I'm a big fan of Greta Thunberg, so I'm pleased to see her on the cover of Time. But Person of the Year is for the most impact, good or bad, on the world. And that has to go to Vladimir Putin. He's played an absolute blinder, every year since 2015, achieving feats so improbable, oddsmakers must think we're living in a parallel universe. The UK voted to make themselves poorer. Putin installed a puppet into the White House, a puppet he controls up to the elbow, the way Jim Henson controlled Kermit. And today, if the Tories win the UK election, Putin seals the deal on ejecting the UK from the EU. That, sadly, is megatons more impactful than people worldwide marching in the streets, calling for change. (Sorry to be the Grinch.) Think of where Putin was in 2015, and think of where he is now. This underdog couldn't challenge the EU or US with military might. So he had to be clever. And now he owns the US, the UK, and has hobbled the EU. Give the man his Time cover. But be careful. If he takes it the wrong way, journalists have a habit of dying.
Heckled by an Eftpos Machine
The robots are taking over! At my recent season in Wellington’s Pow Wow Room, the rise of the machines continued when the Eftpos machine decided to heckle. At least, that’s how I saw it. Check out the video evidence here.
WELLINGTON 2019: 'KAN TOUCH THIS'
Wellington gets the first taste of my new hour of stand-up, ‘Kan Touch This,’ for 3 nights only at the cosy Pow Wow Room, Nov 12-14. Touchy subjects will the touched, sometimes gently, sometimes with abandon, bordering on exclamation.
Bookings at: Wellyfun.co.nz/events-pw
LIME SCOOTERS RADIO DEBATE
As pedestrians are being made obsolete by electric scooters, a few brave humans fight back for the sake of humanity. Humans like me. Jerome Chandrahasen and I debated one another on the topic ‘That Lime Scooters should be banned” for RNZ this January. The entire debate, including dubious judgment, will provide you 7 minutes of brain-zapping joy molecules.
You can listen to the debate here.
Video: West Coast Crowd Warm-Up
After a month on the road touring 'Rado & Raybon Save The World' with Arts on Tour, here's a snippet of me warming up the crowd in Barrytown, population 225, on the South Island's spectacular West Coast. How spectacular? On a half-hour drive from Greymouth, I probably stopped the van half a dozen times to admire the scenery. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwY8WpbYWjU
RADO & RAYBON: NZ TOUR MARCH 2018
Woohoo! This March, I'm touring NZ's nooks, crannies and arterial bypasses, with the remarkable Nick Rado, in our comedy show 'Rado & Raybon Save The World.'
We are being brought to you by the lovely people at Arts on Tour NZ. It's entirely likely we're coming to a town near you. Dates below -- don't miss out.
Friday 2 March 7.30pm Whitianga Town Hall $30, $15 Students under 18 Book: Whitianga Paper Plus
Saturday 3 March 7.30pm Whakatane Gateway Theatre $20 Book: The Good Life
Sunday 4 March 7.30pm Opotiki Deluxe Theatre $25 Book: Deluxe Theatre, Opotiki Library Or www.deluxetheatre.co.nz
Tuesday 6 March 8.30pm Gisborne Comedy at the Cossie Club $25 Book: Cosmopolitan Club
Wednesday 7 March 7.30pm Waipawa CHB Municipal Theatre $35 Book: CHB Theatre or www.eventfinda.co.nz
Thursday 8 March 7pm Wanganui Royal Wanganui Opera House Adults $30, Seniors/Students (with ID) $25 Groups of 6 or more $22.50 Book: Royal Wanganui Opera House Box Office
Friday 9 March 8pm Upper Hutt Expressions Whirinaki $20 Book: www.expressions.org.nz
Sunday 11 March 8.30pm Onekaka The Mussel Inn $20 Book: Eventfinda for pre-sales
Tuesday 13 March 7.30pm Ashburton Ashburton Trust Event Centre Adult $27, Student $20, Door Sales $30 (fees apply) Book: Venue or www.ticketdirect.co.nz
Wednesday 14 March 7.30pm Geraldine Crown Hotel $25 Book: LOUK Clothing (No Eftpos)
Thursday 15 March 7.30pm Cromwell Cromwell College Auditorium Adults $25, SuperGold $20, Student $5 Book: Cromwell i-Site
Friday 16 March 7pm Queenstown Heritage Hotel $25 Book: Eventfinda
Saturday 17 March 8pm Invercargill Asylum at Invercargill Brewery $25 pre sales, $35 door sales Book: Eventfinda.co.nz
Monday 19 March 7pm Lincoln The Laboratory $25 Over the bar at the Lab
Tuesday 20 March 8pm Christchurch Gloucester Room, Isaac Theatre Royal Adults $35, $30 Gloucester Session Subscriber, $255 a table of 4 inc wine and antipasto platter $130 for 2 tickets inc wine and antipasto platter
Wednesday 21 March 7.30pm Hokitika Old Lodge Theatre $20 Book: Hokitika’s Regent Theatre
Thursday 22 March 8pm Barrytown Barrytown Hall $20 door sales
Saturday 24 March 8pm Auckland Uxbridge Arts and Culture Centre $26 Book: www.uxbridge.org.nz
Sunday 25 March 7pm New Plymouth TSB Showplace Tickets from $20 (fees apply) Book: Ticketek.co.nz 0800 TICKETEK or at TSB Showplace box office
Tuesday 27 March 7.30pm Putaruru The Plaza $25 Book: The Plaza, i-Site Tokoroa, Diamond Jewellers Matamata, Eventfinda
Wednesday 28 March 7.30pm Hamilton The Meteor Theatre $25, $20 unwaged Book: www.themeteor.co.nz
Friday 30 March 7.30pm Whangarei The Riverbank Centre $30 book www.whangareitheatrecompany.org.nz And Storytime Reyburn House Lane
Saturday 31 March 7.30pm Kaitaia Te Ahu Atrium $35 Book: Te ahu Café or bookings@teahu.org.nz
Christchurch Live Dates: Aug 3 & 4
After being stranded due to weather, Nick Rado and I have now rescheduled our Christchurch shows. Now we're performing our double bill on August 3 and 4. Because it's all at sudden short notice, all tickets are $20 and $15. Click here for bookings.
