Serving Can’t

WEB EXCLUSIVE | REVIEW & INTERVIEW Written by Skye Lunson-Storey (she/they/ia) | @uku_rangi  | Arts, Culture, and Te Ao Māori Editor

Dates: May 7, 8, 9

Location: Basement Theatre

Tickets: $15-$28

Use code GOODCANT to have 20% off tickets

Serving Can’t Created by Marshall Lorenzo is an energetic and chaotic dive into the absurdities of modern work, capitalism, and burnout. Packed with hyper-pop transitions, bright lighting, and a constant rotation of eccentric characters. Marshall Lorenzo moves rapidly between sketches with strong physical comedy and sharp sound design - from dramatic boot clicks to exaggerated audio cues. This helps make each character feel distinct and theatrical.

The show’s strongest moments come from its topical commentary on inflation, unemployment, and the emotional exhaustion of retail work. Referencing familiar cultural staples like Briscoes and Harvey Norman. Still, there’s a clear creativity behind the show’s experimental structure and willingness to lean into chaos.

Even without being very familiar with sketch comedy, I appreciated the journey the show takes you on. It’s GAY, strange, messy, and knowingly over-the-top, with enough witty observations and memorable moments to keep it engaging throughout.

Oh, how I wish I could actually watch “Charlotte's Web of Lesbian Relationships.”

Interview with Marshall Lorenzo

Interviewed by Skye Lunson-Storey

Q1. Your show Serving Can’t, tackles apathy, burnout, and “quiet-quitting life” - pretty heavy themes. How do you balance making people laugh while still sitting in that discomfort?

Taking it back to what laughter is, laughter is relief. Back in comedy school, I was told to imagine you're in the jungle and the shape of the shadows gives the illusion of tigers. So, when you realise that it's actually just leaves, that relief from surprise is literally the science of laughter. Tackling these types of issues and rage, it feels so corny to say, but laughter is literally the best type of medicine. We've been pushed so far against the wall of capitalism that there's a sense of rage; if we don’t laugh, we will get violent.

Q2. You’ve worked in Canada’s comedy scene for over a decade, including writing for Canada’s Drag Race. What’s something about that world that would genuinely surprise a student audience here in Aotearoa?

If you think people will know better than you, at least in the TV world, they don’t. The TV world can be like the Wild West, so you have to guess a little bit. A lot of times, when you think you don't know enough or you’re feeling unsure, I found that it never really goes away. Especially in really unstructured environments. You kind of have to become your own authority, and trust that you know more than you think.

In uni, I remember waiting for permission or the right answer. I’d find myself thinking about what it’d be like to be a grown-up, but it never comes. The version of grown-up that we were sold 20 years ago doesn’t exist socially; it doesn’t exist economically, so you have to release that pressure of decades-old ideas.

Start drag now!

Q3. You describe the show as being about “treading above water” in the current economic climate. Do you see comedy as a form of escape right now, or more of a way to process what’s going on?

It can be really difficult to make serious issues funny. The way I begin is by trying to get out the silliest idea. Whether it’s a character or something topical in pop culture. Then I start to pull back the layers to find what it’s actually about.

I have a diet sketch, which is a very silly character, a god, trying to sell you a religion-based diet. When you peel that back, it’s really about Christianity, fascism, and algorithms trying to push people to fit into a thin white hegemony. You kind of have to surprise people with that. You have to ease them into that conversation, and at the end, you give them a little flick into reality. Then, you circle back, ending with another joke, and the medicine goes down.

Q5. Sketch comedy isn’t always the dominant format in stand-up-heavy festivals. What draws you to it, and what can audiences expect that’s different from a traditional stand-up set?

I hate hate hateeee the separation of sketch and stand up. They really are the same thing, just presented differently. I would sometimes argue that stand-ups do a pretty good job at hiding the premise of their work. Sketch is more of a theatrical version of the same thing, driving the same joke but in different ways. I really hope that New Zealand audiences can catch up. This aside, I would love to see more students and young people get into sketch comedy. Personally, I think it's more fun, it's weird, and sometimes a safer space for different demographics. I would really implore anyone interested in comedy to delve into sketch because you get to escape from yourself for a while.