Hamilton Arts Fest 2026: Rhys Mathewson rides out the chaos in 10th Rodeo

Rhys Mathewson presented his show 10th Rodeo at Hamilton Arts Festival.

What: Rhys Mathewson 10th Rodeo

Presented by: Hamilton Arts Festival Toi ora ki Kirikiriroa

When: February 21, 5pm

Where: Medici Court at Hamilton Gardens

Rhys Mathewson bounds out from behind a screen of bushes at the open-air Medici Court and declares it “the greenest green room I’ve ever had”.

Glancing around, he wonders aloud whether the anonymity of the night might be better for his R16 show? Despite us all staring at him in a distracting sort of way, it all goes very well.

First, though, he must get past the steady stream of latecomers.

He pads expertly through the interruptions and welcomes people graciously, but it nearly gets out of hand.

At one stage, a woman complains from the front row, “it’s because there’s no signage”.

There is some general admonishment and chiming in, at which point Mathewson stops the natter and says, “What the f*** is going on here?”

When he’s finally underway, a smart and funny show is revealed.

Mathewson tells us it’s all very well being “nice”, but it’s a comedian’s job to be judgmental, and this is something better shared.

He makes a good case.

In 10th Rodeo, Rhys Mathewson explores the deeply personal subject of his last seven years with numerous anecdotes, observations and revelations. Photo / Cate Prestidge

After all, observational comedy is all about exposing our human frailties, universal stuff-ups and absurdities so we can laugh at each other, and ourselves.

In this show, he turns the gaze inwards, exploring the deeply personal subject of his last seven years with numerous anecdotes, observations and revelations.

It’s not for the faint-hearted as it explores topics of addiction, sobriety, relapse and all the messy, embarrassing and good bits in between.

Mathewson is a clever wordsmith and far more than the jovial joke-cracker of TV’s 7 Days, where many would know him from.

We are all on board with the bottomless brunch and embarrassing Uber Eats stories, and while a few jokes sail over the audience’s head, he laughs and ploughs on. He’s very good like that.

I do have a cringey feeling that the Hamilton audience will be the subject of future anecdotes.

To be fair, we weren’t at our best.

As well as the latecomers, a couple of dudes vaped up the back throughout the show, people pointed at things going on behind him and a woman interjected early in the piece, prompting him to say, “It’s not a Q&A!”

While his disclaimer said there was no actual rodeo, there was still plenty of clowning around, laughter and hanging on for grim life as we rode out this richly human story over the course of an hour.

I’m glad I saw it.

Cate Prestidge is a principal academic and co-ordinator of journalism and communication programmes at Wintec. She has been writing theatre reviews for NZME since 2021.