Modest Matafeo hits the big time
Matafeo’s win has some parallels, perhaps, with Eleanor Catton winning the Booker Prize for ‘The Luminaries’ in 2013.
There was something quintessentially Kiwi about Rose Matafeo’s reaction to having her show, Horndog, named Best Comedy Show at this year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Which is arguably a significant part of why this is such a big deal not just for her, but for New Zealand comedy, for which the victory will surely be empowering.
‘‘I feel almost uncomfortable. I’m trying to find a way to process it,’’ she said of the award, worth £10,000 ($19,200), in an interview with RNZ.
Just to have her show nominated was ‘‘completely astonishing’’, Matafeo said. Hearing her name called out was ‘‘an out-of-body experience’’ as ‘‘all of the shows this year that got nominated were absolutely amazing’’.
The self-deprecating attitude in overdrive then, or, to quote Guardian critic Brian Logan, ‘‘self-mortification’’, a quality he said was also on abundant display in the hour-long show. Sounds like it’s Kiwi-as then. Logan, who also loved Matafeo’s 2017 show, Sassy
Best Friend, wrote that he had ‘‘never interviewed a comedian so reluctant to speak well of herself’’.
‘‘Holy crap, that’s my prime minister hahahahaha,’’ Matafeo responded to a tweet from Jacinda Ardern hailing her success. ‘‘This is huge! Congratulations Rose,’’ Ardern wrote.
The sense of wide-eyed wonder will have done the 26-year-old, born and raised in Auckland, no harm in the eyes of New Zealanders, all of whom she ended up thanking in her speech because, she said, she had been so convinced she wouldn’t win she hadn’t actually prepared one.
It’s the sort of modesty we’d expect, and usually get, from our biggest sporting heroes, for example.
The big difference is that it would be extremely rare for any of our brightest sporting stars to be taking on the best in the business without huge media attention in the buildup. It’s questionable whether any more than a small, tuned-in section of the population knew Matafeo was even in Edinburgh, let alone in line for a major award. Some parallels, perhaps, with Eleanor Catton winning the Booker Prize for The Luminaries in 2013.
This award has been labelled that prize’s comedy equivalent, and, modesty aside, Matafeo made clear she was fully aware of its prestige when she likened it to winning gold at the Olympic Games. In comedic terms, that is exactly what it is. Matafeo is just the fifth solo woman to win the award, and the first solo person of colour. While the necessity for such categorisation might be waning, there’s no question it’s a trailblazing achievement that will be particularly inspiring and may smooth the path for those who face similar barriers to success to the ones she has.
Like those athletes who enjoy great success everywhere but at the Olympics, Matafeo will certainly be aware there are hugely accomplished comedians, like James Acaster, nominated five years running, and Nish Kumar (twice), who have fallen short in Edinburgh but whose careers have nonetheless flourished.
By the same token, like an Olympic gold medal, this award is not a guarantee of ongoing success. But her understated response suggests we should celebrate this major award with her, confident she’s grounded enough to know plenty of hard work lies ahead if she’s to turn it into the career launchpad it should be.