18 Jun New Zealand comedian Eli Matthewson returns to the Edinburgh Fringe
Acclaimed New Zealand comedian Eli Matthewson returns to the Edinburgh Fringe with his new hour, Night Terror – a sharp, relatable, and often absurd look at the chaos of modern life, long-term relationships, and the thin line between safety and panic.
Known for his sharp writing and quick wit, Matthewson takes audiences through the chaotic terrain of modern relationships, blending personal anecdotes, silly observations, and sharply observed stand-up. Central to the show is a moment of truly heart-stopping intimacy: the time his boyfriend accidentally tried to strangle him in his sleep.
The story begins with a spate of small, unsettling incidents – break-ins, stolen garden ornaments, and a seemingly endless series of anxiety-inducing mishaps – all of which left Matthewson on edge in his own home. One of the few things that brought him comfort was the familiar feeling of curling up in his own bed, though he and his boyfriend had recently been debating whether to swap sides – a decision that, as it turns out, can have unexpected consequences.
Since moving into their current apartment, Matthewson and his boyfriend have had the misfortune of enduring four separate break-ins – a run of bad luck that has left them both a bit on edge. Despite his best efforts to secure his property with multiple security cameras, the footage often served as a grim reminder of how little control we actually have. In one particularly ridiculous moment, Eli and his boyfriend watched helplessly from miles away as a woman calmly removed a pair of flamingo ornaments from their front garden, unable to intervene as their phone screens lit up with the live feed of the theft.
It’s a strange new feeling for someone who grew up without much to lose, but now finds himself with a few nice things worth worrying about.. He jokes that this creeping awareness of his own ‘stuff’ has him nervously checking his door locks and wondering if he might one day start sympathising with the kind of people who say ‘tough on crime’ without irony – a ridiculous but unsettling prospect for someone who has always considered himself firmly left of centre.
This tension between his political ideals and his newfound desire to protect what he has worked for adds a compelling layer to the show, as Matthewson wrestles with the uncomfortable possibility of becoming more conservative as he gets older – or at least more paranoid.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, this heightened sense of threat has bled into his relationship as well. It’s not just his own anxiety that’s been ramped up – his boyfriend, too, has become hyper-aware of their shared vulnerability, perhaps subconsciously influenced by Matthewson’s long term concerns about security.
This all came to a head one fateful night when, disoriented by the unfamiliar side of the bed and half-dreaming about recent burglaries, his boyfriend reached out in a half-conscious panic and put his hands around Matthewson’s throat, mistaking him for an intruder. It was a moment triggered by the sudden noise of a friend letting themselves into the house at 2am – a friend who had been staying with them but had somehow slipped his boyfriend’s half-dreaming mind. The result? A guttural scream of terror and rage, and a brief but unforgettable struggle for breath in the one place Matthewson thought he could finally feel safe.
Now, Matthewson has taken this near-death moment and spun it into a deeply funny, slightly unsettling hour of stand-up – one that asks what it means to truly trust the person lying next to you, and whether any of us ever really feel safe when we close our eyes at night. Blending the relatable with the ridiculous, Night Terror captures the absurdity of modern life and the strange, sometimes unsettling intimacy of long-term relationships. It’s a show that will strike a chord with anyone who has ever tried to keep the chaos of the outside world at bay, only to find it creeping into their most private moments. Compelling, laugh-out-loud funny, and filled with the kind of honest, chaotic humour that lingers long after the lights come up.
