Photo: suplied/Tainapu
Photo: suplied/Tainapu
An English version of this story can be found below the te reo text.
Kia tōia mai te reo ki waho i te karaehe, kia kaua hoki te reo e noho tapu - koira te whainga o ngā kōrero paki o Tainapu.
Ko te ingoa nei o tainapu he kupu mino i ahu mai i te kupu pākehā ' stand-up'.
Hei tā Te Hemara Rauhihi i puta mai te whakaaro o Tainapu i tōna wehenga i te kura, ka tae atu ngā mea kōrero māori ki ngā kaupapa ngahau ka tahuri ki te kōrero pākehā i te mea ko tērā te ritenga o ngā kaupapa rā, ahakoa kua reo māori te hunga nei mai rā anō i te kōpū.
Engari te hunga pakeke, ngā 'native speakers' he rerekē anō.
"I te Tai Rāwhiti au e pakupaku ana ka mutu tētahi kaupapa he tangihanga, he aha rānei, ko ngā pakeke i te kauta mutu ana te kaupapa nui arā he ngāhau te mahi, engari ko te reo ia rātau he warowaro... I whanake i a rātau tetahi momo reo kē," tā Rauhihi.
Nā reira i whakaaro ki te whakatū tetahi kaupapa ngāhau kanohi ki te kanohi kua rāhui te reo pākehā.
"Ko te akiaki nui kia kumea te reo māori ki waho ki ngā kaupapa auaha i tūa atu i ēnei ahuatanga o te kura, o te kohanga reo, o te karaehe, nā te mea i roto i tērā ka whanake te reo, ka whanake he reo anō, ka whanake anō te warowaro o te whiu o te reo."
"Ka mutu ko tetahi wahanga nui o Tainapu ko te reo māori o te whare katoa, nō reira kia kuhu te tangata ki ngā kuaha kei reira ngā tangata kohi tikiti he reo māori anake."
Hei tā Rauhihi he rerekē ngā kōrero paki ā te Māori ki tērā o te ' stand-up comedy,' ko tētahi mea nui ko te taunu, ko te werowero i te tangata engari i runga tonu i te wairua aroha, i runga i tērā ka koi te arero, ka koi te hinengaro.
"Mehemea ka kōrero tētahi ana ka whakahoki te Māori, he koi te whakahoki. Koira hoki te whakatinanatanga o tēnei mea te whai-kōrero, ka whai atu koe i tana kōrero ana ka whakawhanakehia kia whakaatu koe i tō koi ki te whai atu i āna kōrero.
"He rerekē anō tērā ki te stand-up comedy, ko tēnei āhuatanga o te stand-up me āta tuhituhi, ehara i te mea kei te whaiwhai koe i te tangata me āta tuhituhi i ō paki."
Hei tā Rauhihi e whakamatautau tonu ngā kaikōrero paki o Tainapu i te rārangi, inā he tangihanga kei te marama pū ngā kaikōrero kei hea te rarangi kei oa te māka, engari e rehurehu tonu ana rārangi mō ngā pō ngahau.
Ko Tamati Waaka tetahi o ngā kaikōrero paki, hei tā Rauhihi he tangata tino werowero i te tangata kare anō kua pāho i ōna kōrero katoa.
Hei tā Waaka kāre e taea te pehea, ahakoa te aha ka puta mai he kōrero paki i ā ia.
"Inā tū au ki te kōrero ahakoa i runga marae, ahakoa i roto i te hui, ahakoa i te karapu whutupōro ka puta ētahi wairua hākoakoa, ahakoa i runga i te ātamira o Te Matatini ka puta ētahi kōrero hākoakoa."
Kua tū ngā pō ngāhau e rua ki Te Papaioea, ki Turanga, ā e ai ki a Rauhihi inā kē te nui o ngā iwi kua whakapā atu kia tū a Tainapu ki reira, heoi kāre e hiahia kia kumea noatia ki te pīki mōki i te mea ko te aroha o te kaupapa nei ko ngā rohe.
I te wā nei ko te wāhi e āta tirohia i tenei wā kia tū ai te pō tuatoru o Tainapu ko Rotorua.
Tamati Waaka and Maria Smith perform at Tainapu in Gisborne. Photo: suplied/Tainapu
English version
Bringing te reo outside the classroom is the goal of the reo Māori stand-up comedy show Tainapu.
The word 'tainapu' is a transliteration of 'stand-up,' a phrase used in Te Tai Rāwhiti in a number of contexts.
Host Te Hemara Rauhihi said the idea came to him after leaving school when he and his friends would often default to speaking English, even though they had spoken te reo since childhood.
But for his parents and the generations above them, after every hui, tangihanga or even while working in the kitchen they would always banter in te reo.
"Growing up in Tai Rāwhiti whenever something like a tangihanga would end the adults would be in the back, in the kitchen making jokes, but they spoke in a different kind of language."
So the goal of Tainapu was to bring te reo Māori out of the classroom and back into the kitchen.
"What we want to do is bring te reo outside of kura, kohanga reo, outside of the classroom into different contexts, because that is how we will advance the language.
"A big part of Tainapu is that the whole theatre is speaking te reo, so when someone comes in the doors the people taking tickets are only speaking te reo māori."
Māori were no strangers to stand-up comedy, but Rauhihi said humour in te reo was often very different, involving jabs and insults at people that still come from a place of love.
"If someone makes a joke, Māori are quick to throw it back, and their reply is always sharp. That's the embodiment of whaikōrero - you follow (whai) someone's speech (kōrero), but you have to evolve the kōrero to show just how sharp you are.
"That's different from stand-up comedy. In stand-up you have to carefully write out your setup and punchline - you're not really following on from someone else."
Photo: suplied/Tainapu
Rauhihi said after hosting two shows they were still trying to figure out where to draw the line. At other events in te ao Māori, such as tangihanga, speakers knew exactly where the line was without going oa te māka (over the top), but for a comedy show that line was still blurry.
One of the comedians who performed at both Tainapu shows was Tamati Waaka, who Rauhihi said was so good at insult comedy they had not uploaded his full set.
Waaka said he could not help it, and no matter the context he would crack a few jokes.
"If I stand to speak on the marae, or at a hui, or at the rugby club, or on stage at Te Matatini, I'm going to add some comedy into what I say," Waaka said.
After holding two shows in Palmerston North and Gisborne, and with plans for a third in Rotorua, Tainapu was in high demand - but Rauhihi said he had no plans to take the kaupapa to the pīki mōki (big smoke) yet, and was happy keeping the show in the regions.
