that have happened to me. It's morphed into a really comedic show, so there's an entertaining hour and a half there. It's been an extraordinary journey.

What has it been like performing in a one-man show?

I came from the stage. It was my earliest career and I've continued to perform throughout. So, the graduation to a one-man show wasn't too foreign. I was invited to Australia to do it and I thought long and hard about it, it's the ultimate challenge for an entertainer, so I thought why not give it a try? It was successful in Australia and more successful in Canada, so I then rewrote it and restaged it to perform on Broadway in New York where it had a successful run. Since then I've toured a number of cities and really honed it down so it's in great shape.

William Shatner as Captain James T Kirk and Leonard Nimoy as Commander Spock. Photo / Supplied

You describe this show as one of the highlights of your life, why?

Well, I got to write the show and express parts of my life in it but in addition to that, it's me on stage alone and that's quite an achievement. See, there is a theatre in town, LA, called the Pantages and it seats 35,000 people. Once I was in a show where there were around 2000 people on stage performing. Some weeks later I came on to that same stage at the Pantages alone, with only one guy backstage and I did the same thing 2000 people did, in the same amount of time. So there is a challenge and a magic that a one-man show has that nothing else has, which feels like a lifetime achievement - and an achievement not only of material but technique as an actor.

You've won countless prestigious awards and sold more than 30 best-sellers. In a lot of people's eyes you've "made it", so what keeps you going?

I keep being offered opportunities to be challenged. "Would I like to do a country music album?" So I do that. "Would I like to record a Christmas album?" So I did. I wrote another book called Live long and … It's been described as the best book I've written. There's a lot happening for this tour and many other things I'm doing that I've had the opportunity to do and I feel healthy enough and energetic enough to do it. I'm also conscious of how much time I don't have.

James Spader and William Shatner in Boston Legal.

In your eyes, who is the perfect person to come to Shatner's World; The Return Down Under when it comes to New Zealand?

Oh, I would say bring your 6-year-old kid and bring your 87-year-old grandfather. Bring your husband and your lover and bring a couple of friends, because this show encompasses everything. There isn't anything a child can't hear or understand and as for people older than 6 and still with their hearing, it's insightful, it's funny and it's touching. I think it's got all the aspects that a show should have and people, without exception, have come and stood and applauded at the end and expressed the joy they had in coming. So, I would recommend that anyone you bring with you will have a grand time in the theatres. You will enjoy it, I promise you!

• William Shatner performs Shatner's World at The Civic in Auckland on October 13. Visit Ticketmaster for more information.