We’re popping the bubbles for the silliest time of year - Basement Theatre’s Silly Season is back, for a second year of big laughs and the best blowout this side of New Year's Eve!
21 of the hottest, naughtiest, funniest, and liveliest events are taking over Basement for 8 days this December.
This lineup is truly stacked with talent, with Basement’s box of Favourites – What The Quiz is This!?, No Homo: Queer Comedy, Live Reel, Bull Rush, Don’t Quit Your Day Job, Asian Comedy Takeover, and The Rawdog Gaysian Playwright Challenge, presenting their Silly Season specials alongside Basement angels Hoani Hotene, Courtney Dawson, Janaye Henry, Brynley Stent’s Bonetown, Projekt Team, Comedy Culture, Laenye Productions, Samesame But Different, Proudly Asian Theatre, JonJon Tolovae, The Push, Banana Terracotta Pie, and Improverished, joined by Basement debuts The Ruckus, and Nia Vavao and Jarna Parsons.
Basement is gonna be bursting with two, three, four, sometimes FIVE events happening each night. And that’s not even including the free performances popping up in the bar to keep the big vibes going between shows.
Mark Friday 5 December in your calendar now for Basement’s big end-of-year party SLEIGH 4 U. SLEIGH 4 U is your official Silly Season kickoff. We’re wrapping up the year the only way we know how - loud, sweaty and a little unhinged.
Book tickets now for Silly Season at Basement Theatre for the best last yaps, last laughs, and last antics of the year!
What The Quiz Is This?! New Quiz, Who Dis?, Thurs 4 Dec, Cabaret superstar Nomi Cohen and her nimble-fingered friend are back with a brand-new experiment in quizzing chaos.
Jingle Bull (Rush), Thurs 4 & 11 Dec, Putting a festive twist on Bull Rush for the silly season! Grab your gladrags and gather your mates for two nights of never-before-seen, totally made-up, improvised comedy.
Hoani Hotene: It’s Getting Hot-ene So Tell Me All Your Jokes, Thurs 4 & 11 Dec, Winner of the 2025 Billy T Award, Hoani brings his personal style of comedy in a show about finding your place and getting by in a crazy world.
A Very Live Reel Christmas, Thurs 4, Thurs 11 & Sat 13 Dec, Live Reel is here to spread their own brand of chaotic Christmas cheer as a line-up of some of Auckland’s best comedians perform three of your favourite holiday films live from memory!
Bonetown, Thurs 4 & Tues 9 Dec, It’s Christmas in Bonetown, and we’re all on the naughty list. Join the devilish Brynley Stent (Taskmaster NZ, 7 Days) as she hosts a special Christmas return of the New Zealand International Comedy Festival hit.
SLEIGH 4 U, Fri 5 Dec, Let’s drag this year out by its hair. The year’s been wild, the nights are getting hotter and Silly Season is calling. SLEIGH 4 U is your official Silly Season kickoff - loud, sweaty and a little unhinged. Yee to the haw.
Choose Your Own (Boxing Day) Adventure!, Sat 6 Dec, Improverished in inventing the story of Boxing Day in an evening of narrative improv chaos!
Asian Comedy Xmas Takeover, Sat 6 Dec, The Asian Comedy Takeover has a Christmas spin! Join emerging comics and a couple of new faces for a fresh night of comedy from unheard perspectives.
The Ruckus, Saturday 6 Dec, In this DIY fantasy nerd punk show, three performers play a role-playing game (kinda like a very loose D&D), with a bunch of randomised elements decided by dice rolls while a live band plays an improvised soundtrack.
The Sonic Status Vol. 2, Sat 6 Dec, The Sonic Status invites the audience to sit in on a curated and intimate sonic experience that amplifies Moana musicians exploring genres like R&B, Jazz, and Neo-Soul. This 60 minute show is filled with musika from artists JARNA, LIJAH MAVAEGA, Lehali, and Spdrtwnbby.
Comedy Culture Holiday Buffet, 9-11 Dec, A three-course, all-you-can-eat extravaganza over three nights that welcomes you to dive into the succulent, comedic feast of all things Comedy Culture!
Orphan’s Christmas, Tues 9 Dec, Bailey Poching is hosting his funniest friends for a Yuletide dinner party, and you’re invited! There will be food, games, presents, and stories. This isn’t your standard line-up show; this is a holiday hug, as our friends new and old share what Christmas means to them. Presented by The Push
Variété Navideño, 9-10 Dec, A vibrant end-of-year variety show that embraces the joy, chaos, and diversity of the silly season. Across two special nights, Laenye Productions bring together short, high-energy acts that explore what this time of year means to different cultures, from festive traditions to playful reflections on closing the year.
I'll Be Homo for Christmas: An Evening of Queer Poetry, Wed 10 Dec, Join Samesame But Different for a poetry Christmas show featuring a brilliant line-up of queer Tāmaki poets!
The Rawdog Gaysian Playwright Challenge: Holey Gay Periodt., Wed 10 Dec, Let Proudly Asian Theatre and Samesame But Different d*ck the halls this Holey Gay season as they dare four queer Asian writers to create the play they’d least want to write; in just three days.
No Homo: Queer Comedy (Xmas Special), Wed 10 Dec, Ring those slayyy bells and get ready for some fa-la-la-la-laughs, because No Homo: Queer Comedy is back for the silly season, with an extra special Christmas spectacular!
A Very Courtney & Janaye Christmas, Wed 11 & Sat 13 Dec, Christmas is coming early this year with two of Aotearoa's comedy favourites, Courtney Dawson and Janaye Henry. After a huge year of podcast-length voice messages to each other, kissing ONCE (for work) and only being mistaken for each other twice (really weird, we look so different), they’re finishing 2025 the only way they know how - making their friends pay to hear them talk about it on stage in a brand-new stand-up comedy show!
FLOETRY by Projekt Team, Fri 12 Dec, A live performance clash where dance meets spoken word, and each duo weaves movement and poetry to tell a single story.
Man, I Feel Like a Woman, Fri 12 Dec, Jonjon Tolovae presents a one Woman (allegedly) show about everything and anything - A journey through the rhythmic magic of taro thighs clapping and asthmatic pauses, if you don't laugh once she’ll hang up her arts career, a 100% guarantee no batteries included.
Don’t Quit Your Day Job, Sat 13 Dec, There’s plenty of people who will say ‘comedy isn’t a “real job”’ but this is the only show which tests comedians to see if their capable of doing anything else. Through a series of quizzes and improv situations, each comic will be vying to see who can walk away with the Champions title of "Employee of the Month".
Christmas of a Down, Sat 13 Dec, Banana Terracotta Pie, New Zealand's preeminent gentle metal acoustic tribute trio, is back! Hayley Sproull, Jack Buchanan and Nicko Vella are here this silly season to spread their own type of Christmas cheer by playing the only Carols that count...downbeat acoustic covers of System of a Down songs.
