By Imogen Crispe
The one-man act that is Rhys Darby’s This Way to Space Ship is creative, entertaining and light-hearted fun.
The main show begins suspensefully with a rocket launch countdown, befitting of the show’s title, followed by a mystery celebrity computer voice in a clear parody of the film 2001: A Space Odyssey.
The show then goes on to explain the story behind how a man who used to dress like a “time-travelling disco soldier” ended up on a rocket ship, saving the people onboard from the 2012 Armageddon - albeit with many asides and irrelevantly funny jokes. It was more like a one man comedic play than a traditional stand-up gig, but very creative and amusing.
Darby, 38, is a great storyteller and adept at playing multiple characters in his stories. His skits were often illustrated by his trademark oral sound effects.
His cute and often childlike humour was easy to relate to and reminded me of my own innocent yet rib-tickling childhood capers. Downright silliness featured regularly, and was a nice change from the shock-factor humour many other comedians use.
But it wasn’t all cute, with the odd adult laughs and sexual jokes – all part of a structured and somewhat rehearsed performance.
Darby’s unusual comedy style, which seems very prepared and practised, actually works really well for him. He subtly manages to weave earlier jokes into later stories and takes themes from each segment to make the whole a smooth and interweaving series of fun.
Darby will be performing his show at Auckland’s Sky City Theatre until Saturday.
3 News
source: newshub archive
