The Axis of Awesome, Auckland, 28/4/2012

I firmly believe that watching live comedy is just about the most fun a person can have while sitting down in public so April and May, when the NZ International Comedy Festival rolls into town, has always been an annual highlight for me entertainment-wise. However, a combination of being out of the country for 4 years and life as new parent getting in the way means we haven't been able to see anything for a quite while, so this year I was (and still am) extra keen to take in the delights that the next 3 weeks have to offer. 

Getting in early, a parent-friendly timeslot and length (7pm-8pm), coupled with a very hilarious & well-watched Youtube clip, steered me to Australian musical comedy trio Jordan, Benny and Lee, better known as The Axis of Awesome. 

On their first trip to New Zealand I have to be lazy and say they were indeed awesome; a good mix of original songs, re-scripted covers and between-song banter making for an excellent hour of comedy. No mean feat given the pedigree of Australian musical comedy acts before them & of course our own, arguably world-beating, "folk" sensation Flight of the Conchords. 

The show kicked off with typical introductions from the trio, including quick identification of piano-playing Benny as the one to be picked on and then they moved into their first number, The Glorious Epic of Three Men Who are Awesome, complete with frontman Jordan attempting to recreate the "stalking dinosaur, pyrontechnics and fighter jets" that usually dominate their "sold-out stadium shows".

What followed was a well-rehearsed set of songs, banter and general tom-foolery that had me, and not me alone, in hysterics for the majority of the show. From boy-band style pointers on how to write a love song, to an excellent rework Five for Fighting's Superman describing a Birdplane and compelling evidence that any hit song can be reproduced using the 4 same chords, the Axis opened the Town Hall Comedy Chamber in fine style. 

Encoring with Lee's desperate-to-play-for-the-entire-show Ode to KFC was brilliant and far too much for one guest of our party, reduced to tears by the Beastie Boy-Intergalactic inspired notion that they like their "food served in bucket, eat the chick then take the bone and suck it."

Two days in, and with the hopes of bribing baby-sitters so I can see more shows, it is far too early to say The Axis of Awesome is the hit of the festival, but for our first time 'back in the saddle' in quite a few years, we could have done a lot, lot worse, and so could you.


The Axis of Awesome play the Auckland Town Hall Comedy Chamber until Saturday May 5th, well worth the ticket price in my humble opinion.