Matafeo in hot demand after Edinburgh win
After her Edinburgh Comedy Award victory, Rose Matafeo is clearly a woman in demand. The Kiwi comedian has already sold out next month’s 12-night season of her awardwinning Horndog show at London’s SoHo Theatre and has been commissioned by Britain’s Channel 4 to create an online comedy series.
Matafeo’s response to the sellout news was typically understated.
‘‘This is ridiculous. Thank you so much for buying those tickets, hopefully will line up some more dates soon,’’ she wrote on social media.
Debuting at this year’s New Zealand Comedy Festival, Horndog is the 26-year-old’s look at passion and obsession inspired by the nine people she’s kissed in her life.
Before taking home the prestigious £10,000 prize at the weekend, it had earned Matafeo rave reviews from the British press.
The Guardian’s Brian Logan commented that her ‘‘neurosis, intelligence and flamboyant sense of her own ridiculousness make her a near-perfect comedian’’. The Evening Standard’s Bruce Dessau agreed, saying that Matafeo ‘‘delivers sparky pop culture at a ferocious pace’’.
And now, having already made an appearance on longrunning British panel show Have I Got News For You and Hugh Bonneville comedy W1A, the comedian of Samoan and Scottish-Croatian heritage has a shot at her own series.
Channel 4 has announced it has commissioned Matafeo to create a three-part online comedy.
Called Rose Matafeo: Temp, it’s billed as showing ‘‘a slice of life of a transient temp worker and their interactions with three colourful characters in the same office building’’.
Each episode will be filmed in a very different style, with the ‘‘aesthetic inspirations’’ ranging from 1980s big-screen workplace comedies 9to5 and Working
Girl, to the ‘‘off-beat stylings of Being John Malkovich’’.
Channel 4 comedy commissioning executive Laura Riseam has described the show as ‘‘a brilliant ode to classic female workplace comedies that we all know and love. It promises to be shot in inimitable style with visual references and gags aplenty.’’
It is scheduled to film later this year.
Known as Blaps, some of these online Channel 4 comedy commissions have turned into full broadcast series, including Chewing Gum, GameFace and High & Dry.
‘‘This is ridiculous. Thank you so much for buying those tickets, hopefully will line up some more dates soon.’’ Rose Matafeo commenting on the news her 12-night season of Horndog has sold out.