Heart Goes Boom/Head Goes Bang
Wanaka Masonic Lodge Saturday, April 8
The Nukes
Central Lakes Trust Crystal Palace Sunday, April 9
REVIEWED BY: NIGEL ZEGA
The cure for broken hearts and broken minds is the same - humour.
Life gets better when you don't take it too seriously, but as you can't yet get comedy pills over the counter, you can do the next best thing and spend an hour and a-half getting an infusion of stand-up from Jamie Bowen.
A man with an award-winning beard, Bowen's a crisis expert. He's been there and had it done to him, so he's developed coping mechanisms and he's not afraid to share them.
Bowen's a consummate pro, connecting with his audience and leading them on an insider's sightseeing tour of some of the major train wrecks in his precarious but consistent life as a stand-up comedian and human being.
Along the way he profiles the pros and cons of dating in the digital age, finds questionable positives in prison, launches existential rants on love, life and death, and even finds the fun in funerals.
Shining a light on darkness takes a special skill, and Bowen has it in spades. He's very funny, very quick, not unkind, a brilliant laughter coach, and should be funded by Pharmac.
The Nukes
A little ukulele can go a long way.
Whether you read that as a positive or a negative, it's hard to deny that if you bring out a uke, some people will rapidly find an excuse to be somewhere else.
The Nukes and their customised instruments could change their minds.
This trio is original, versatile, funky and fun, and their playing is a master class in just how musically gifted the much maligned uke can be in skilled hands.
The Nukes are full of character and charm, and their self-penned songs have great harmonies and are witty and clever, which you can tell because you can actually hear the words.
It's hard to resist songs about differently abled dragons, hints and tips for superheroes, and my pick of the set: Indigenous, a timely vote for unity.
Surprisingly infectious.
