Dan Nightingale: Comedy Festival Review

Dan Nightingale: Comedy Festival Review

There was an embarrassment of comedy riches on the streets of Auckland last night in the final week of the New Zealand International Comedy Festival.

From TapeFace, to Eli Matthewson, Raybon Khan to The Big Show, there was plenty of choice. Some would even say you were spoiled for choice.

One of those at Q Theatre (well, Vault at Q to be more precise) was UK comic Dan Nightingale. He was last here back in 2009, and by all accounts had a good time.

Self announcing himself on stage (Austin Powers, much?) Dan set the tone for his time on stage by urging the audience to "Pretend like you know who I am" before ambling onto the stage. The lighting at the Vault meant the entire room was on show to Dan - and I can't imagine anything worse for a performer.

But for Dan himself, it was like a moth to a flame.

However, I will say that's not bad news for the crowd or the front row, who to be fair, provide a lot of the impetus for Dan's show. Titled "On Life, On Love and On the North Island", it's a loose connection of themes from housemates, growing old, getting the horn from watching Nigella on TV and kids.

Yet, it's Dan's interplay with the audience which proved the real gem of the night, giving him a chance to ingratiate himself into our lives and hearts with a clever turn of phrase and some killer one liners (some of which appeared to simply be throwaway comments, which shone in brilliance - and occasionally went over the heads of some of the audience) Quick as a flash, some of the self deprecation yielded much mirth - "I'm not a smackhead - you can tell by the weight" was one of my favourite throwaway moments.

Dan's not a confrontational comic by any means - in fact, his mocking of an audience member's old style non-Smartphone showed he had material to use for whatever situation arose. He grooms the audience for mirth and merriment and simply becomes a mate of yours just having a chat with a beer in hand.

With an ease of style and a sense of humour that's wicked, fast and funny, Dan shook off a slightly shaky start and delivered a set that was smart, clever and showed off superior intelligence. He's endearing, engaging and amusing - and a good choice for an hour of your time as the New Zealand Comedy Festival draws to a close.