Christchurch Shows July 13-15
People of Christchurch! Nick Rado and I are coming down your way for 3 nights in July, to perform our Comedy Festival shows, back-to-back, as a double feature. Season runs July 13-15.
For booking details, click here.
Comedy Festival Wellington, May 16-20
My Comedy Festival show, coming up in Wellington, made the front page of the Dominion Post. Bookings available here.
NZ Comedy Festival 2017
WOOT! Let the countdown begin. The NZ International Comedy Festival begins at the end of April. I'm performing my new stand-up show, Positive Pessimist in Auckland and Wellington. The Auckland season is a limited run (two nights in an intimate venue) so booking ahead is recommended bigly. (You know what, I also recommend booking for Wellington, but then again, I would.) Bookings available here.
Dunedin Fringe March 2017
Hey, Dunedin. You'll be the first to see my new stand-up show, Positive Pessimist, at the Fringe this March. Despite the title, I am looking forward to this. It's been a while since I've been down in your parts. The show runs for four nights at the Dog with Two Tails.
Show details, hype, alternative facts, and booking information are clickable here via the cyber.
RNZ Comedy Debate Feb 2017
The Classic Comedy Club hosted a debate between the comedians of 1997 (as we were ageistly labeled) and the comedians of 2017, on the topic: You Don't Know How Lucky You Are.
We mature comics argued that the 2017 comics were luckier than us. Mike King hosted, with proceeds going to the Key to Life charity. On my team were Te Radar and Jeremy Elwood (or was I on their team?) The Negative were the much younger Rhys Mathewson, Melanie Bracewell (@meladoodle) and podcast emperor Tim Batt.
Radio New Zealand recorded the event, and you can listen to it here.
That Disabled Toilet
My column today tackles the major news story of our time. You can read it here.
Picton & Havelock, Oct 14 & 15
Me and the brilliant Nick Rado are coming to Picton and Havelock next week for a couple of double headers. We will stand-up in serial, and in parallel. (That's right, we intend the shows to be electric.)
Bookings for Picton are available at Eventfinder.
Havelock bookings are available here.
We look forward to visiting your hemisphere, and hearing your exotic laughter noises.
Sydney Gigs Sep 2016
I'm performing short sets in Sydney this week. Here's the schedule: Wed Sep 14 Hemingways Manly Thu Sep 15 Hive Bar Erskineville Fri Sep 16 Hotel Steyne Manly Sun Sep 18 World King's Cross
See you there :-)
NZ Water: Not Drinking, Wading
My column last week, on the subject of New Zealand's problems with freshwater and drinking water. You can read it Michael Phelps & Mark Todd: Fixing the Olympics
How does Michael Phelps win more medals than anyone else? How did Mark Todd get into contention for a gold medal at the age of 60? I address these issues, and indeed, solve them, in my latest column in the NZ Herald.
Yesterday's Capital Day
Paula Bennett and the 8 Homeless Bears
Here's 
Here's my Herald column this week. Seems to have struck a chord. You can read it online here.
Where are the Asian faces on TV?
That's the question posed by Sonia Gray in the Spinoff, a website focused on TV and media. It's a question I've often asked, but possibly with more self-serving intent. Contrast the faces broadcast from TVNZ, in the Auckland CBD, and TV3, in Eden Tce -- versus the faces walking the streets outside these buildings. The faces broadcast from inside these buildings represent a mythical New Zealand, from the 70s. Sonia Gray (yes, the beautiful Lotto host, who is, improbably, a probing, funny, sensitive writer) delivers a researched, LOL piece. Spoiler alert: I get mentioned. Indeed, I'm a punchline. The fact that I'm mentioned as an Asian face on TV, without having been on TV in years, shows just how rare we are.
Read Sonia's article, the first of two parts, here.