Classic Comedy Takes Over the Powerstation

The team behind Auckland’s home of live comedy, The Classic, expands its reach during this year’s New Zealand International Comedy Festival with a line-up of international and local headline comedians at the Powerstation in Mt Eden Rd as well as its popular Queen St venue.

Known as an iconic live music venue, The Powerstation on Mt Eden Rd will once again generate world-class laughs in the annual New Zealand International Comedy Festival from Sat 24 April. After a 7-year closure, during which time the venue has been upgraded (now offers cabaret style seating, fully licensed with table service), the Powerstation will play host to a line-up of headline festival comedians with 22 shows over 15 nights.

COMEDY ROCKS THE POWERSTATION
At the 2010 NZ International Comedy Festival

Sat 24 April @ 8pm ‘FIRST NIGHT’ Showcase - SOLD OUT
8 World class comedians / one night only / 2 hr show.

Weds 28 Apr to Sat 1 May @ 8pm
‘PULP COMEDY LIVE – The 15th Anniversary Celebration Season’’

Tues 4 to Sat 8 May ‘The best of British’ (2 solo shows each night)
@ 7pm JASON COOK : FEAR
@8:45pm JEFF GREEN : CRAZY FROM THE HEAT

Sun 9 May @ 8pm The 2010 RAW COMEDY QUEST – GRAND FINAL

Weds 12 May @8pm ‘NIGHT OF THE NUTTERS’ with host MIKE KING
A Charity Fundraiser in support of Mental Health

Thu 13 May @ 8:30pm BRENDHAN LOVEGROVE – LIVE & RECORDED

Fri 14 & Sat 15 May ‘Kiwi Masters’ (2 solo shows each night)
@ 7:30pm MIKE KING – The Devil You Know
@ 9:15pm EWEN GILMOUR – Super Mayor F*#k Yeah!


All bookings at Ticketmaster, Ph 9709700 , Online at www.ticketmaster.co.nz

The ‘FIRST NIGHT’ Showcase, which has already sold out, will be hosted by one of the stars of the 2008 and 2009 Comedy Festival, Jason Cook. He will be joined by fellow Englishmen Jeff Green, Carey Marx and Miles Jupp along with one of the legends of the global comedy festival circuit, Phil Nichol from Canada. Local heroes Paul Ego, Ewen Gilmour and Brendhan Lovegrove will fly the flag (which one?) for New Zealand.

PULP COMEDY 15th Anniversary (April 28 – May 1)
Fifteen years ago during the annual Comedy Festival’s early days the Powerstation was considered the ‘home of rock’ in Auckland. A bunch of ambitious local comedians, believing their own publicity that comedy might just be the new ‘rock’n’roll’, hired the venue in May 1995 and staged the first ever ‘PULP COMEDY LIVE’ NZ showcase. The show set a new benchmark for local comedy and proved to be a significant stepping stone as it spawned the ‘Pulp Comedy’ TV show and encouraged the same bunch of comedians to open The Classic Comedy Club at 321 Queen St in 1997.

In 2010 some of the original Pulp comedians will return to the Powerstation along with the new generation of local stars to participate in ‘Pulp Comedy – The 15th Anniversary Celebration Season’.

Opening night on April 28 will be hosted by Paul Ego. Line-up: Jeremy Corbett, Jesse Mulligan, Ben Hurley, Brendhan Lovegrove, Michele A’Court, Gish, Mark Scott. Line-ups for the following nights to be announced later.


JASON COOK: FEAR! ( May 4-8)
English comedian Jason Cook is getting a reputation for tapping in to the base emotions and taking his audiences on a rollercoaster ride in his live shows. Following his debut at the NZ International Comedy Festival in 2008 with ‘Confessions’, he won the award for ‘Best International Show’. He returned in 2009 to sell out crowds with his follow up ‘Joy’. He is back in 2010 with his new show ‘FEAR’ which debuted at the 09 Edinburgh Fringe to rave reviews.

FEAR! It's all around us, it can dictate our lives, but it can also open up a door to a realm of hilarious admissions that most of us keep inside. By addressing his own fears Jason hopes to "show people that we are not alone, that we are all as odd as each other. Failing that I'll just end up looking like a freak for an hour as people stare at me trying to explain why I am the way I am"

“I’m not sure if this is even a show any more, I think it’s more of a mission. Fear is used to control us, and ultimately prevents us from doing things, from striving to make every day different and really explore this thing we call life. Fear ultimately leads to regret, and a life filled with regret is no life at all”.

JEFF GREEN: CRAZY FROM THE HEAT (May 4-8)
Jeff Green has a long career as a major headline act of the competitive UK Pro comedy circuit and included in his countless television appearances are the recent Celebrity Masterchef, Bill Bailey’s Birdwatching Bonanza and TV3’s 7 Days. He is a best-selling author with his books selling over 300,000 copies. His first, The A-Z of Living Together, reached No 5 in the Sunday Times Bestseller list. He has also published The A-Z of Being Single and The A-Z of Having a Baby and made a six-part series, The Green Guide to Life for BBC2.

Then he married an Australian and decided to emigrate to a land downunder to raise their family just as global warming really started to kick in. And ever since, Jeff Green has been going just a little crazy from the heat.