The absurdity of Liv Ward's comedy show

It’s hard to know where to begin with the absurdity of Liv Ward’s solo show. The comedian opens dressed as a lobster and goes on to feature politicians as well as former RNZ host Kim Hill as an avatar.

The first questions come exploding out of the complex title: EPIC WAY! I'm Gay? Oui oui faguette™ I LOVE KIM HILL (1999 version). Even Ward finds it hard to grasp in hindsight.

“I was just trying to hold back my laughter. As you were saying it out loud, I was like, why did I name this show this so long?” Ward tells Culture 101 host Mark Amery.

Related stories:

“I grew up listening to Kim Hill’s show every weekend. It was always on our radio at home [in Temuka].

“I just want to, I don't know, whakamana Kim Hill. I want to like make a show about Kim Hill, I think Kim Hill is awesome.”

Hill appears in the form of a PlayStation-like animation character and acts as a spiritual guardian – at one point even popping out of the toilet in a burst of flame - to lead the lobster to find Ward, who is missing.

Ward says they chose the 1999 version of Hill because that’s when they were born.

As for the rest of the title, Ward says they just wanted to put in as many words as possible to complete the “absurd” theme they were aiming for.

“I used to live on this street called Epic Way in Newlands and it was such a weird street. It's like one of those new suburbs where there's like not many houses and there's no trees and there was like no life and there's just nothing going on there.

“I was just sitting on the street and I was … starting to do comedy and I was like, ‘I think I might be gay’.”

As for the matter of costume, Ward says it gave them a vessel to step into character and be unapologetic.

“It's very easy, from what I've observed, if you're a cis male to rock up to a gig and just leave, and there's no thought about it.

“But when you're trans and you're going to a show, you're like, ‘OK, what are the protection things that I'm putting in place for me to feel safe in this? What is my before-show care? What is my after-[show] care?’

“I think the lobster costume was [my] during-the-show-care because it's like I'm not myself, I'm the lobster and I've got this layer of protection over me.”

The chaos of it all also gives audiences a chance to experience their ADHD brain, Ward says.

“I always want it to be absurd because I think life is so hard, for so many people and we have so many pressures and I want people to come and just forget that they're in this really messed up world for a while and just be like, 'OK, I'm at this show and what is going on? But I'm loving it'.”

The show has serious undertones too, touching on Ward’s childhood in Temuka.

“I grew up in a really homophobic environment and really transphobic as well, because I'm non-binary and the general sentiment in these small towns, there's a lot of bigotry…

“I just wanted to say like we've always been here, you know, pre-colonisation. Māori lived in a very safe and takatāpui were the centre of Māori communities and I just think we need to really decolonise our understanding around queerness and transgender people.”

Ward says they has a lot of love for comedy, even though it’s hard because there’s not a lot of money in it.

“But I definitely have a lot of ideas for new shows and I really enjoy taking up space on the stage as a trans person and I also love being the centre of attention.”

Friends first encouraged Ward to try their hand at comedy in 2023. A year on, they were the winner of the Wellington Raw Comedy Quest and a National Raw finalist, where they were called the "new Lyn of Tawa, or Billy T. James".

Outside of comedy Ward works in graphic design, working towards a Masters of Architecture and they were the producer of 2024's DAT festival, which showcased d/Deaf, Neurodivergent and Disabled artists.

Ward’s show EPIC WAY! won a Dunedin Fringe Tour Ready Award on its first run earlier this year and is now in the New Zealand International Comedy Festival.