by Laura Ferguson
Huzzah it is Comedy Festival time again! What better way to start it than with a trip to see one of my favourite Wellington comedians, Li’i Alaimoana. The 2017 Billy T Award nominee is giving us more of what we love in this years’ show, Seriousli’i? And honestly, shouldn’t there be Best Name award because Seriousli’i? would definitely get my pun-loving vote.
Alaimoana is full of hilarious and heart-warming stories about his family, filled with love even as he tells us the woes of raising seven kids. His daughters are social-media driven terrors, his teenage son brings laziness to heroic proportions and his five-year-old is a budding menace of an escape artist. However, his parental woes aside, the way Alaimoana holds his hand to his chest throughout the show depicts how much love he holds for his family. Maybe this laugh-inducing hour is just an excuse to talk about them all more.
Laugh-inducing this show certainly is, Alaimoana effortlessly uses wordplay, subverted tropes and callbacks to keep us laughing for the whole hour. Alaimoana’s personality shines with every punchline and when he interjects to tease us in the audience, we love it, basking in being picked out, a rare feat for usually shy Kiwi audiences.
When Alaimoana breaks out the guitar though, we meld into a mellow trance of impressed giggles when faced with his musical skill. His voice sweeps over raunchy lines of comedic songs and I particularly love that if you heard his song, “Have You Ever” from far away you may mistake it for a beachy summer vibe when in actuality, the lyrics are bawdy, witty and hilarious.
Alaimoana’s brand of Kiwi comedy is always thoroughly entertaining and tonight was no exception. He is relatable, quick-witted and deals out nuggets of wisdom you don’t usually expect from a comedy show. The hour goes by too quick and as Alaimoana makes his final punchline and gives the audience a wave, we clap and whoop for a fabulous hour of comedy. I’ll definitely be recommending this one to my colleagues and friends. I loved it. Seriousli’i.
Seriousli’i? is playing at Fringe Bar at 8.30pm until Saturday the 11th of May. You can find tickets here.