Ha! The Classic Comedy Summer Fest

NZ’s home of live comedy, The Classic, continues its 20th Anniversary Year celebrations with the launch of Ha!, a brand new mini Mid-Summer Comedy Fest book-ended by the two long weekends.

Ha! offers audiences a wide range of comedy shows and serves as a platform where comedians nationwide can come together to celebrate their craft and manifest their wits.

Two showcases make for fantastic long weekend treats: Anniversary Weekend New Pro’s Showcase brings together hot new favourites to look out for in 2017 whilst NZ Comedy All-Stars brings together comedians from around NZ to tread The Classic’s boards over Waitangi Weekend.

New concept shows will be trialled such as Future Quiz, hosted by the 2016 Fred Comedy Award Winner Rhys Mathewson, where there are no wrong answers – just the best answer! Previews of solo shows preparing from the NZ International Comedy Festival in May will also be on offer. On the other hand, get ready to laugh as you witness a fresh comedy night in the upcoming Big Wednesday featuring some of the regular stars of the most popular TV show, the '7 Days'. It is all live on stage, no editing, no censorship.

Behind the scenes during this mini-festival, The Classic will be hosting the first annual Comedy Hui, the gathering of comedians from around New Zealand which includes guest speakers, workshops, and discussions about the industry, past, present and future. There'll also be a summer NZ Comedy BBQ hosted for the industry players to catch up ahead of a big year and a late night Open Mic in Summer Raw where you get to have a go and potentially line-up for the heats of the 2017 Raw Comedy Quest.

The Classic will launch a new Comedy Debate series entitled ‘You Don’t Know How Lucky You Are’ with proceeds being donated to The Key to Life Trust, supporting Mike King’s ongoing work in suicide prevention. The fiery first debate will feature the Founding Comedians of The Classic versus the New Generation debating whether the pro-comedians of 1997 were better off than the pro-comedians of 2017.

Ha! The Classic Comedy Summer Fest boasts a hilarious and creative selection of NZ’s finest live comedy at The Classic. Ha! is one of the many live events that are on offer for ‘A Year of It’ celebrating the Classic’s 20th Anniversary Year.