Julz Burgisser
He’s British (but don’t worry, he hates himself too), he wants visit Kenya to build a well and he may or may not be in the witness protection program. With these facts and more James Acaster builds a hilarious show around the idea of chucking in the towel on life and having a Reset. Haven’t we all wanted to start again? A brilliant show about a do-over with an actual do-over inside, a show so good that seeing Acaster live is a highlight of my year let alone the Festival.
James Acaster is touring his World Premier show Reset and his reputation precedes him as the excitedly waiting crowd lines the long footpath of Cuba Street. The expectation is huge, as big as the queue and as we file inside to take our seats a stranger turns to me to tell me, with wide joyful eyes, that this will be the fifth time they’ve seen him. The man himself walks on stage to rapturous applause and tells us “I was hoping it would be you!”. From the start he has us eating out of his hand, the hour flies by too fast in a blur of shrieks of delight and laughter and my respect for his genius grows and grows.
There were several moments during the show that Acaster asks a question of the audience, they never feel like cursory questions, they always add something valuable to the show. It’s in these moments that we also see that his crowd work is second to none. Not only that but he has got us Kiwi’s down pat. He light heartedly destroys our typical reactions and plays with our responses, he reads the audience incredibly well and you can see a breath of experience in dealing with people shining through his confident replies to everything we throw at him or don’t as the case may be.
He made us laugh at the words, and, no, I don’t mean by using puns or by other clever word play. I mean he quite literally had us in hysterics over a word. It’s really hard to explain until you’re there at the show, with the laughter bubbling out of you, building until your cheeks hurt and tears are forming. He has a knack for word repetition that takes us to the point of ridiculousness and out the other side, Spaghetti Bolognaise will never be the same for me ever again. I’m going to be laughing at the words, in the memory of the brilliant and gifted performance.
Oh, and the call-backs… oh, the wrap ups… I could go on and on, but it wouldn’t make much sense to you without explaining too much of the show. Suffice to say that every time you think you’re done with a joke, you’re not. It’s back later for seconds and thirds, and, like full grown adults having a buffet helpings competition, we eat it all up. Every time it reappears it’s better and the show builds into a crescendo of laughs that is music to a comedian’s ears.
Acaster Reset my standards for Stand Up Comedy, a true master of a turn of phrase and a call-back champion. I would go see it again tomorrow, for a real repeat performance and I’m absolutely sure I’d be laughing harder than the first time around.
Tickets are all SOLD OUT for his Wellington shows so he’s put on another performance of Reset on Friday 13 May 2016 at 5:30 PM. Don’t miss out, buy tickets today!
Tickets sold here: https://www.iticket.co.nz/events/2016/may/james-acaster
There were several moments during the show that Acaster asks a question of the audience, they never feel like cursory questions, they always add something valuable to the show. It’s in these moments that we also see that his crowd work is second to none. Not only that but he has got us Kiwi’s down pat. He light heartedly destroys our typical reactions and plays with our responses, he reads the audience incredibly well and you can see a breath of experience in dealing with people shining through his confident replies to everything we throw at him or don’t as the case may be.
He made us laugh at the words, and, no, I don’t mean by using puns or by other clever word play. I mean he quite literally had us in hysterics over a word. It’s really hard to explain until you’re there at the show, with the laughter bubbling out of you, building until your cheeks hurt and tears are forming. He has a knack for word repetition that takes us to the point of ridiculousness and out the other side, Spaghetti Bolognaise will never be the same for me ever again. I’m going to be laughing at the words, in the memory of the brilliant and gifted performance.
Oh, and the call-backs… oh, the wrap ups… I could go on and on, but it wouldn’t make much sense to you without explaining too much of the show. Suffice to say that every time you think you’re done with a joke, you’re not. It’s back later for seconds and thirds, and, like full grown adults having a buffet helpings competition, we eat it all up. Every time it reappears it’s better and the show builds into a crescendo of laughs that is music to a comedian’s ears.
Acaster Reset my standards for Stand Up Comedy, a true master of a turn of phrase and a call-back champion. I would go see it again tomorrow, for a real repeat performance and I’m absolutely sure I’d be laughing harder than the first time around.
Tickets are all SOLD OUT for his Wellington shows so he’s put on another performance of Reset on Friday 13 May 2016 at 5:30 PM. Don’t miss out, buy tickets today!
Tickets sold here: https://www.iticket.co.nz/events/2016/may/james-acaster
