Noble gesture

On past form Ross Noble is likely to be a favourite of the comedy festival. But, asks GREG DIXON, who does he rate?

Geordie comedian Ross Noble returns for his second stint in three years at the New Zealand International Comedy Festival next month.

Judging from past performances - "lunatic brilliance ... a style of comedy that is like a mental spinning plates act, as he scampers from one surreal tangent after another," our reviewer said last time - he may well be the best of the fest.

And so young, too - he's just 27. Noble has been performing stand-up since he was smuggled into his local comedy club at the age of 15. Licensing laws meant that immediately after his slot he had to leave - through the kitchen.

In the 12 years since, he's become known as a genuinely original performer and has received critical acclaim in the British press. He is a former Perrier Award nominee and a Time Out UK award winner for best live stand-up.

He likes coming here and says New Zealand audiences have a lot more of an English sensibility than Australians and are more laidback than the English.

"New Zealand audiences can be fairly polite and I think they tend to be a bit more inquisitive than English audiences, probably because there's not such a huge volume of stand-up. In Britain, they've kind of seen everything.

"As well, in England there's the shit stuff and the stuff that's good, but there is a huge amount of fairly mediocre stuff kicking around. In New Zealand there's just not the same volume so stuff is either really good or shit; there is no kind of middle ground."

Having been here a few times before and done a lot of festivals, he's seen a good chunk of the talent on offer in the coming weeks. So we asked him to play native guide - his own assessment of some of the local and overseas acts in town for the festival.

Greg Proops (United States)

"He's great, he's really good. He's just really sharp, Proops.

"You know when you see a lot of those slick kind of Americans who come on and say things like, 'Hey have you ever noticed when ... ' and it's all very showbizzy? Proops is like the antidote to that. He could do that if he wanted to, but he's sarcastic and just the flipside of that. He's got all the good points of those guys without any of the crap."

Lee Mack (England)

"He's brilliant. Lee is one of the few comics I would actually pay money to go and see. He's just a really funny bloke who's got great jokes.

"Some comics you go, 'They're really good performers'. Others you go, 'They're good writers'. He's just one of those acts who's just a really funny bloke."

Russell Howard (England)

"I haven't seen him for a long time, but he's supposed to be very good. It's a bonus having Howard and Mack on the same bill."

Danny Bhoy (Scotland)

"He's very good. He's got a very gentle way about him. He's a storyteller. It's observational, anecdotal stuff about his life. He's a very charming sort of performer.

"Danny does the London thing and goes well in Scotland. He's always a favourite at the Edinburgh Festival."

Andy Parsons (England)

"He has an element - which I really like - of social commentary. I'm reticent to use the word 'political' because that implies someone who bangs on and lets the issues take over the jokes.

"People who do social comment tend to take themselves very seriously, but I like the fact that he mixes the sensibility of the fool, the clown, yet at the same time he can talk about stuff which is social comment. But you don't get the feeling he's going to give you a leaflet at the end of the show.

"He's a really good bloke who's got that other element."

Max Bygraves (England)

"It's mad. If you want young, cutting-edge stuff ... I don't know about him. He's kind of from a slightly different generation.

"The last thing I saw him do, I don't know if he's doing it over there, but it was called Sing-a-long: The War Years. I think he tells a few old-style jokes and does a bit of a sing-a-long and stuff.

He's like a proper old-school entertainer. His main thing is the sing-a-longs."

The Umbilical Brothers (Australia)

"They're great, absolutely first-class. I'm a really big fan of the Umbilical Brothers.

"It's kind of physical comedy, they do sound effects, it's quite a theatrical thing. There's a lot of movement and mime. But if you say mime you think of some twat, but they build these sketches and scenarios with sound effects and movement and it's great. I can watch their stuff over and over again."

The Flight Of The Conchords (New Zealand)

"They're excellent, I'm a big fan. They came over to Edinburgh and were very well received. Far too often comedy and music is just a bloke with a guitar changing the words to a song and making it sound like crap innuendo, you know?"

Benjamin Crellin (New Zealand)

"He's very funny. A funny bloke and a nice bloke as well. It's all very well saying this bloke's funny and that bloke's funny. There are lots of funny people who you watch on stage and afterwards you just think, 'I don't want to be in the same room as you, you're very dull'. But he's a top man."

Ross Noble (England)

"I always feeling like lying when people ask why they should come and see me. I feel like making something up, saying I've got 100 acrobats that come on at the end.

"Basically people should come and see me because my shows are longer [laughs]. You get more value for money. And I think people should come and see me because I've dragged my arse all the way from Britain."

* Ross Noble plays five nights at SkyCity Theatre from May 4.

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