Non-Comedy Related Post To Show I Still Think Of You......

Dear One and All,


    I have so much to tell and so little of it is comedy related. Since my last post I have travelled all around the South Island of New Zealand and have semi-settled in the tiny seaside town of Picton. I'm pretty sure the only reason Picton exists is because the ferry from Wellington stops here. We have found ourselves "woofing" (I don't know what that means but people keep calling me a woofer) in a hostel, which essentially means I do three shifts a week on reception in return for free food and accommodation. It's a pretty sweet deal all in all except for the fact that I'm not earning any dollars.

Artists impression of the captain
my ship

   Since the North Island, I have stood at the geographical centre of New Zealand (yawn), been to a glacier, visited a spa, played two rounds of frisbee golf (Awesome), drank alcoholic teapots in Queenstown and been deep sea fishing. All while stopping at Dunedin to briefly try and find work before deciding the city is full of crazies and making a swift departure. The deep sea fishing was amazing and the captain of the little boat we were on was a proper pirate. He probably wasn't, but he had a wooden leg and every single finger amputated to the first joint (is that called a knuckle?). He was only missing a parrot on his shoulder and a name like Blue-beard and he would have definitely been a pirate. But he was a super cool guy and fully didn't mind jumping in and killing the conga eel that tried to eat us all. Long story.

   While in Dunedin, or Dunedinburgh as it's fondly named after the amount of Scottish settlers there, I got in contact with a comedy troupe via otagocomedy.co.nz and enquired as to how to get a gig, if they even knew of any. It wasn't until I had left Dunedin on the Wednesday that I got an email back asking if I would be interested in a six-minute spot at the University Comedy Night. Obviously I couldn't justify going back to Dunedin but that's the closest I've come to doing stand-up in NZ. It's a shame really because I've had gig-horn for a while now, not helped by the fact that the guys back in Melbourne seem to be shooting up the comedy ladder and I can't get one gig. I've also noticed quite a few new comedy rooms opening in Melbourne over the last month or so, which is annoying because there were only a couple when I was there.

Me taking frisbee golf very seriously

   Me and the lady friend are amidst serious discussions over whether to cut our losses, forget finding work and heading home within the next month or two. This obviously has it's ups and downs. The major down of course being the fact that I will be back in the real world doing another job that I can do with my eyes closed for the rest of my life. The major up being that I can get myself a place with an adequate man-room i.e. playstation, Lay-Z boy chair, mini fridge, Foosball table, somewhere close to London and start the fledgling British leg of my stand-up world tour.

Or I can keep cleaning toilets in a tiny seaside town for no money until next April. Either way. At least I know that if I end up working in Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington or Dunedin, there are comedy clubs to have a crack at.

   Something I have noticed about being on the road is that it's really hard to write new jokes when your brain is so pre-occupied with all the new scenery and different places. I wrote my first new joke last night since Auckland, which feels like ages ago. I don't have much more to say on that matter but I wanted to share that I had broke my joke writing drought.

   As soon as I know when I'm gigging next, you'll know. But in the mean time, thanks heaps for still tuning in to see what I'm up to.

 Until next time mes amis,


     Sean