T.J. McDonald is the only 2010 Billy T. Award nominee from Wellington, and I think that his solo show A Maori Ate My Great-Granddad may win him our greatest comedy award.
A Maori Ate My Great Granddad is a personal history of both McDonald’s family and of TJ himself, this loose theme allows TJ to swing all over the world, from Iran, to Polynesian strip clubs through to the infamous Kiwi forensic psychiatric hospital Lake Alice. It turns out his Great Uncle was a bit nuts. As someone else who has had family there, I found that story really quite relatable. But, that’s what makes his show so neat: we can actually relate with the history he’s spinning, the yarns he’s telling. Some of the stories featuring McDonalds Grandfather could be lifted out of the Uncle Trev books, or stolen from Barry Crump. And, let’s be honest, who doesn’t wish that they were related to Crump? Well, besides his actual family…
The thing that makes McDonald a watchable comic is his affable kiwi intellectualism. This allows him to straddle a large area of comedy: in the same seven minutes I saw puns, Maori jokes, a discussion of the aeronautics and Harry Potter, dick jokes and astute political observations. I can’t think of a New Zealand comedian who that would work with – maybe Brendan Lovegrove- and that’s a pretty special niche to be in.
If you’re the target demographic for the Capital Times, one of the more intelligent people in the room, or happen to like the BBC version of ‘Who Do You Think You Are?” then you need to see the show. The rest of you hoy-palloy, will merely enjoy the show a great deal.
T.J. McDonald
04-08 May at the Fringe Bar.
Tickets $20