Entertainment picks: Rib rattlers come out to play

Comedy

There was this guy wearing white pants. I was standing outside the Wellington train station and it was raining. He slipped on the wet steps and fell flat on his bum. When he stood up there was a perfect wet patch, made all the more noticeable by those white pants.

I stood behind the grandiose pillar in the entrance and laughed. Childish, I know, and laughing at other people's misfortunes is as bad as, if not worse, than sarcasm. But he was wearing white pants.

No doubt the annual New Zealand International Comedy Festival will have a few more intelligent rib rattlers than that when it starts this week.

Now in its 12th year, the comedy fest kicks off with the Comedy Gala at the St James on Friday at 8pm. Other highlights in the three-week festival include nutty Japanese duo Gamarjobat, ping-pong-loving local Dai Henwood, Michele A'Court's Heritage 101, and the ladies' favourite, Danny Bhoy.

For more information go to www.comedyfestival.co.nz and tickets are available from www.ticketdirect.co.nz

Television

Anyone up for bullying can get a double dose of it on TV3 this Friday night - one in the name of sport, the other more serious. First up, at 7.30pm, big daddy Clint Brown hosts a fight between Kiwi heavyweight champion Shane "the Mountain Warrior" Cameron and Australian champion, Colin "Kid" Wilson.

Then, on a more serious level, but no less entertaining, director Larry Clark's film Bully (Friday, TV3, 11.15pm) is a dark and trippy ride. Based on a 1993 Florida murder case, where seven teenagers conspired to kill a "bully" and leave his body for the alligators, this film is a must.

Starting this week is Huff (tomorrow, TV One, 9.30pm), a series about a psychiatrist suffering a mid-life crisis. You'll know the guy who plays Huff, one Hank Azaria, as the voices of Moe, Apu, and more than 50 other characters, from The Simpsons.

Also starting this week - and I don't know if this is a good or bad thing - is Laguna Beach (tomorrow, C4, 9.30). It comes under the "dubious, but good trash" banner. It's a real-life OC, or the American version of Young, Posh and Loaded, and follows seven high-school students on their escapades around the exclusive Laguna Beach in California.

But just to be safe, only watch if there's nothing else on.

Movies

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy has had mixed reviews, but considering the other movies starting on Thursday, it's the pick of the bunch. When Arthur Dent (played by Martin Freeman from The Office) realises his house is about to be demolished and learns from Ford Prefect, his friend (who is really an alien), that the whole world is going to be destroyed, they get the hell out of Earth. They hitch a ride on a passing spaceship with the trusty guide book in their pocket.

Two movies in the wait for the DVD category also start this Thursday. First up, the sequel to xXx, which is called xXx 2: The Next Level, stars Ice Cube as Darius Stone, a new agent in the XXX program who is sent to Washington DC to diffuse a power struggle among national leaders.

It is directed by Lee Tamahori and all I can say is: You can do better Lee, surely?

Also, Friday Night Lights, starring Billy Bob Thornton, tells the story of the 1988 Texas high-school team, the Odessa Permian High Panthers. The town of Odessa is in financial trouble and its inhabitants are relying on their football team to pull them through.

Exhibitions

At Disrupt Gallery (145 K Rd) you can check out Rented Room, the first solo exhibition by street-based graffiti artist Oliver Bogle, which runs until May 15.

Bogle has been prominent in the New Zealand graffiti art scene for nine years and has become renowned for his trademark wildstyle graffiti. So check it out and see, what, what, what's it all about.

Music

Dick "Magik" Johnson was born in Blackpool. Three-and-a-half years ago the DJ/musician decided to swap the rocky shores of his hometown for the sand of Piha, for good.

Tucked away in his West Auckland studio he's been working on his debut album, Cardboard Journey, the followup to his spanking, stealth and funky mix album, Electric.

To celebrate the release of Cardboard Journey, on May 11, Johnson is on a national tour, including dates at Morrison in Auckland on Friday and Wellington's Subnine on Saturday.

Also on Friday, Sola Rosa, Rhian Sheehan and Module play the Studio on K Rd and on Saturday, drum'n'bass scoundrels Shy FX and MC Skibadee play Fu Bar.

On the rock'n'roll tip, the Mint Chicks ponce into the Kings Arms on Friday for a show in support of their album, [expletive] the Golden Youth, and the Sore Cocks and the Larry Normans play Saturday at the Arms. See you there.

And finally, for some rock'n'roll nostalgia, tune into National Radio on Friday night a 11.06pm for the Rolling Stones on the Get Yer Ya-Yas Out tour, live at Madison Square Garden from 1969.