Admiral Ackbar's comedy show - it's not a trap

Admiral Ackbars comedy show
Admiral Ackbars comedy show

Admiral Ackbar is known to many simply as that character from Star Wars who yells, "It's a trap!"

But a Comedy Festival show from a Wellington performer is shedding new light on the military commanders' life.

The famous line was the defining moment of Gail Ackbar's long and distinguished military career.

Years after that assault on the Death Star, Ackbar finds himself in Wellington, of all places.

An Hour With Ackbar is the brain child of Wellington performer Anya Tate-Manning, who I interviewed as Ackbar himself.

"[The show was] about three or four years in the making. I mean it takes about three years to get here from the Dagobah system, so I wrote most of it on the flight actually," says Ackbar.

It's a variety show of sorts, with singing, anecdotes about his life and stand-up comedy.

But it's not all laughs -- there are deeply personal aspects of the show, with Ackbar reading from his soon-to-be-published memoirs.

"They wouldn't allow me to train at the Jedi Academy -- even after they saw me perform in Squid Lake," says Ackbar.

In a rare moment of vulnerability for a military man, he even talks about his strained relationship with his father.

"Actually it's been quite a healing process for me, you know - talking about him and also making some jokes about him, because he's dead so I can," says Ackbar.

And just to be clear -- this is a real show. It's not a trap.

Newshub.