• theatre
  • features
  • glimpses
  • faqs
  • contact
  • theatre
  • features
  • glimpses
  • faqs
  • contact
  Art Murmurs - Wellington Reviews

Reviews

Under Construction

29/2/2016

Comments

 

Dell Mitchell

Picture
I have been a fan of Neil Thornton since I first saw him perform, primarily because he is one of those great comics that can make you laugh and think at the same time. Tonight I discovered he can also have you make you cry tears of joy and sadness simultaneously as well.

Thornton starts off the night by letting us know that even though it may get dark at times, he is fine, and it will get funny again.  He then proceeds to charm the audience with some slightly self-deprecating jokes; he acknowledges that it is opening night and, with reference to Outliers (novel by Malcolm Gladwell), that it is okay to not be perfect, as even the Beatles were not perfect when they first played the Cavern Club in Liverpool.

He tells the story of when he obtained what he thought was the dream, and how he was in fact miserable, and then the impact that hurricane Katrina had on that part of his life.  He bounces in and out of this story in order to keep the mood light, and for the most part the segues work.  Obviously it does work out in the end, but Thorntons talent in being able to tell the tale of one of the worst times of his life in a way that makes you laugh and cry and relate to his journey is remarkable.  He refers back to his collection of about 20 or so self-help books that are on display throughout the evening, wrapping up this section by letting us know that “nothing will make you hate yourself more than a book about how to love yourself”.
​
We are then introduced to the concept of the Mind Monkey, and get to meet a few of his; the crowd may be small but everyone is laughing.  His mix of intelligent, insightful humour, as always, leaves me with tears rolling down my face and sore cheeks from laughing so hard.  This may not be a show for people who take self-help books seriously, but it is a show for those of us who may sometimes take our ‘journey of self discovery’ a little bit too seriously and need to learn to laugh at ourselves.
Comments

    Local Honest Reviews

    At Art Murmurs, our aim is to provide honest and constructive art reviews to the Wellington community.

    Archives

    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    September 2021
    July 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    June 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015

    Categories

    All
    All Age Appropriate
    Art
    BATS
    Beauty Standards
    Black Comedy
    Body Positive
    Circa
    Circus
    Comedy
    Comedy Festival 2018
    Comedy Festival 2019
    Community Theatre
    Dance
    Devised
    Documentary
    Drag
    Drama
    Emerging Artist
    Exhibition
    Experimental
    Female Artists
    Feminism
    Festival
    For Kids
    Fringe
    Fun
    Gallery
    Gryphon Theatre
    Heart + Music
    History
    Improv
    International
    Interview
    Ivy
    Lighting
    Local
    Mental Health
    Music
    Musical
    New Writing
    New Zealand
    NZ Comedy
    NZ Fringe
    NZIF
    On Tour
    Photography
    Photospace Gallery
    Physical Theatre
    Political
    Politics
    Premiere
    Pyramid Club
    Queer
    Race
    Roxy LIVE
    Science
    Scruffy Bunny Improv Theatre
    Sexual Violence
    Shakespeare
    Site Specific
    Site-specific
    Sketch
    Solo Show
    Song
    Spoken Word
    Storytelling
    Te Auaha
    Theatre
    Thought Provoking
    Thought-provoking
    Toi Poneke Gallery
    Verbatim
    Victoria University
    Virtual Theatre
    Weekly
    Wellington
    Wellington Footlights
    Wellington Repertory