Review: Pierre & Randy’s Gameshow Roulette – a great show lost in its crowd

Charlotte Thornton reviews Pierre & Randy’s Gameshow Roulette, presented at Lyttelton Arts Factory as part of the Lyttelton Arts Festival, Satuday 18 July 2026.

Back in March, I reviewed The Gigantic Gay Late Night Game Show at The Court Theatre during its Rainbow Festival. It featured Dan Pengelly as sassy, French-accented compére Pierre, Criss Grueber as dorky musician Randy Fingers, and Darlene Mohekey as a campy Marilyn Monroe. The superb format and hosts were elevated by a respectful, talented audience, selected through “consensual participation” to compete for prizes in 13 rounds of game show staples.

Pierre & Randy’s Gameshow Roulette is a new rendition of that show, performed at the Lyttelton Arts Factory with Bryony Jamison as glam rock character Prince Louis in place of Mohekey. The consensual participation format continues to be genius. It lets everyone experience the show the way they want to and never diminishes anyone’s fun.

While the original show split the audience into thirds at the door (Doms, Subs, and Switches) this audience is asked to select its own groups. Pengelly toys with a battle of the sexes, splitting the room down the middle, and Lyttelton vs. non-Lyttelton, an idea which reveals that there are only a small handful of Lytteltonians in the room. He eventually decides on “real estate agents” vs. everyone else, which Pengelly hilariously names simply “humanity”. The irony of real estate agents being given expensive prizes is not lost on Pengelly, and that irony encourages the non-real estate folks to rally together against them. However, it also shows that much of the crowd and cast already know each other. My guest and I feel a bit like we wandered into the wrong office party. It explains the absence of Lytteltonians – this is a real estate takeover, though hopefully without gentrification.

Pierre & Randy’s Gameshow Roulette starts strong but heads off-course thanks to a half dozen drunk guys, who heckle and yell for almost all of its 80-ish minutes. Like all drunken heckling, the first few times can be somewhat funny, especially when they garner satisfying rebuttals from the cast (particularly Pengelly’s jab at their “shit banter”). As the show continues, though, my ears start to hurt from their shouting and the room is increasingly on edge. In the second half, there are fewer and fewer volunteers, meaning Pengelly must select some of the drunk guys to compete in challenges. These challenges feel more like Gameshow Russian Roulette: it’ll probably be fine, but there’s a higher-than-usual chance of it not being fine.

I’ve noticed that Christchurch comedians can be shy about throwing out disruptive audience members, and I would like to see that change. I’ve been to several shows where I silently prayed for a host to chuck out a heckler so we could all take a breath and carry on. There’s something very Kiwi about maintaining politeness for someone refusing to do the same for you. This team did a beautiful job of creating a safe space in the warm embrace of a Rainbow Festival. When bringing others into a safe space, we can be firm about keeping it safe.

The show repeats several of the hit rounds from the Gigantic Gay version, such as “finish the lyric” and “flirty texting,” though things are more hetero overall – “sports play or sex position” has lost its Heated Rivalry theming. The first half is heavy on long word games pitting one real estate agent against one human (their words, not mine). These rounds are designed for the crowd not to participate and thus slightly overstay their welcome – even the non-drunk-guy contingent yell out some of the answers. The more physical games, like a hilarious race involving tissue boxes, are the highlights. The musical bookends are also excellent: Prince Louis opens with a lounge singer rendition of “Toxic” and closes with a spectacular “Somebody to Love”.

Pengelly is a terrific emcee and Jamison a marvellous assistant, but my MVP of the evening is Criss Grueber on keys. He is a wizard of comedic musical improvisation. As Erin Harrington put it in her review of Friends to the End last month, he’s “the glue that sticks the form together”. He is a master of active listening; when Pengelly or Jamison are performing, Grueber is rapt with attention. He is always engaged with the onstage action, both delighted and delightful.

The original show had a sexy Pride theme, with rowdy but well-behaved punters. Pierre & Randy’s Gameshow Roulette has no particular theme – sometimes it’s Christchurch, sometimes it’s sex, sometimes it’s classic game shows like Family Feud and The Price is Right. This takes the show outside of its original niche and into the wider world, but a theme might corral some of the chaos by letting ticket buyers self-select. I doubt the drunk guys would have signed up for a game show themed to the arts, or the 80s, or feminism, and that’s probably a good thing.

Near the end of Pierre & Randy’s Gameshow Roulette, Pengelly says the show is designed for the audience to take over. That worked a treat in The Gigantic Gay Late Night Game Show – I still think of the First Date segment fondly and treasure my memory of a contestant belting out “Pink Pony Club” like their life depended on it. This time around, the takeover feels more hostile. The audience were the stars of both nights – for better or worse.

The Lyttelton Arts Festival closes on Sunday 19 July 2026.