Comedy Fest Q&A: Brendon Green

Comedy Fest Q&A: Brendon Green

Brendon Green
**2014 Billy T Nominee **

1)Tell us the name of your show
Some More Mr Nice Guy

2)Which came first – the show name or the show content?
Haha, the show title. Damn it.

3)C’mon, be honest….
I will be in my show, that's the whole point of it!

4)Any other working titles for the show?
About 60 different puns on the word Green. I want to use all of them over the course of my career.

5)How long – honestly- have you been working on this?
The first rough outline in my head happened in September last year. What the show is now is incredibly different, but the seeds had been sown, as comedian farmers would say.

6)What’s been the biggest challenge of pulling this show together?
Too many conflicting ideas that I fall in love with way to quickly. I want this show to be streamlined like Porsche wearing a windbreaker.

7)Who’s your biggest comedy rival – and why?
I'm a white, middle class, heterosexual, male. Nobody comes to mind...

8)Who’s your biggest comedy friend – and why?
There are too many people to name, please don't make me do it! Are you trying to ruin relationships here? You sicko. To purposely misquote the great Smashmouth, 'Why can't we all be friends?'

9)Which show is your must see? Why?
Sam Simmons 'Problems'. I saw it 5 years ago in Edinburgh, and it was genius. He's been working on it and improving it ever since, so I can't even imagine what the experience is going to be.

10)Give us your definition of a great night out during the festival
It kicks off with a Tinder match. That leads to pre-drinks at The Basement, where I just so happen to bump into a bunch of comedians who I know. How embarrassing/impressive. A 7pm show, a drink, an 8.30 show, a toilet break, a 10pm show, then some serious hand holding. Denny's at 3am to reminisce.

11)What goes through your mind, the minute before curtain goes up?
“Your future wife could be here, don't embarrass yourself.”

12)What about when you’re on stage?
“None of these people want to marry you, try harder.”

13)How easily distracted are you?
Not very. Once I start you'd be hard pressed to stop me. I'd perform through a fire if it weren't “illegal”.

14)Give us your dream comedy line up
I don't know about the line up, but it would be MC'd by a topless Matthew McConaughy. That dude could warm any audience up, if you know what I mean.

15)Just finally, where will you be in 5 years’ time
Slightly closer to death.

Brendon Green is a 2014 Billy T nominee and performs his show SOME MORE MR NICE GUY in Wellington (7 – 10 May) and Auckland (13 – 17 May) and as part of the 2014 NZ International Comedy Festival in cahoots with Old Mout Cider 24 April – 18 May. For more info visit www.comedyfestival.co.nz
Closer to death.

Comedy Fest Q&A: Tom Wrigglesworth

Comedy Fest Q&A: Tom Wrigglesworth

Comedy Fest Q&A
TOM WRIGGLESWORTH

1) Tell us the name of your show
It’s called Utterly at Odds with the Universe

2)Which came first – the show name or the show content?
The name - my Granddad said it about me. We find out how in the show

3)C’mon, be honest….
Deadly serious…and you’ll find out why that’s true in the show!

4)Any other working titles for the show?
No, although when I was writing it I referred to it as ‘the one that could go either way’

5)How long – honestly- have you been working on this?
Took weeks and weeks to write. Performed it 20 times in preview, 30 times in Edinburgh, 40 times on tour….but I’m still ‘working on it’ - there’s always something you can tweak.

6)What’s been the biggest challenge of pulling this show together?
Being able to do it without crying was pretty tricky in the first instant. Then remembering the catalogue of call backs that are needed to make everyone else cry.

7)Who’s your biggest comedy rival – and why?
There’s a clairvoyant touring round UK called Sally Morgan, who sells out the big rooms in the theatres I perform at (usually in the smaller studio space grrr). She might not be in comedy per say, but the fact people turn up in their droves is a joke.

8)Who’s your biggest comedy friend – and why?
The compere who’s about to announce me on!

9)Which show is your must see?
Why?

10)Give us your definition of a great night out during the festival
You know - I’m so boring and professional these days, a great night for me is a belting show, following by sensible food and an early night, allowing me to do it all again the next day. I am aware that this might be somewhat at odds with a genuine festival goers definition of a good night out.

11)What goes through your mind, the minute before curtain goes up?
Why am I doing this? I used to have a proper job? Could I bolt it? I used to ask the manager to hide my coat before I went on, to stop me from running away!

