The always hilarious and brilliant Leah McFall, who releases her new book of selected columns this week, pays her respects to five of the most hilarious and brilliant women writers of all time – Jane Austen, Nancy Mitford, Sue Townsend, Erma Bombeck, and Nora Ephron. If humour writing is a craft, then I’m apprenticed to five dead women. … 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
Jono and Ben is back for another season, and they’re refreshing their comedic stable with some new faces, most of them women. Let’s meet them! Jono and Ben is more than just a showcase for the titular dudes who front the show. It also has a legacy of being a springboard for some of our most talented … Read more
Sam Brooks explains his decision to cut all men out of his comedy festival diet. Yeah, that’s a clickbaity headline. The fact is, this year I saw a fraction of the comedy festival shows I usually see. Last year, when I was the comedy editor here at The Spinoff, I saw 42 and reviewed almost … Read more
Last week five women accused comedian Louis CK of sexual harassment, charges he admits are true. Sam Brooks writes about why Louis CK has always been a problematic comedian – and not just for this. These are the facts. Louis CK sexually harassed a bunch of women. The women came forward to the New York … Read more
The 7 Days Twitter account posted a table ranking the most successful regular panellists yesterday. But they also revealed something else… Since its launch in 2009, there’s no denying that weekly panel show 7 Days is still by far New Zealand’s most successful comedy vehicle. Friday nights on Three has long seen a revolving rota of panellists including … 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
Some of New Zealand’s top comedians share the most offensive, obnoxious and flat-out sexist comments they’ve received over the course of their careers. “I don’t want to be kissed by you, you stubbly, smelly, fuckwit with a beard in an unhappy marriage, go kiss Ben Hurley” was Justine Smith’s response to a guy who ran … Read more
When Sam Brooks put out a list of his five best comedy specials ever many of you weren’t happy with his choices. Here he responds to the criticism. Comedy fans get angry when you question the established canon. Let me rephrase, and widen that: Fans of any artform get angry when you question their established canon. … Read more
Sam Brooks has watched a lot of stand-up comedy specials in his 26 years on this planet. These are his five favourites. First things first: yes, my five most beloved comedy specials are all by women. That’s not because it’s two days after International Women’s Day but because I always have and always will believe … Read more
We asked comedians and Boners of the Heart co-hosts Rose Matafeo and Alice Snedden to have a conversation about women and comedy to mark International Women’s Day. The following (lightly edited and hyperlinked) Facebook conversation is what we received. Alice: Na, it’s still the same Someone brought them back from America i just realised this is just like … Read more
The annual Billy T Jams showcases the nominees for the Billy T Award, New Zealand’s biggest prize for comedy. Former Billy T winner Hamish Parkinson reviews Friday night’s show in two parts: the first the show itself, the second what this year’s lineup can tell us about the state of local comedy in 2017. Review … Read more
Sick of seeing women portrayed as squeaky clean and virtuous, Jaya Beach-Robertson created PSUSY to prove they can be anything but. Liam Maguren sat down with her to talk through the ups and downs of creating a worldly web series. If you haven’t come across the New Zealand web series PSUSY yet, I’m not sure how … 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 Spinoff editor Duncan Greive and internet sensation Paul Williams to discuss the final week of the New Zealand Comedy Festival. We look at the Billy T nominees we weren’t … Read more
The Spinoff has the rare and singular pleasure of bringing you a full scene from TV3’s eagerly anticipated sketch comedy ‘Funny Girls’, debuting on TV3 this Friday at 10pm. For the past few weeks I’ve been traipsing across Auckland to bars, breweries and bars, watching a brand new New Zealand comedy being made. It’s a … Read more