Ukraine has elected as its president a comedian with no political experience and not many policies. So what would our comedians do if elected to be the President of New Zealand? Here are their manifestos. Guy Williams Two words: Flag referendum. The last one was a shambles and we need another one! I genuinely think New … Read more
Our queer and women comics have been charging ahead and spotlighting its issues with gender and sexuality. Dejan Jotanovic writes. Something huge happened last month. We did it. We won. We took home the mighty trophy, prompting an encouraging Instagram post from our humble PM. Rose Matafeo (Funny Girls) won ‘Best Comedy Show’ at the … Read more
Chris Parker and Eli Matthewson’s hit podcast The Male Gayz is now a thing you can look at with your eyeballs, thanks to TVNZ on Demand. Chris Parker and Eli Matthewson are two of the country’s most prolific and well-known young comedians. They’re both writers for Jono and Ben and Funny Girls, as well as occasional performers on both … 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
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
Comedy co-editor Natasha Hoyland ended up in hospital as the opening nights of NZ International Comedy Festival’s second week were kicking off. So she asked the comedians to review their own shows in her absence. Hello, Natasha here! Coming to you live from my death bed. This time of the week I usually do my … Read more
A few weeks ago, comedian Nic Sampson came to The Spinoff with an idea: What if he did a comedy show in a library? We’ve got the bizarre results, and a brief interview with the man himself, right here. Sam Brooks: Why on earth did you want to do stand-up in a library? Nic Sampson: … Read more
“As she’s going over, her pants just split right up the middle.” Welcome to the second instalment in our video series Comedians Answer Our Questions, featuring a number of faces in this year’s NZ International Comedy Festival. This time we asked comedians to tell us about the funniest thing they’ve ever seen, from unexpected peeing, … Read more
Spinoff Comedy co-editor Natasha Hoyland heads to the Basement Preview Show for a first look at the acts performing there over the course of the comedy festival. The Flick Electric Co. Comedy Gala is happening tonight in Auckland, which means it’s officially time for the NZ International Comedy Festival! To celebrate, I went out to … Read more
We didn’t know what to do about the Comedy Festival, so convened a motley trio of know-nothing punters to talk about it. Host Alex Casey is joined by The Spinoff editor Duncan Greive and internet sensation Paul Williams to discuss the second week of the New Zealand Comedy Festival. Acts assessed include James Acaster, … Read more
During the New Zealand International Comedy Festival, ‘Behind the LOLs’ will reveal the inner workings of some of our finest comedy talent. Today: Eli Matthewson. This year it seems like me and all my peers decided to get experimental with our Comedy Festival shows. Maybe because we’ve reached the stage in our lives where we have steady-ish incomes … Read more