Isaac Andrews
Ivan Aristeguieta is a Venezuelan comedian, who in 2012 immigrated to Australia and has since built a stand-up career taking on the challenge of performing in a second language. On this freezing cold Tuesday night, I’m welcomed in by the warmth of the Fringe bar, to his new show tonight: Ivan Aristeguieta - Too Easy.
This is as a part of the NZ International Comedy Festival. The marketing visuals are drenched in bright and vibrant, purple and blue neon lights. The poster portrays Aristeguieta much alike a 80s rockstar-with-sunglasses, quite the laidback and chill-vibed look.
There’s a handful of patrons tonight, just over a dozen, making for a quiet night between us. I’m interested to see how Aristeguieta will play to a smaller crowd.
When Aristeguieta comes out onto stage, he is bright and bubbling with energy. He confidently throws a “¿Cómo estás?” out into the crowd and receives a very quiet response. He chuckles and repeats this in English, “How are you?” garners slightly more enthusiasm. Aristeguieta begins quite open and honest with the audience. He expresses his gratitude towards everyone tonight who bought a ticket, as “there’s a lot of free comedy out there... comedy is like sex, feedback is important.” He states there will be no ‘Netflix laughter’ and to please, respond naturally, as you comfortably would - “don’t laugh if it’s not funny.” Aristeguieta strikes me as a warm and welcoming comic, with a realistic attitude about his performance. He’s conversational, upfront and makes small adjustments throughout his set to better suit the crowd.
For example, Aristeguieta is completely cool when a part doesn’t land well, is sincere when acknowledging it, then seamlessly moves on. Although it is a fairly unresponsive crowd tonight, Aristeguieta continues with a sense of bravado; he keeps the train rolling well. I find he is charming and innately expressive with his words, without it reading as a gregarious act. I appreciate his patience with the crowd to let us warm up to him.
At one point, Aristeguieta shades his eyes from the spotlights to properly see the audience members. He notices me at the back and asks if I am okay, as I was using my phone’s screen light to take notes. I confirm I am reviewing the show tonight and he politely acknowledges “just wanted to check you weren’t distracted, just make sure you ask them [the audience] if they laughed on the inside as they leave”. This is an absolutely hilarious moment for me and the audience, and I’m brought further into Aristeguieta’s rather sassy and playful world of comedy.
I’m not sure why Aristeguieta’s show is subtitled Too Easy, but if I had to guess I think it’d be because he is simply too easy to listen to. I’m not sure if there’s much of a theme but it needn’t be there; there were endless moments I found myself blissfully engaged in his weaving of anecdotes, unsure of where we would go next.
Many of Aristeguieta’s stories describe his culture shock arriving to Australia, be it the supernaturally-dry Weetbix or his unfamiliarity of the punch-buggy joke. Others are more outrageous sharings of his discovery of the squat-toilets when traveling in Japan. He is so visual with this gag and recreates his first time using one, bending down and losing his balance. Aristeguieta also delves into some more personal sharings of his life, such as his mental-health struggles, angers and anxieties and his journey to finding balance. He shares with us conversations between him and his doctor and discusses his psychological struggles. He talks about ‘effort’ and what it means to be pushing yourself too much or too little (much like his “constipation struggles”) and what accountability means, as there is no translation for it in Spanish. Aristeguieta has such an extreme range in his voice and facial expressions, he so effortlessly encourages audience laughter. He will be quiet and gentle, then will burst out with expletives at an impressive vocal range; there is such variety expressed through his emotional tone, and the colors he paints his words. Aristeguieta conjures an imaginative world with his gestures too, and his overall presentation-style makes for an incredibly engaging watch.
Finally, Aristeguieta wraps up with a kind “I hope you liked the show, I don’t know if you did”, and asks the audience for any questions. He also thanks me for attending and reviewing, of which I thought was a lovely surprise. I could listen to Aristeguieta for hours, I thought he deserved more hands applauding him and has genuinely lifted my spirits upon leaving the theater. I’d love to see this comedian again live.
There’s a handful of patrons tonight, just over a dozen, making for a quiet night between us. I’m interested to see how Aristeguieta will play to a smaller crowd.
When Aristeguieta comes out onto stage, he is bright and bubbling with energy. He confidently throws a “¿Cómo estás?” out into the crowd and receives a very quiet response. He chuckles and repeats this in English, “How are you?” garners slightly more enthusiasm. Aristeguieta begins quite open and honest with the audience. He expresses his gratitude towards everyone tonight who bought a ticket, as “there’s a lot of free comedy out there... comedy is like sex, feedback is important.” He states there will be no ‘Netflix laughter’ and to please, respond naturally, as you comfortably would - “don’t laugh if it’s not funny.” Aristeguieta strikes me as a warm and welcoming comic, with a realistic attitude about his performance. He’s conversational, upfront and makes small adjustments throughout his set to better suit the crowd.
For example, Aristeguieta is completely cool when a part doesn’t land well, is sincere when acknowledging it, then seamlessly moves on. Although it is a fairly unresponsive crowd tonight, Aristeguieta continues with a sense of bravado; he keeps the train rolling well. I find he is charming and innately expressive with his words, without it reading as a gregarious act. I appreciate his patience with the crowd to let us warm up to him.
At one point, Aristeguieta shades his eyes from the spotlights to properly see the audience members. He notices me at the back and asks if I am okay, as I was using my phone’s screen light to take notes. I confirm I am reviewing the show tonight and he politely acknowledges “just wanted to check you weren’t distracted, just make sure you ask them [the audience] if they laughed on the inside as they leave”. This is an absolutely hilarious moment for me and the audience, and I’m brought further into Aristeguieta’s rather sassy and playful world of comedy.
I’m not sure why Aristeguieta’s show is subtitled Too Easy, but if I had to guess I think it’d be because he is simply too easy to listen to. I’m not sure if there’s much of a theme but it needn’t be there; there were endless moments I found myself blissfully engaged in his weaving of anecdotes, unsure of where we would go next.
Many of Aristeguieta’s stories describe his culture shock arriving to Australia, be it the supernaturally-dry Weetbix or his unfamiliarity of the punch-buggy joke. Others are more outrageous sharings of his discovery of the squat-toilets when traveling in Japan. He is so visual with this gag and recreates his first time using one, bending down and losing his balance. Aristeguieta also delves into some more personal sharings of his life, such as his mental-health struggles, angers and anxieties and his journey to finding balance. He shares with us conversations between him and his doctor and discusses his psychological struggles. He talks about ‘effort’ and what it means to be pushing yourself too much or too little (much like his “constipation struggles”) and what accountability means, as there is no translation for it in Spanish. Aristeguieta has such an extreme range in his voice and facial expressions, he so effortlessly encourages audience laughter. He will be quiet and gentle, then will burst out with expletives at an impressive vocal range; there is such variety expressed through his emotional tone, and the colors he paints his words. Aristeguieta conjures an imaginative world with his gestures too, and his overall presentation-style makes for an incredibly engaging watch.
Finally, Aristeguieta wraps up with a kind “I hope you liked the show, I don’t know if you did”, and asks the audience for any questions. He also thanks me for attending and reviewing, of which I thought was a lovely surprise. I could listen to Aristeguieta for hours, I thought he deserved more hands applauding him and has genuinely lifted my spirits upon leaving the theater. I’d love to see this comedian again live.