By Andra Jenkin

Artist: TIm Batt

Date / Venue: Tuesday May 8th, 2018 -  Basement Theatre, Auckland

The first thing I see when I google Tim Batt’s upcoming show, My Outrage is Better Than Your Outrage, is a tweet in which he encourages another comedian. He seems like the type. Everything I've seen and read about Tim Batt makes me think he's a decent human being who champions colleagues and the underdog, likes to make people laugh, and knows a thing or two about politics.

Trusting that he has a great imagination, I was looking forward to seeing him in action. My Outrage is Better than your Outrage is an outrageous claim if ever I’ve heard one. I’m almost entirely sure my outrage is better, and so are you, because don’t we all love our particular brand? Tim’s Outrage though is brilliant.

His hour long solo show is well-crafted and doesn’t always play by the rules. It’s political and personal, cultural and thoughtful. But most of all its funny. Batt has the audience captivated from the start and never loses us.

He took us on a quest, with many surprises along the way, some surprisingly shocking. This works perfectly when competing for who is the most outraged, and reveals a complex comedian with a unique perspective. He’s multi-talented, capable and casts his net wide. There’s audience interaction, costumes, props and music, but Batt doesn’t rely on trappings or gimmicks for his laughs.

There are pure gags that have us bursting with laughter, and bizarre stories that leave me genuinely amazed at what Tim Batt has accomplished. There are many reasons to laugh and different kinds of jokes for everyone. He covers a lot of ground.  

As you’d expect, there’s the social and political humour Batt is known for, the speaking truth to power and the way he sneakily gets you to think. Other times he’s clearly enjoying having a jolly good rant and it’s well worthwhile jumping on board the bandwagon.

His performance is smooth, talented and kiwi as. It’s observational and honest and comes from a great place. It’s home. But that’s where the outrage is. We can all get upset about the things that are going on in our own backyard, and Batt wants us to be passionate about it and take a look at ourselves. He’s got something to say and if, like Tim, you’re a decent human being, you will sometimes be outraged at what you see.

The last thing he did was to encourage us to go see the show after his, championing another comedian again and I want to encourage you to see Tim Batt, a joyous diversion that really gets you thinking.  My Outrage is Better than Your Outrage, it’s the best outrage around.