12)What about when you’re on stage?
Next line…what’s the next line…speak clearly…

13)How easily distracted are you?
Oh I’m Mr Focused, I mean there is very…..oh look a butterfly.

14)Give us your dream comedy line up
Dave Allen, Ross Noble and Billy Connelly. I’ll man the door.

15)Just finally, where will you be in 5 years’ time
Looking back with rose tinted spectacles about the 24 hour flight to New Zealand I’m currently dreading

TOM WRIGGLESWORTH performs his solo show UTTERLY AT ODDS WITH THE UNIVERSE (AKL 6 - 10 May & WLG 12 - Sat 17 May) as part of the 2014 NZ International Comedy Festival in cahoots with Old Mout Cider (24 April – 18 May). For more info visit www.comedyfestival.co.nz

Comedy Fest Q&A: Eamonn Marra

Comedy Fest Q&A: Eamonn Marra

Comedy Fest Q&A

EAMONN MARRA

1)Tell us the name of your show
Man on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown

2)Which came first – the show name or the show content?
Well some content came first, then the name, then I changed the content and now it doesn’t fit the name as well as it could but I think it’s a better show. It’s still a good name and a good show though.

3)C’mon, be honest….
I am always honest

4)Any other working titles for the show?
I had other ideas for shows that have some similar ideas and content, one called Welcome to the Internet (you live here now) and one called Help me win the Wilberforce Award. These shows might yet happen.

5)How long – honestly- have you been working on this?
This is my first comedy fest solo show, so I guess I’ve been working towards this developing my voice and content for the two years I’ve been performing. But I’ve only seriously been focussing on this show since late February after performing a different show in the Fringe Festival.

6)What’s been the biggest challenge of pulling this show together?
Working out the structure. I have a lot of ideas and a lot of material which tends to come reasonably easily, but working out the narrative sequence of the show without it ending up as a bunch of five minute sets being squished together with a vague overriding theme. I’m not sure if I’ve succeeded in this yet.

7)Who’s your biggest comedy rival – and why?
There is no point in rivals when we can work together instead.

8)Who’s your biggest comedy friend – and why?
This is hard, I’ve known Joseph Harper a long time and he is probably my biggest inspiration and one of the main reasons for doing comedy, I don’t see him very often anymore but he’s more important to me than he probably realises. Ricky Threlfo has been my biggest supporter and is a lot of fun to perform with and I wouldn’t be where I was without him. Johnny Potts is performing on some of the same nights in the same nights in the same venue as me and I couldn’t think of a person I would rather share that honour with.

9)Which show is your must see? Why?
Hayley Sproull and Chris Parker’s show Tighty Whiteys.

10)Give us your definition of a great night out during the festival
An early show at Bats with a friend during which we bump into another group of two or three people then we eat dinner over the comedy fest booklet deciding what to see next and end up deciding on a show that starts in five minutes across town so hurrying to see that. Someone buys me a beer and I either meet cool people or a cool person who I don’t think remembers me from a year or two before remembers me.

11)What goes through your mind, the minute before curtain goes up?
I realise that the only thing I can remember is the very first line I’m going to say and have no idea how I will get through six minutes/ten minutes/quarter/half/an hour.

12)What about when you’re on stage?
Some sort of burning white light of fear and appreciation

13)How easily distracted are you?
I am at university writing at essay at the moment.

14)Give us your dream comedy line up
I feel like such an imposter answering this question, I do not have an extensive knowledge of comedy. Louis CK and Simon Amstell and Maria Bamford would be there. Miranda July and David Sedaris and George Saunders would all be there too even though they’re not comedians. Joseph Harper would be doing something. The audience would be nice and no one would say anything racist.

15)Just finally, where will you be in 5 years’ time
If things continue at the rate I’m going at the moment, I’ll be in my eleventh year of an undergraduate degree.

EAMONN MARRA performs his solo show MAN ON THE VERGE OF A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN (WLG 5 - 8 May) as part of the 2014 NZ International Comedy Festival in cahoots with Old Mout Cider (24 April – 18 May). For more info visit www.comedyfestival.co.nz

Watch_Dogs Nvidia Tech trailer

Watch_Dogs Nvidia Tech trailer

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The Other Woman: Movie Review

The Other Woman: Movie Review

Cast: Cameron Diaz, Leslie Mann, Kate Upton, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Don Johnson
Director: Nick Cassavettes

Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.

