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SHOWS
TOURS
TICKETS
Sure are some funny types heading this way next month.
They include one stand-up with his arm-up, one self-confessed fat b******, and a group which has been mucking about with pop songs since ... well since pop songs were invented.
* Funny type No 1 is American ventriloquist David Strassman, who proved so popular here on previous visits they gave him a telly talk show (you remember it - the one with the guest Australian celebs we'd never heard of). He and his various sidekicks - including nasty little nutter Chuck Wood and hapless bruin Ted E. Bear - return for shows in Auckland at Sky City on Tuesday, February 1, to Sunday, February 6, Whangarei at the Forum Theatre on Tuesday, February 8, Hamilton's Founders Theatre on Wednesday, February 9, and Tauranga's Baycourt Theatre on Thursday, February 10 (all tickets $29.50).
* That aforementioned fat bloke is English rude man Roy "Chubby" Brown, who heads back for a show of his calculated-to-offend stuff at the Auckland Town Hall on Friday, February 11 ($45).
* And as for those pop song parodists, 'tis the return of the Barron Knights, whose "40th anniversary tour" brings them to Sky City on Friday, March 10, and Saturday, March 11 (price unavailable).
* Then the following month Brit duo Hale and Pace - the comedians whose Jobs for the Boys television show, which screened here last year, had them doing tasks such as designing high-fashion frocks and writing a song for the Eurovision Song Contest - get back to their comedy day jobs with a show at the Auckland Town Hall on Friday, April 7 ($52.50).
* We're being loaned a coupla tenors, Irishman Daniel O'Donnell and Englishman Michael Crawford, who will be singing in Auckland on the same weekend.
The Irish star starts a four-date New Zealand tour at the Auckland Town Hall on Saturday, January 29 ($49.90/ $52.90). On the same night the Singer Formerly Known As Frank Spencer goes seaside at the American Express NZ Cup Village, playing Sunday, January 30, there as well ($95/$120).
* From the 60s survivors (and otherwise) department ... the Searchers (one of those hit-making Liverpool bands who weren't the Beatles but were an influence on everyone from the Byrds to Tom Petty and the Ramones ) return a year after their last nostalgic spin Down Under. The band, which features two of the members from its Merseybeat heyday (Frank Allen and John McNally) play at Sky City on Friday, January 28 ($42.75/ $47.50).
And another bunch of 60s pop classics get an airing in The Dusty Springfield Story, an Aussie tribute show featuring singer Wendy Stapleton under the beehive 'do. The production plays at the Taupo Arts Festival on Sunday, February 6 ($30), before heading to Auckland's Sky City the following Thursday, Friday and Saturday ($35.50/$39.50).
* Jazz singer Diane Krall has postponed her late January sold-out Auckland shows indefinitely because of her Grammy nominations. Refunds from Ticketek.
* A rumoured Auckland performance by Barbra Streisand in March isn't happening. Though the diva, who cashed in big with her New Year's Eve Las Vegas performance and was named one of the stars of the 20th century in the TimeOut millennium issue (we're sure she'll be chuffed), is playing outdoor shows at the Sydney Football Stadium on Tuesday, March 8, and in Melbourne a week later (at the Colonial Football Stadium). Meanwhile, there is no further news on the hotly-tipped Ricky Martin appearance in these parts.
This week's big shows
Friday: Big Day Out at Ericsson Stadium from 1.15 am to 11.30 pm.
Bookings
Ticketek - Auckland 307 5000; Hamilton 838 6600
Online www.ticketek.co.nz
<i>Fan Fare: </i>Something funny's on the way
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