Comedy Songmaker

“a very talented entertainer” – Dr. Demento

“the New Zealand Noël Coward, the kiwi Cole Porter, the Tom Lehrer from Takapuna” – William Dart, Radio New Zealand

At The Paper Machete at the Green Mill, Chicago. (Photo: Sarah Elizabeth Larson.)

I write comedy songs and perform them, usually singing from the piano. I write about kind of anything really: I like playing with language, with multiple languages, offbeat musical styles, and subject matter that irritates me.

I have two albums of these songs called Metric System and Pumpkins. Get CDs, downloads and T-shirts at my Bandcamp page.

Where I do it

I perform in all sorts of contexts. Stand-up comedy, sketch, opening for improv, cabaret, all ideally places where I don’t have to supply my own piano.

I have a music, comedy and musical comedy show called Sunday Fizz, which was at Chicago’s Rhapsody Theater for a while. It may come back. Who knows.

At the iO Musical Comedy Tournament, 2017.

I’ve done a full-length comedy music gig with an orchestra! Here’s one video from that:

I’ve also done less orchestral feature-length gigs at:

I appear regularly at Chicago’s cultural saloon The Paper Machete and cold-reading session Tuesdays at 9, and I was the host and funny song maker for Classical Cabaret, on Classical WFMT Chicago. (See Broadcaster for more.)

Song Sale

At MCL Chicago, 2015.

A while ago I organised these shows where audience members commissioned songs to be written on the night.

  • Song Sale Auckland (2014)
  • Song Sale Dunedin (2012)

This format Song Sale was invented by Saran Goldie-Anderson and Rose Duxfield in Wellington. I might bring it back, who knows!

Festivals

Funny songs are everywhere

I also write and co-write songs for sketch shows and musicals. (See Music Director, Composer.)

Not strictly songs but

2013-2014 I co-authored a Tumblr then a book called the Eketahuna German Literature Society, where Cordelia Black and I wilfully mistranslated classic German poetry into strongly flavoured New Zealand English.

We’ve mostly sold out of copies but if you’re extremely interested I might have a few left. You can find it in some public libraries in New Zealand.

More songs

Augmented Fourth

We’re Augmented Fourth.

In 2014 I had a musical comedy duo with Sam Smith. We performed in the New Zealand International Comedy Festival and in Song Sale. We made songs together.