James Roque has been causing a stir recently with the title of his upcoming comedy festival show James Roque Wants To Show You Something. But what exactly is that ‘something’? Kia ora, James Roque here, you’re favourite grammatically inconsistent New Zealand comedian. It’s two weeks out from the NZ International Comedy Festival and I’ve had a … Read more
Melbourne: better public transport than Auckland, better laneways, better bars. But here’s one thing the two cities do have in common: a comedy festival. We enlisted Auckland comedian Donna Brookbanks to report back on her Melbourne festival experience. Dear Diary, Today I woke up. It’s so much fun sleeping in a single bed again! Sometimes … Read more
Natasha Hoyland sat down with Brynley Stent (Funny Girls, Snort Comedy) over some delicious pie at Federal Deli to discuss Gloriavale, cults, and Stent’s new NZ International Comedy Festival show. Natasha Hoyland: Can you tell us a bit about your comedy festival show? Brynley Stent: It’s called Escape From Gloriavale and it’s about a young girl … Read more
Natasha Hoyland gets to know the Billy T nominees ahead of their showcase at Q Theatre tonight. To be in the running for the biggest and most prestigious prize in New Zealand comedy, budding comedians are required to pitch their show ideas to a panel of industry judges and perform in an applicants showcase. The … Read more
Starting today, and running until the close of the NZ International Comedy Festival, The Spinoff’s comedy pop-up section will be your daily guide to the festival and all that leaks out of it. Co-editors Sam Brooks and Natasha Hoyland explain what they think they’re doing here. What is this? We’re Sam Brooks and Natasha Hoyland, … Read more
A group of young Wellingtonians have scored millions of online views for their idiosyncratic Shakespearean revamps. With the launch of their third series, Bright Summer Night, we asked them to explain themselves, and they sent us a video. The first two web series by the Candle Wasters put a girdle around the earth in hardly … Read more
Comedian and celebrant Penny Ashton pulls back the veil on Married at First Sight. “So are you going to fuck him?” was, let’s face it, the classy question on everyone’s minds. It was 25-year-old retail manager Erin’s wedding night. She was beautiful, he was hot, so why wouldn’t he march up her aisle? Sure, her … Read more
Guy Williams likes reddit.com/r/newzealand, but reddit.com/r/newzealand does not like Guy Williams. He issued a challenge to its citizens this week: come and see my show. So they did, and Madeleine Chapman was there to watch it happen. “I totally get why people don’t like me. Like, when I watch LeBron James play, I want to see him … Read more
For Throwback Thursday this week, Claire Adamson arms herself with a bottle of wine and revisits the worst comedy series that New Zealand has ever made. In the early ’90s, a young and misguided television station called TV3 made a show so terrible that its name has become a byword for bad TV in this … Read more