Tofiga Fepulea’i is back on stage with some comedic relief in a truly dismal year. Tofiga Fepulea’i cracks up as we discuss some of the trends he’s clicked onto. First, there’s the fitness buzz. Anyone who follows the Laughing Sāmoans comedian online will have seen the videos he posts of he and wife Bessie after … Read more
In this special episode, we welcome you back to Waterdeep Mountain High, a Dungeons & Dragons podcast set in a below average school in the mystical land of Faerun. The gang are back and this time they have to… get summer jobs! Join Kate, Forrest, Hillardo and Peng as they begin employment at Dragon Burger. … Read more
This year’s International Comedy Festival was a roaring success, but some comedians have turned the spotlight on audiences. Are they too timid? Do our hecklers suck? Josie Adams sizes things up. When Netflix star James Acaster closed his last show of the Auckland International Comedy Festival, he ended with a confession: “This is only the … Read more
Welcome back (for the final time!) to Waterdeep Mountain High, a Dungeons & Dragons podcast set in a below average school in the mystical land of Faerun. “I’m not going to celebrate your straight white mediocrity” The thrilling, violent conclusion to our story, as our Kate, Forrest, Hillardo and Peng face their ultimate enemy…themselves! Just … Read more
Welcome back to Waterdeep Mountain High, a Dungeons & Dragons podcast set in a below average school in the mystical land of Faerun. Deep inside enemy territory, our heroes encounter horrors old and new in a desperate fight for their lives. A certain someone still refuses to own up to a fart. Starring Nic Sampson, … Read more
Welcome back to Waterdeep Mountain High, a Dungeons & Dragons podcast set in a below average school in the mystical land of Faerun. Kate, Forrest, Hillardo and Peng finally regroup, and set out to confront Principal Barilla and the remaining teachers once and for all. Someone will hurt a friend. Someone will die. Someone will … Read more
Welcome back to Waterdeep Mountain High, a Dungeons & Dragons podcast set in a below average school in the mystical land of Faerun. Our heroes confront a school bully and a trans dimensional toilet. Hillardo tells his best joke yet, and everyone comes extremely close to learning a lesson. Starring Nic Sampson, Brynley Stent, Ray … Read more
The NZ International Comedy Festival is here, and last night it kicked off with its traditional opener, the NZ Comedy Gala. But this year, among the local and international comedians, there was a whole lot of racism. Julie Zhu writes. As a Chinese woman, I’m used to surface racism. My brain has almost developed an … Read more
Podcast host, comedian and big-brained Brit Andy Zaltzman will be coming to New Zealand later this year for the comedy festival. He spoke to Alex Braae about politics, satire, and the game he can’t get enough of. “Half an hour later, the entire foundation of English civilisation had collapsed. It was the lowest point in … Read more
The 2018 Billy T Award Nominees were announced today. Sam Brooks goes deep on who they are, and why this slate is so great. Remember comedy? It exists! And outside of the Comedy Festival. What a concept! Last night, applicants for the Billy T Award, the most famous award in New Zealand comedy, did their … Read more
The NZ International Comedy Festival is over for another year, and so our two Comedy co-editors Sam Brooks and Natasha Hoyland take their final bows. Read on for their farewell messages. Natasha Hoyland What a crazy, incredible, exhausting time the festival always is! I always end up so completely knackered that I almost fall asleep … Read more
Spinoff Comedy co-editor Sam Brooks takes a look at the recent history of the Billy T Award, what felt different about this year’s nominees, and what that means for New Zealand’s comedy industry as a whole. There was a Moonlight/La La Land joke when it came time to announce the Billy T. It wasn’t funny. … Read more
Urzila Carlson is straight up the biggest comedian in the country today. Spinoff Comedy co-editor Sam Brooks talks to her about how she got so good at being funny. Sam Brooks: So you’re fucking excellent. Urzila Carlson: Thank you! How are you as good as you are? It’s like… you’re so good. Thank you. I dunno, … Read more
There’s the Billy T Award, there’s the Fred Award… and now there’s Spinoff Comedy co-editor Sam Brooks’ completely biased Comedy Festival awards. I saw 40 shows in the festival. That’s just over one third of all the shows, which seems like simultaneously too many shows and nowhere near enough. Best Show That Should’ve Been At … Read more
