| MAEVE HIGGINS - A Rare Sight |
| Written by Brendon Green |
| Monday, 26 April 2010 19:43 |
 I was really excited to see MAEVE HIGGINS and NICHOLAS COYLE take to the Basement stage this year. With last years festival show - 'Kitten Brides' - Maeve Higgins established herself as one of my favourite comedians. I wanted to see her come back to NZ with her new funny friend and put on another great show. But tragedy struck a week out from opening night! Poor Nicholas was unable to come and make us laugh, as he was stricken with a completely unfunny injury to his arm. Oh no! I guess we will just have to settle for another solo hour of untouchable hilarity from one of the most unique and talented comedy voices working today... I think I can handle that Technically, the unfortunate events do make the sudden need to write an entire hour of comedy at short notice, very impressive. But there is something about Maeve that makes you think there is easily an hour, if not more, of brilliant comedy flying around her head at any given moment, that she can just walk on stage and entertain at the drop of a hat. With nothing more than a clock and a red book of notes to draw herself back on point when her tangents get a bit too far gone, Maeve works the audience into hysterics and leaves them an exhausted clump of joyous contentment by the end of the show. Maeve is a master of stream-of-consciousness delivery. With the voice of an angel she will pick up on a subject, seemingly at random, and run with it, creating twists and turns that lead to laughs at every point. A simple checking that the audience can understand her Irish accent - which should by all rights be as easy as "can you understand me?" - turns into an extended story involving Alicia Keys that has me laughing so hard I miss a few of her quickly-shot quips that follow up every sentence spoken. There's a lesson: keep your ears finely tuned and there are comedy gems to be found through the entire show. The self-deprecating flights of fancy, that are matched with what must be ADD, create a fast-paced show that is a must-see for all comedy fans. It's obvious the audience thinks Maeve Higgins is the perfect blend of adorable and crazy. Hopefully Nicholas will recover soon, and we can be treated to the show originally planned for the festival. Until then, we will just have to count ourselves lucky for having Maeve Higgins and her magical mind to entertain us. |
