World War Five

War is Hell-Arious!

In 2008, Ben Kettell and Calum Beck will bring a comical farce to the Comedy Festival about the last Great War on earth: Man vs Martian.

In the year 2999, after centuries of fighting and destruction war has destroyed the glorious place we used to call Earth. But now, war is a thing of the past and the world (or what little is left of it) is finally at peace . . . . that’s when the aliens decide to invade.

It’s the apocalypse, NOW, and earths going to down fighting.

Improv artists and East Auckland locals, Ben Kettell and Calum Beck, are bringing their own style of interactive theatre to the New Zealand Comedy Festival in this side-splitting tale about the end of the world.

The show tells the story of six incompetent soldiers on their way through a war-torn landscape on a deadly mission to destroy the alien mother ship. Their numbers include:
- a poetically plagiaristic pacifist,
- a war-hungry cowboy,
- a communications officer / walkie-talkie repair man,
- a selfish b*stard with the key to the worlds greatest treasure,
- a self-made Rambo with delusions of grandeur,
- and one seemingly normal human with a long green tail.

With the only figures of authority being an insane Vietnam veteran and a dastardly womanizer with his own evil agendas, it would appear that failure is not only an option; its damn near immanent!

It’s a satirical look at the state of the world as we know it, with a healthy does of parody and pop-culture thrown in to the mix.

Ben and Calum create the entire post apocalyptic world on stage using a combination of theatre, video, song, dance, impov, stand-up, audience interaction and by playing over 40 different characters between themselves. The show is an experience unlike any other festival show in recent years.

Ben Kettell and Calum Beck met while studying improv at age 14, and formed a lasting friendship when they both realised they could recite every line from the movie “Wayne’s World”. Combining Ben’s experience in stand-up and Calum’s background in the theatre, the two have created a unique style of performance which, after years of benefit gigs and charity work, is finally being brought to the stage. They have pulled out all the stops too show the comedy world what they’re made of.

The show is a true hidden gem in the festival this year, and a must see for the alternative-comedy crowd.

Show Duration: 105 mins