Phil Nichol pushes boundaries in his show 'The Naked Racist'.
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Where: The Classic
When: Monday, May 7
One is an attention-deficit maniac, who speaks in roaring, quickfire babble, pushing boundaries and generally shocking his audience.
The other, is a low-key observationalist. His humour slow, subtle and constant.
Phil Nichol and Craig Campbell are both Canadian, both comedians and both have shows on at the Classic
this week - but that's where the similarities end.
Following on from last year's acclaimed show Nearly Gay, Phil Nichol presents The Naked Racist - a whirlwind show of drug trips, sex scenes and Irish pubs.
While last year's show was not for the faint-hearted, this year Nichol pushed boundaries above and beyond - and perhaps a touch too far.
His bellowing story-telling and frenzied re-enactments were, at times, wearing. His abrasive humour too much for the Monday night crowd to handle.
As one particularly crude and sexually explicit topic arose, the audience grew quiet, leaving a wide-eyed Nichol to joke, "What? Have I gone too far?"
Later, boundaries were pushed again, when Nichol enacted the show's namesake, running around the room in all his sweaty glory.
Yes, the scene got the biggest laughs of the night, but you couldn't help but feel it was a bit of a cheap gag.
That's not to say the show didn't have its moments. Nichol's energy and charm are as irresistible as ever. But those expecting last year's outrageous hilarity may find the latter missing.
At the other end of the spectrum, sits Campbell. A virtual caricature of what one imagines Canadians to be. Tall and rugged, Campbell speaks slowly and thoughtfully, pausing as he mulls his next point.
Alternating between story-telling, general musings and off-the-cuff improv, Campbell proved himself more than adept at reading a room and dealing with troublemakers.
One audience member, with a smart answer for everything, soon found himself shot down by Campbell, who said: "Funny guy eh? What - you thought you'd bring your own jokes in case there might not be any?"
That was the last we heard from him.
Originally from Canada, Campbell lives in England and spends much of his time touring Europe and the Antipodes. Thus, most of his material focuses on cultural differences, jet lag and the road code. Simple stuff but delivered in such a way you can't help but chuckle at the truth of it.
In particular, Campbell does a fantastic job of localising his content and accurately summing up New Zealanders as a people.
"You're firm but fair," he says of Kiwi audiences and our tendency to not laugh out loud. "I know I'm doing well if you raise your eyebrows. Really well, if you raise your eyebrows and turn to the person next to you."
Fortunately for Campbell, Monday night saw more than a few eyebrows raised, as a constant stream of laughter filled the Classic and people throughout the room turned to one another.
