Jordon Jones reviews SwapRox, presented by PopRox Improv, at Little Andromeda, Thursday 20 August 2026.
If you’ve ever thought that improv comedy just isn’t chaotic enough these days, have I got a show for you! SwapRox is an acknowledgement that attention spans are shrinking, and has been specially designed to shake things up just as audience members might start to drift (i.e. every seven minutes). The scheme is effective, as even my clinically-deficient attention was securely captivated by the “miscreant energy” coming off the stage.
The show is brought to us by PopRox, an improv comedy group based in Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington consisting of Austin Harrison, Lia Kelly, Dylan Hutton, Mo Munn, Millie Osborne, Campbell Wright, Tara McEntee, and Nina Hogg. They are joined by a different local guest each night―I was fortunate enough to catch Reylene Rose Hilaga, but you might see Caitlin Penhey or Trubie-Dylan Smith at one of the other performances. With such an impressive line-up, you know you’re in for a treat!
SwapRox started as you would expect an improv show to start: four of the actors developed a cast of quirky, notably-hatted characters on the spot, another actor MCed the action, Lia Kelly provided musical accompaniment, and Campbell Wright manned the tech booth. But then, seven minutes in, alarms sounded and lights flashed, and performers rushed around the theatre to swap places with each other. (It was very exciting to watch!) There was no getting comfortable, though, because every seven minutes they did it again. Now, actors switching roles is entertaining enough, but this was not chaotic enough for PopRox, oh no; the roles of keyboardist and techie were up for grabs as well. This little addition was a stroke of genius, as the confused experiments of hapless non-musicians and non-technicians generated some of the night’s biggest laughs.
And there were so, so many laughs. The audience hooted and cackled (and honked and mooed) incessantly for the entire performance, eager for more. Between randomised whistles and smoke machine spurts, teat-based policies, alien abductions in Hoon Hay, and swans, it was impossible to know when to breathe. By the time the story wrapped up with a Shakespearean number of dead bodies and the secret to becoming Prime Minister, I think we’d all gotten a damn good ab workout.
The PopRox crew and their guest performer Reylene navigated the madness with a cohesion that kept everything rolling smoothly, even when the audience had no idea what was going on. Their collective ability to pick up unexpected plot twists and run with them is the key to what makes improvised comedy so great, and SwapRox is absolutely great improv. If you can get along to see it, go!
SwapRox plays at Little Andreomda until Saturday 22 August.
Flat City Field Notes 