Comedian Rhys Darby kicked off the Australian tour of his new show Rhys Darby Live! on Monday night with the first of two sold-out shows at Perth’s Astor Theatre.
Whilst Darby is perhaps best known as the lovably inept band manager Murray Hewitt from Flight of the Conchords, he has had a long and successful career as a stand-up comic. And whilst Darby’s most famous character didn’t make an appearance, we were treated to a cameo from another of his creations, park ranger-slash-personal security Bill Napier, who was tasked with warming up the crowd, picking on a few late comers (don’t turn up late to a comedy show and expect to not be picked on) and introducing Jamie Bowen, a fellow New Zealand comic, and the supporting comic for the tour.
Bowen’s short set proved to not only be a great warm up for the main act, but also a fantastic introduction to the comic. His scathing yet probably accurate depiction of London was hilarious, and his self-deprecating humour and witty observations on virtual romance won over the majority if not all of the audience – and what a beard.
Rhys Darby Live is in many ways a comedic greatest hits, with Darby drawing upon some of his best loved material from the last three or four years. Chances are you will have run into some of these jokes before; and chances are you’ll still find them hilarious in the re-telling. I’d only seen his skit about “man looks” and search and rescue teams a few hours before courtesy of YouTube, but still found myself laughing aloud along with everyone else.
The show is also implausibly autobiographical, peppered with anecdotes from when he was in the New Zealand army, from when he met his wife Rosie, and from that one time he worked as a skinny-jeaned honey trap to catch pickpockets for the police.
It’s the kind of show that successfully and hilariously blends observational comedy with the surreal; that can go from talking about the evolution of taps in public toilets, to conversing with sad-faced caterpillars in magic mushroom milkshake induced haze.
Where some comics tend to rely on one type of humour, whether it be the steady dead-pan recitation of one liners, or over the top physical comedy, Darby switches it up regularly and unleashes his full comedic repertoire from sound effects to some top notch dance moves.
Rhys Darby Live may draw on some older material, but when the material is that good, you’ll be laughing too much to really care. A wonderfully surreal and hilarious show from start to finish. Hopefully it’s not another 4+ years before he comes back again.
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Rhys Darby continues his Australian tour tonight in Brisbane:
October 16th – The Tivoli, BRISBANE
www.ticketmaster.com.au / 136 100
October 17th – Opera House, SYDNEY | JUST FOR LAUGHS
www.sydneyoperahouse.com/justforlaughs or www.ticketek.com.au
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