Well, in this latest comedy, it's three women - so you can bet your bottom dollar, that's a truckload of scorning to come...

Cameron Diaz stars as ice queen lawyer Carly, who's in the early throes of an idyllic relationship with the hunky Mark (Game of Thrones star Nikolaj Coster-Waldau). He's the guy who shows up with flowers at work, a sparkling smile and a mischievous glint - and Carly's fallen hard.

But, trouble hits paradise when Carly discovers Mark's married - to the slightly needy, neurotic and clingy Kate (Leslie Mann, one of the best things in this romcom). With her instincts being to run a mile, Carly's blindsided when Kate goes all Cable Guy on her, forms a friendship and confides in her - and things get even more complicated when Kate and Carly find Mark's cheating on all of them with a third mistress, Amber (Sports Illustrated swimsuit star Kate Upton, complete with obligatory slow mo bikini run).

All three vow to take revenge....

The Other Woman is clearly a chick-flick that has parallels to the film John Tucker Must Die. But it also has a couple of secret weapons to ensure the male part of the audience / poor suckers being dragged along don't feel shortchanged.

Firstly, the slightly wooden Kate Upton.

Clearly a marketing ploy by bringing in a topless Kate Upton in a white bikini in slow-motion on the beach is aimed at giving the male sector of the audience something to engage with in this female bizarre bonding piece (even if it does fail given the relative stiffness of her performance). Though, once the initial appeal to half the prospective audience has gone out, she proffers little to the proceedings.

Secondly, Leslie Mann.

Her comic timing and ever-so-slightly OTT performance provides some much needed welcome relief which is few and far between - aside from vomiting into handbags and obligatory crowd pleasing diarrhea sequence as the nasty old philanderer starts to get his comeuppance (if that's your kind of thing). But Mann pitches a kind of middle ground between genuine bitterness, despair and lust for revenge as she rolls through the gamut of emotions. And to be frank, she's never less than watchable as the predictable plot and inevitable revenge games (laxative, oestrogen poisoning) get underway.

Cameron Diaz is in a thankless role as the wronged woman and she soldiers on regardless, offering a watchable turn that seems off kilter with the material. The worst offender though is Nikolaj Coster-Waldau aka Jaime Lannister who goes so far OTT once the diarrhea scene kicks in and in his final moments that you wonder what on earth the director Cassavettes was thinking in not asking him to dial it back a notch.

If you like relatively brainless fare and feel like grabbing a group of girls together for a night out after pre-loading, you will find yourself amused thanks to some fleeting moments. Though if sober be aware The Other Woman lacks any real kind of bite and is more a cinematic beating than an insightfully amusing and comic movie on cheating.

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Call of Duty®: Ghosts Devastation DLC Pack

Call of Duty®: Ghosts Devastation DLC Pack Coming to

PlayStation and Windows PC Players Friday, May 9, 2014

Call of Duty: Ghosts DLC Season Pass Owners Can Use

Devastation’s All-New Ripper 2-in-1 Weapon Immediately

Call of Duty®: Ghosts players on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3 and Windows PC will have access to Devastation, the game’s second of four massive DLC Packs planned for this year, on May 9, 2014. Devastation delivers four small-to-medium sized multiplayer maps, the all-new tactical 2-in-1 “Ripper” SMG/Assault Rifle, and “Episode 2: Mayday” – the next chapter in Extinction’s four-part episodic narrative. Devastation is available a la carte, or as part of the discounted* Call of Duty: Ghosts DLC Season Pass**.

Devastation’s new multiplayer maps include:

-          Ruins: A multi-level Mayan temple with verticality suited for long-range weapons and underground pathways perfect for close-quarters showdowns. Skilled players that find and complete the map's unique Field Order will have the ability to become one of Hollywood's most formidable action film stars and the galaxy's ultimate hunter, the deadly Predator. As the Predator, players will brandish its dual wrist blades and shoulder-mounted plasma cannon, as well as be able to utilize the creature's keen hunting abilities to track down enemy players.

-          Collision: The mangled remains of a cargo ship that's crashed into a New York City bridge. The map's tight corridors – made-up of burnt-out vehicles and demolished shipping containers – create a space perfect for run-and-gun players.

-          Behemoth: Players battle atop a massive excavation platform in South America with long sight lines ideal for long-range weapons, while the confined interiors of the platform's control rooms make for intense SMG and Shotgun encounters.

