It's early to mid-afternoon at best on P&O's cruise ship, the Pacific Jewel. Packed into the Orient Bar are two dozen guests, sipping colourful fruit mocktails, and three cagey Kiwi comics. The situation is laughable.
In fact, I do laugh. And I'm not the only one. An hour in
and an unprintable joke about an emu later, and the initially awkward audience members have relaxed into the event.
The trio of stand-up comics – Michele A'Court, Jeremy Elwood and Brendhan Lovegrove – are more than able to warm up a crowd. As the audience pours out on to sun-drenched decking and not a dingy comedy club back alley, it almost comes as a surprise to remember I am on a boat.
The Big Laugh is P&O's floating comedy festival. Launching in August, this stand-up marathon is spread over 22 New Zealand and Aussie acts across the Pacific Jewel's ample entertainment spaces.
A fringe festival on water – minus the walking, cobblestones and pamphleteers – The Big Laugh is being held entirely on the 70,310 tonne pleasure craft.
