Mild Life Crisis: Comedy Fest Q&A

Comedy Fest Q&A –

A MILD LIFE CRISIS – each comedian in the show has answered the questions.

Brad Zimmerman

Tell us the name of your show:

1. A Mild Life Crisis

Which came first – the show name or the show content?

2. The content came first, and became the link between the three of us performers. We're all miserable old bastards (some of us before our time)

C’mon, be honest…. 

3. That was pretty honest, I reckon.

Any other working titles for the show?

4. My favourite working title is "Three Dumpy Unattractive White Guys Talk About Their Problems"

How long – honestly- have you been working on this?

5. Long enough to know it's going to rock your young world. whippersnapper. Or more accurately since last year's Comedy Festival.

What’s been the biggest challenge of pulling this show together? 

6. Biggest challenge has been getting the three of us in the same place long enough to hash things out. We're old, but we're all quite busy.

Who’s your biggest comedy rival – and why?

7. We're all in this crazy game together. Who has time for rivalry?

Who’s your biggest comedy friend – and why?

8. We're all in this crazy game together. Who has time for friendship?

Which show is your must see? Why?

9. Oh so many! That's what's great (and terrible) about the Festival. I really want to see what Adam Wright can do, in his first ever solo show (Adam Wright: Utopia). Also internationals like Steve Hughes and Tom Wrigglesworth.

Give us your definition of a great night out during the festival.

10. A great night out at the Festival is seeing three shows at the same venue, in one night. Local shows are often the best value for money and the best way to soak in heaps of comedy at once. (Try Kitty O'Sheas)

What goes through your mind, the minute before curtain goes up? 

11. I just remind myself that everybody in the room wants me to succeed. If I'm funny, then the audience has a good time, and I have a good time as well. We all win.

What about when you’re on stage?

12. When I'm on stage I'm thinking about how much time has passed so far, what the next few jokes are, if my closing joke is going to work, what that girl in the front row was thinking when she did her hair like that, where that guy over by the bar got his cool t-shirt, is my fly undone, why isn't that old guy laughing with everyone else, and a million other things.

How easily distracted are you?

13. If you look above, you'll see the answer is "very easily".

14. Dream comedy lineup?
Wow. Um, Louis CK, Mitch Hedberg, Sarah Millican, Hannibal Burress, Ricky Gervais, Daniel Kitson, Pete Holmes, I could list names all day if you had the print space.

Just finally, where will you be in 5 years’ time. 

15. In five years time, I'll be standing in the street, crying like a wuss, because my daughter just started her first day of school. She's about to be born in a few more weeks, you see... that's my mild life crisis.

Ricky Threlfo

Comedy Fest Q&A

1) Tell us the name of your show: What Brad said.

2) Which came first – the show name or the show content?
The content. We used a computer algorithm to come up with the show name. The best it could come up with was a pun.

3) C’mon, be honest…. Neither.

4) Any other working titles for the show?
The Medicine (shameless plug for my weekly show, 8pm, every Wed night at ‘Cavern Club’, Wellington)

5) How long – honestly- have you been working on this?
For the last 12 months . . . to the detriment of my day job.

6) What’s been the biggest challenge of pulling this show together?
It was pretty easy actually, no other comedians wanted to work with us. We’re that funny.

7) Who’s your biggest comedy rival – and why?
What Brad said.

8) Who’s your biggest comedy friend – and why?
John Doe, he's put on 15 kilograms of funny in the last 12 months.

9) Which show is your must see? Why?
Let me check the program and get back to you.

10) Give us your definition of a great night out during the festival.
Seeing our show of course!

11) What goes through your mind, the minute before curtain goes up?
We don’t have a curtain!

12) What about when you’re on stage?
Where is everybody?

13) How easily distracted are you?
What’s the time?

14) Give us your dream comedy line up:
Hannibal Burress, Paul F Tompkins, Patrice O’Neil, Bill Burr.

15) Just finally, where will you be in 5 years’ time.
If the apocalypse doesn’t happen, I’ll probably be relaxing on a yacht or working on goat farm.

15. In five years time, I'll be standing in the street, crying like a wuss, because my daughter just started her first day of school. She's about to be born in a few more weeks, you see... that's my mild life crisis.

Tito

1)      Tell us the name of your show

A Mild Life Crisis

2)      Which came first – the show name or the show content?

The title

3)      C’mon, be honest….

Ok, ok… The title.

4)      Any other working titles for the show?

Well it was originally going to be called The Young Professionals Guide to a Life Crisis, my friend Jared Bosecke came up with that. But he got given a solo show so I ran with his idea to the other guys and we came up with what we have now.

5)      How long – honestly- have you been working on this?

I haven’t even started working on my material. I should probably get on to that eh?

6)      What’s been the biggest challenge of pulling this show together?

Trying to juggle my commitments between full time employment, comedy, my girlfriend and not many people know this, but I am Sheamus from the WWE.

7)      Who’s your biggest comedy rival – and why?

The audience. They’re the ones that you have to try and impress and make laugh. I view them as my competition.

8)      Who’s your biggest comedy friend – and why?

Tough to choose just one so I’ll choose the Work Stories guys that I performed with in the last two festivals, Ants, Dan, Jared and Vitale.

9)      Which show is your must see? Why?

Reginald D Hunter has been a favourite of mine for a while now. I can’t wait to see him and I think New Zealand audiences will love him. He’s intelligent, witty and has boundary pushing material. Most of all though, he’s hilarious. Also, make sure if you’re in Wellington that you check out Jared Bosecke and Alexander Sparrow.

10)   Give us your definition of a great night out during the festival

Performing your show to a sold out audience, then heading back to the San Fran for drinks and a lock in with other comedy peeps and being lead in a rendition of Piano Man by Vaughan King! Now that’s a pretty sweet night!

11)   What goes through your mind, the minute before curtain goes up?

The first sentence that I’m going to say. If I can get that out without any trouble then I tend to be all good.

12)   What about when you’re on stage?

To have fun and enjoy what you do. But also, don’t fuck it up!

13)   How easily distracted are you?

Too easily distracted, especially by YouTube! I’m usually like “Ooh, I have to watch that NOW!”. It’s generally comedy or pro wrestling videos.

14)   Give us your dream comedy line up

Bill Hicks, Richard Pryor, Jim Jeffries, Steve Hughes, Reginald D Hunter and Billy Connolly

15)   Just finally, where will you be in 5 years’ time

I’d like to think that I’m living off my millions that I’ve made from comedy and bank rolling the Taranaki NPC team. But in all likelihood I’ll be cleaning out cement from kiln number 2 at Holcim in Westport…Or living in Featherston? Both are pretty bad…

Brad, Ricky and Tito perform A MILD LIFE CRISIS (AKL 25 - 26 April & WLG 7 - 10 May) as part of the 2014 NZ International Comedy Festival in cahoots with Old Mout Cider (24 – 18 May).  For more info visit www.comedyfestival.co.nz