In his current comedy tour, award-winning comic Raybon Kan gives touchy subjects the kind of careful touching you'd attribute to an overworked courier driver – or an eager intestinal surgeon. He tells Cityscape about the nature of laughter, and bullfighting a crowd.

How's the Raybon... Kan Touch This tour going so far?

Surprisingly good, thanks. I feel like I'm hitting notes I didn't used to. If I was an athlete getting results like this, I think they'd demand a drug test. I'm really enjoying the audiences.

Can you give us a peek behind the curtain? What kind of things are you going to be covering in the Lyttelton and Christchurch shows?

Haha, the topics wouldn't necessarily make people want to come. But they're subjects that people tend to have a strong opinion on, and the general background vibe we're in now, the shifting lines of what you can and can't say. That's hinted at in the show title. But I'm very pleased with how easy the material is going down. It's substantial. It's filling and the material spans wide. Sometimes as a comic you're drawn to topics that present a degree of difficulty, but I feel like this show is a much smoother cocktail than I've delivered before. And I have a Christchurch joke which has gone down well in other places, so I'm looking forward to doing it in the place itself.

We've got to know, what could possibly be funny in 2020?

Well I'm dealing really with more enduring topics than the events of this year. And audiences still have their sense of humor, I've found. But yeah, we're able to relax enough to enjoy comedy and going out, being amongst a crowd— which is unthinkable in the countries we compare ourselves to.

As a veteran of Aotearoa comedy, what's new on the scene?

Audiences have seen more stand-up than ever before, and social media is new, but stage comedy is still the same beast. It's a form of bullfighting with the crowd, there's nowhere to hide and it's a honest art form, more like a sport than an art really. The audience dictates how you scored on the night. It's a primal enjoyment for the crowd. An involuntary physical sensation — laughing and hearing others laugh – and it really has to be experienced live.

What advice would you give to your younger self?

Practice more. Die more often. Haha, strive for quantity.

What's the secret to laughter?

Laughter is a trick you play on someone's body through deception and drawing pictures in their mind that they didn't quite imagine beforehand. It's the impact of individual syllables. It's related to horror. You use their imagination against them. And for the comedian, it's a drug.

What's the best advice your Mum ever gave you?

Don't let your shoulders get cold.

What do you like to get up to in Christchurch?

I never seem to have enough time there now. I'm in and out. A good breakfast, and since it's November, maybe look at willows? I'm open to suggestions.

Raybon... Kan Touch This
Wunderbar, November 5
Boo Radley's Food & Liquor, November 6
raybonkan.com