-          Unearthed: A reimagined version of the fan-favorite map "Dome" from Call of Duty®: Modern Warfare® 3. "Unearthed" is full of new secrets and Cryptid artifacts for players to discover in this compact, versatile map, great for all play types.

Additionally, Call of Duty: Ghosts Devastation brings fans the next chapter in the ongoing episodic Extinction story with "Episode 2: Mayday." In the aftermath of the events at the Nightfall Program facility in the Alaskan wilderness, the Quick Reaction Force boards a mysteriously abandoned Chinese research vessel adrift in the South Pacific Ocean. Armed with multiple, mod-able versions of the Venom-X weapons that harness the power of Cryptid technology, players will pursue Captain Archer in an attempt to uncover what's become of Dr. Cross, all while battling against a new Cryptid enemy called the "Seeder," and culminating with players facing-off against a massive, 400-foot tall Cryptid beast from the deep – the "Kraken."

Finally, Devastation arms players with the all-new tactical 2-in-1 "Ripper," a hybrid SMG/Assault Rifle. The "Ripper" is the perfect complement to Devastation's new multiplayer maps, providing two different configurations – medium to short-range capability as an SMG, and medium to long-range as an Assault Rifle. Additionally, Call of Duty: Ghosts DLC Season Pass holders get instant access to the “Ripper” weapon and can use it in all Call of Duty: Ghosts multiplayer maps now.

Call of Duty: Ghosts game sold separately and is required to play the Devastation DLC Pack.

Legal Stuff:

*Based on Season Pass retail price and four individual DLC Packs.

**Content in the DLC Season Pass may be sold separately.  If you purchase the DLC Season Pass, do not also purchase these standalone DLC Packs, as you will be charged for them.  DLC Season Pass and DLC Packs may not be available on all platforms or in all territories.  Pricing and release dates may vary by platform.

The Lego Movie: Movie Review

The Lego Movie: Movie Review

Voice cast: Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Will Ferrell, Will Arnett, Liam Neeson, Alison Brie, Morgan Freeman
Director: Phil Lord, Christopher Miller

And so, a most unexpected animated "block"buster hits the screen.

The Lego Movie has been a smash hit worldwide - it's the story of ordinary LEGO construction worker Emmett (Chris Pratt), who lives his daily life trying to fit in and conform to the instructions within his life manual.

However, when he inadvertently is believed to be a prophesied "Special" who can help bring down Lord Business (Will Ferrell), he's recruited into a quest to save the LEGO Universe. Along on this quest is Wyldstyle (Elizabeth Banks) and her boyf the self-absorbed Batman (Will Arnett) and the Gandalf like Vitruvius (Morgan Freeman).

Soon, Emmett finds himself in a world of adventure and part of a team - but on their trail is Bad Cop (Liam Neeson) who's determined to stop them saving the day....

The LEGO Movie is absolutely insane, a fast-paced mix of fast edits and hyper-kinetic cuts that's likely to give a headache to some adults but suits perfectly the short attention spans of youngsters everywhere. Inf act, about half way through, it appears that the frenetic pace and general randomness of what's going on would appear to indicate those in charge have simply lost the plot and just thrown ideas at the wall to see what would stick.

But that's the clever thing about The LEGO Movie - it throws in a third act reveal that borders on cinematic genius (and a twist that's right up there with some of the best) that puts everything that's gone before into perfect context and shows that the non stop gags and general silliness have all served a hitherto unrevealed purpose.

The animation is splendidly top notch, pulling together the old school feel of the bricks and the reasons why you loved spending hours crafting together Lego pieces; there's no nostalgia at play here (a la Muppets) but simply a free-wheeling feeling of joy and zaniness.

Of the vocal cast, Liam Neeson channels his special set of skills as the Good Cop/ Bad Cop persona; Banks brings an affability to Wyldstyle; Pratt channels the ordinariness for his Emmett, but makes him likeable and a hero for all; Freeman is the Gandalf we never had but are reminded of why his silky smooth tones are reassuring in any situation - and Arnett is the star as the self-absorbed Batman, the brooding hero who puts himself before others.

The LEGO Movie deserves to be a blockbuster hit - it's a family film that appeals to kids of all ages (much like the toy, a fact acknowledged in a savvy aside) but it manages to do more than just that. It brings a depth and a smartness that combines with a loopy overall tone to make you feel its theme song "Everything is Awesome" is cleverly prescient of how you'll feel when you leave.

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