Free food provides laughs for English funnyman

Comedian Chris Martin is excited for a change of scenery after five months on a tour bus across the UK, even if it does mean more travelling.

He's in New Zealand for the New Zealand International Comedy Festival and is part of the Comedy Convoy, which will stop off at Hawke's Bay Opera House in Hastings tonight.

Hawke's Bay Today caught up with the English funnyman yesterday, as he kicked back at a Tauranga cafe with fellow travelling companions -Ewen Gilmour, Tom Rhodes, Guy Williams and Jesse Griffin.

"Right now I'm sitting in the sunshine eating breakfast while most people are at work so that's a pretty good perk of the job. I also enjoy the free food back stage, every time it happens it's like, 'this is too good to be true'," he quipped.

Martin will be bringing the laughs with his new skit, Spot the Difference, which enjoyed critical and box office acclaim at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August last year.

A series of solo performances in Wellington and Auckland already proved to be a sell-out success.

His new show explains, among other things, how to wind up squirrels, confuse a pervert and describes why disliking cheese could lead to violent abuse.

"It's nothing too political, it's just a lot of silly observations more than anything. I take stuff that is mundane that I can make ridiculous."

The 2 Degrees Comedy Convoy hosted by Ewen Gilmour will be at Hawke's Bay Opera House tonight from 8pm. Tickets: www.comedyfestival.co.nz.