Julz Burgisser
The Internet has grown to be such an essential part of our lives that it's hard to imagine life without it anymore. Of course, some parts of it are less essential to daily life than others. Eli Matthewson’s show ‘Wow! You Won't Believe This Disney Prince Reimagined as an Absolute Comedy Legend.’ is a clickbait title if ever you heard one and that’s the point!
Eli has been seen on TV3’s Jono and Ben, AotearoHA, Funny Girls and he’s been nominated for the Billy T twice as well as many other awards having been presented, so we know even before going in that we’re going to be in good hands. I had the real joy of seeing his festival show, Faith, last year and loved every second, so you can imagine my excitement about seeing what’s next.
The projections on the screen makes up a big part of the show, setting the background scene in each new character sketch that we are presented with and often providing it’s own jokes in the clever interactive way it was put together. It’s a credit to the team of people involved with it’s production.
The show opens with a character calling himself the Soulful Soldier on the Youtube background.He has a tough task ahead of him and he’s filming it so the internet can respond to his troubles, only the conversation doesn’t quite go in the direction he expected and it has hilarious results. This is our taster for the show to come and sets the internet scene in a strong way.
The show lingers on the key forms of the internet and how we interact with them daily. From Facebook ads and posts to teenagers with their own channels on Youtube, from Instagram pics to Podcasts that make no sense, nothing is left unmocked and everything is on point. It’s not just a show where we laugh at the ridiculousness of the internet as we are scrolled through it by our energetic and expert guide, it’s a show designed to show us why we don’t need the internet as much as we think we do. Eli is deleting Facebook and after his show, I seriously considered doing it too.
Eli is energy and enthusiasm personified as he inspires the audience to volunteer to be various parts of the show, each part providing it’s own hilarious challenges for the volunteers and sometimes for Eli as he deals with the random suggestions from his audience. Never once did I see him stumble, in fact he was a joy to watch as he flew from sketch to sketch switching characters effortlessly and capturing our attention so intently that the hour flew by in a hail of laughter.
My favourite pieces were Flatties 5eva, which I was laughing so hard at I nearly cried at how true to reality it is; and who couldn’t love the new technology sketch which requires Eli to be on his feet after dragging an audience member to theirs. Watching the skill he has to put the audience in the palm of his hand and hold them there throughout a whole show was a lesson in comedy writing itself and I thoroughly recommend you get along to see, and be a part of, Eli’s show!
Eli Matthewson’s ‘Wow! You Won't Believe This Disney Prince Reimagined as an Absolute Comedy Legend.” on at BATS Theatre from Tues 26th to Sat 30th at 7pm.
Tickets and Information Available here: http://www.comedyfestival.co.nz/find-a-show/eli-matthewson/?LocaleID=2
The projections on the screen makes up a big part of the show, setting the background scene in each new character sketch that we are presented with and often providing it’s own jokes in the clever interactive way it was put together. It’s a credit to the team of people involved with it’s production.
The show opens with a character calling himself the Soulful Soldier on the Youtube background.He has a tough task ahead of him and he’s filming it so the internet can respond to his troubles, only the conversation doesn’t quite go in the direction he expected and it has hilarious results. This is our taster for the show to come and sets the internet scene in a strong way.
The show lingers on the key forms of the internet and how we interact with them daily. From Facebook ads and posts to teenagers with their own channels on Youtube, from Instagram pics to Podcasts that make no sense, nothing is left unmocked and everything is on point. It’s not just a show where we laugh at the ridiculousness of the internet as we are scrolled through it by our energetic and expert guide, it’s a show designed to show us why we don’t need the internet as much as we think we do. Eli is deleting Facebook and after his show, I seriously considered doing it too.
Eli is energy and enthusiasm personified as he inspires the audience to volunteer to be various parts of the show, each part providing it’s own hilarious challenges for the volunteers and sometimes for Eli as he deals with the random suggestions from his audience. Never once did I see him stumble, in fact he was a joy to watch as he flew from sketch to sketch switching characters effortlessly and capturing our attention so intently that the hour flew by in a hail of laughter.
My favourite pieces were Flatties 5eva, which I was laughing so hard at I nearly cried at how true to reality it is; and who couldn’t love the new technology sketch which requires Eli to be on his feet after dragging an audience member to theirs. Watching the skill he has to put the audience in the palm of his hand and hold them there throughout a whole show was a lesson in comedy writing itself and I thoroughly recommend you get along to see, and be a part of, Eli’s show!
Eli Matthewson’s ‘Wow! You Won't Believe This Disney Prince Reimagined as an Absolute Comedy Legend.” on at BATS Theatre from Tues 26th to Sat 30th at 7pm.
Tickets and Information Available here: http://www.comedyfestival.co.nz/find-a-show/eli-matthewson/?LocaleID=2