The NZ International Comedy Festival has come to an end for 2017 and emotions are running high. The fourth and final episode of our comedy festival podcast sees actor, writer and comedy expert Chelsea McEwan Millar joined by Spinoff comedy co-editors Sam Brooks and Natasha Hoyland as they emotionally wrap up the final week of the NZ … Read more
For years New Zealand comedy has – with some notable exceptions – had a reputation as something of a boys’ club. Last night its three key awards were all won by women for the first time. Natasha Hoyland, a young comedian herself, describes how that moment felt. When they announced Rose Matafeo as the winner … Read more
Rose Matafeo won the Fred Award last night. It’s New Zealand’s most prestigious comedy award, along with the Billy T Award (which she has also won). Sam Brooks talks to her about her comedy, life overseas, and their shared passion for musical flop Nine. I’m going to be straight up here and say that I love … Read more
On the heels of yesterday’s announcement of the Fred nominees for best show of the Comedy Festival, comedian Jonny Potts digs deep into the non-Fred Dagg work of Kiwi icon John Clarke, after whom the award is named. It’s totally understandable that the figure of Fred Dagg dominated New Zealand’s response to the sudden death … Read more
Sam Brooks roars into the third week with two of this year’s Billy T nominees, an impressive hour from local comedian Louise Beuvink, and a great one from Australian Joel Creasey. Louise Beuvink: Ladylike: A Modern Day Guide To Etiquette Right off the bat, Louise Beuvink gets points for using a Madonna mic. Death to … Read more
Just as the biggest annual event in NZ comedy was getting underway, Spinoff Comedy co-editor Natasha Hoyland ended up in hospital. But now she’s back and raring to go – in time for the festival to enter the home straight. I’m back! I’m alive! And I can tell you right now, it’s so good to … Read more
Uther Dean is a finalist in tonight’s Raw Comedy Quest Grand Final at Q Theatre – and he’s terrified. He explains why that is, and why there’s a big problem with stand-up comedy that nobody talks about. There is one big problem at the very heart of stand-up comedy. That problem is everyone. Everyone is … Read more
Comedy co-editor Sam Brooks starts week three of the festival with a three-show ripper. Alice Snedden kills her first hour, Paul Williams makes a name for himself, and Eli Matthewson only gets better. Alice Snedden: Self-Titled It can take years for comedians to find their feet. Stand-up comedy is an artform of trial-and-error as much … Read more
“I can’t believe I’m saying this but, that’s just how outrageous I am!” The fourth instalment of our video series Comedians Answer Our Questions is here! Featuring a number of funny people appearing in this year’s NZ International Comedy Festival, this time comedians tell us about the things they hate more than anything else in … Read more
Dialogue: Identity, proudly supported by The Spinoff, is a one-off storytelling event at Q Theatre this Friday, May 19. One of the performers, Sam Brooks (who also happens to be our Comedy co-editor), introduces the show here. By now I’ve been in two workshops for the storytelling show Dialogue: Identity, which is the latest in … Read more
Brendon Green’s shows have a tendency to make people laugh, but also make them cry. He explains why that is, and why it’s actually okay. Twenty minutes into the Thursday night show of my Wellington season, during a pause, an audience member called out “I thought this was a comedy show!” It got a laugh. … Read more
It’s the end of the second week of the Comedy Festival, the third episode of The Laugh-Off podcast and the day we lose it. The third episode of our comedy festival podcast sees actor, writer and comedy expert Chelsea McEwan Millar, comedy editor Sam Brooks and performer Jess Brien attempt to keep things together as … Read more
Comedy co-editor Sam Brooks reviews the two recipients of the Creative Comedy Project Grant – Laura Daniel and Joseph Moore’s Two Hearts and Sarah Harpur’s Dead Dad’s Club – and awards our third Spinoff Comedy Badge of Honour. Laura Daniel x Joseph Moore: Two Hearts We’re halfway through the festival, I’ve seen about twenty-five shows, and I’m going to call it: Two … Read more
Stand-Up For Kids is the only show in the Comedy Festival aimed at one very specific and special audience: children. Sam Brooks talks to performers Tessa Waters and Chris Parker about performing for kids, and why young audiences love comedy. Sam Brooks: So what’s the appeal of doing stand-up for kids, for you as a … Read more
Duncan Greive watches Laura Daniel and Joseph Moore weave sketch comedy songs and new material into a choreographed, heavily produced pop powerhouse. The line between perfect pop and its parody is incredibly thin. Joseph Moore, one half of Two Hearts, the fake band currently playing Q Theatre, knows this well enough to argue persuasively in … Read more