Interactive comedy game show WiFi Wars comes to the Civic theatre

FROM classic TV game shows to zen-like word puzzles, from retro video games to modern first-person shooters, WiFi Wars has something for everyone in its truly original whistle-stop tour of all the ways you can have fun in public.

The entire audience competes, both as teams and as individuals, on games, quizzes and more that are magically beamed into their smartphones and tablets using WiFi Wars’ Guinness World Record-Breaking tech.

This tech was developed in residency at London’s prestigious Royal Institution.

Hosted by comedians Steve McNeil and Rob Sedgebeer, ‘WiFi Wars’ is the award-winning must-see show that is like “nothing you’ve seen before’.

Steve has previously served as team captain on the hit TV show ‘Dara O’Briain’s Go 8 Bit’, and Rob is a Chortle ‘Legend of Lockdown’ award winner.

As teams and players thrive and fail, each show’s unique narrative emerges hilariously in real time, with freshly minted heroes becoming local legends in every place they visit.

It is vital that every player bring a smart device (phone or tablet); essentially, they just need something with a touchscreen and a web browser installed.

Players are also encouraged to make sure their devices are charged and they do not need to download an app or install anything in advance; Steve and Rob will get them all set up when they arrive.

This week, The Echo sat down with Steve to discuss ‘WiFi Wars’ performing in the Civic Theatre at 7pm on August 29; for booking details, check civictheatre.

What can you tell us about ‘WiFi Wars’?

It’s a live interactive comedy game show where the whole audience competes on games, puzzles and quizzes using their smartphones and tablets!

We’ve got a bit of everything, from word puzzles to classic TV game shows, from retro video games to modern first-person shooters. we do our utmost to make sure the show genuinely has something for everyone, whatever your age or experience.

What was your inspiration behind this show?

Back in 2013, I was doing the early live version of what became my TV show Go 8-Bit, and Rob approached me with some cool new tech he’d invented where the whole audience could control the paddles in a massively multiplayer version of Pong.

He very kindly let us use it in the live (and then TV) show, and the two of us developed the concept further, with it eventually turning into its own thing, ‘WiFi Wars’!

What has been your favourite part of working on this production so far and why?

We’re lucky to have had so many incredible experiences over the last 13 years of doing the show, so it’s hard to pick one!

Breaking Guinness World Records, developing the show at the Royal Institution (and regularly appearing in their Christmas Lectures), performing to over 3,500 people at Arena Birmingham and even a sold-out Sydney Opera House earlier this year as part of the Comedy Festival there!

It’s a true pleasure to get to bring our toys to people all over the world and see them enjoying them, together, just as much as we do!

What have been some of the biggest challenges you have encountered in this production so far, and how have you navigated them?

With ‘WiFi Wars’, the biggest challenge is – unsurprisingly – setting up the tech required to allow thousands of people to simultaneously connect to us and have games instantaneously beamed to them all.

Thankfully the tech has come a long way in the last decade, which makes things a lot easier for us.

Your phones are more powerful, wifi network hardware has improved immeasurably, and things like 5G and Starlink make huge outdoor events far easier to deliver.

As to how we navigate them, every show is unique, and it’s just a case of finding the right tools for each job!

What is next for you? Do you have any other plans or projects in mind for the rest of 2026 after this performance?

We’ve been on the road now continuously for almost four years, and we’ve already got dates in the diary all the way through 2027, so we just keep doing what we do and hopefully bring the show to more and more new people.

This is our first time bringing the show to Ireland, and the hope is that enough people will come along that we can come back again soon and do a lot more dates in a lot more locations!

So, if you like the look of what we do, please come along, and bring your friends!

Who would you like to thank for helping to make all of this possible?

As it’s me, Steve, doing this interview, I have to thank Rob, who invented and operates all the tech used in the show.

Without him, I’d just be a strange man shouting at people on their phones.