BAKER’S DOZEN

Some of the world’s best comedic stars will share the stage during the NZ International Comedy Festival. We talk with 12 acts from the festival about the joy of making people laugh for a living.

We talk to 12 of the top acts performing at the NZ International Comedy Festival.

Sitting on the ground, from opposite page left to this page right: Festival stars Rhys Mathewson, Brynley Stent, Donna Brookbanks. From opposite page left to this page right: The Fan Brigade (Livi Mitchell & Amanda Kennedy), Chris Parker, Jamaine Ross, Brendhan Lovegrove, Tom Sainsbury, Eli Matthewson, Laura Daniel, Cori Gonzalez-Macuer and David Correos. The festival began back in 1993 at the Watershed Theatre in Auckland, with “three weeks of open slather comedy”. Today it has grown into one of the biggest festivals on the international comedy circuit, attracting the cream of local, emerging, established and international talent from around the world, featuring stand-up, sketch, musical comedy, clowning, improv and more.

WHERE TO CATCH THEM The NZ International Comedy Festival runs 30 April – 24 May, 2020, comedyfestival.co.nz For more show details, go to mindfood.com

JAMAINE ROSS

Ross was 27 when he first stepped into the world of stand-up. “A friend was trying it and said I should do it as well. I just gave it a go and I’ve been doing it ever since!” A trained TV editor, he discovered he enjoyed making people laugh on stage. He’s since gone on to make people laugh in solo shows, on 7 Days and with his comedy sketch crew, Frickin’ Dangerous Bro. He says there’s no set formula for comedy. “It’s hard to define. People can study how to make films but almost nobody studies how to do stand-up. I’m just doing what I’ve learnt. I talk about myself and I tell a lot of stories. My show this year is about being Māori and how at different periods of my life that’s meant different things to me.”

DONNA BROOKBANKS

“My transition into stand-up was various steps of extreme scariness,” says Brookbanks. A trained actor who studied in New York, she found her way into comedy through improv. “I was doing improv comedy in Christchurch and realised we didn’t have anything like that in Auckland so decided to start it.” Co-founder of the late-night improv show Snort, she was nudged into doing stand-up comedy by her fellow improvisers. “The stand-ups convinced the actors to try it and now pretty much all of us do it. My style of comedy is very silly. I talk about everyday stuff that happens to me and I think people find it quite relatable.” For this year’s show, she’s adding more characters into the mix.

CORI GONZALEZ-MACUER

His comedic style delves into the darker side of things. “It’s observational and sarcastic,” he says. The Kiwi comedian made a splash on the comedy scene in 2006 when he won the Billy T Award. He’s a regular on 7 Days and in 2014 starred in Taika Waititi’s hit vampire comedy, What We Do In The Shadows. His first experience on stage was at an open mic night, where he won the competition. “It was all downhill from there,” he jokes. After winning the Billy T Award, he took his unique style of self-deprecating comedy overseas. In the lead-up to this year’s festival, he’s travelling around New Zealand, testing out his jokes on audiences throughout the country. “I love touring ... every town is different,” he says.

TOM SAINSBURY

A prolific playwright, Sainsbury never planned on becoming a stand-up comedian. “I started doing lots of plays and theatre, writing stories for my friends ... slowly I realised comedy was my tendency and got into stand-up,” he says. As well as featuring on TV shows such as Wellington Paranormal and Jono and Ben, he’s become an internet sensation with his ‘Snapchat characters’, parodying a mixture of fictional and real-life personas. “The short, one-character content really appeals to me,” he says. “You can instantly gauge what works and what doesn’t with an audience.” With comedy, he says, you can turn even the bad parts of life into something meaningful.

DAVID CORREOS

Correos is the first to admit his brand of comedy can be a bit polarising. “I think comedy is about surprising people, that’s what I’m trying to do on stage.” The Billy T Award-winning comedian is known as a one-man circus, making audiences laugh, gasp and cringe with his daring comedic performances. Unsurprisingly, his first venture into comedy was on the more adventurous side. “At the time, there wasn’t much of a comedy scene in Christchurch so I’d perform on variety shows,” he says. “I’d follow sword swallowers and magicians – I thought that’s what I had to do for a laugh.” This year, he’s hoping to find a balance between wild antics and straight up stand-up.

BRENDHAN LOVEGROVE

Having worked as a comedian for over 25 years, Lovegrove has seen the NZ comedy scene change a lot. “The industry has really blossomed in the last 10 years. [New comics] have added so much vibrancy and colour to the comedy scene.” His comedy has changed as well. “When you’re younger, you think you’re bulletproof and say whatever you like. But attitudes changed and so have I. I still want to be original and take risks, I just don’t want to upset people any more.” In recent years, he has taken a step back from stand-up and sat on the judging panel for the Fred Award. This year, he’s excited to step back into the spotlight. “I love being on stage and feel blessed to have built a livelihood out of this art form.”

THE FAN BRIGADE

It was on Twitter where Amanda Kennedy and Livi Mitchell first ‘met’ one another. “We followed each other on Twitter and Amanda sent me a message … we met up to bounce ideas of each other but ended up drinking lots of wine and writing a song together,” says Livi. Now an award-winning musical comedy duo, their shows have quickly become sell-out hits. With topics ranging from their hate for cricket to their love for Mike McRoberts, every song in their repertoire is different. They’re big fans of fellow comedians Justine Smith, Urzila Carlson and the Topp Twins. “I’m inspired by all the women who have gone out and done it before us,” says Amanda.

CHRIS PARKER

Christchurch-born comedian Parker first started performing in his kitchen, putting on shows for his family. “I’ve always been a real show-off,” he says. “The more I performed, the more people laughed at me so I followed the comedy route.” In 2018, he took home the Fred Award for his hit show Camp Binch. “I like to write about important things but also make people laugh at the same time,” he says. The idea for this year’s show came from a conversation with his therapist. “My therapist told me, ‘You’re really big and loud’ and it was a very confronting comment to hear. So I decided to write a show about it,” he says. “It’s about all these emotions which are bubbling under the surface.”

LAURA DANIEL

“I was definitely the class clown in school,” says Daniel. “I was always drawn towards comedic acting.” The star of Funny Girls and Dancing with the Stars has made it big on the comedy scene, most recently joining Seven Sharp as a reporter. In the past few years, she’s gravitated to musical comedy, creating pop-parody double act Two Hearts with writing partner, Joseph Moore. “It brings together everything I love: music, comedy, dance. I have the most fun when I’m working on Two Hearts.” This year will be their fourth time performing the show. With back-up dancers and big set pieces, the duo aim to create the experience of an arena pop show while poking fun at “all the stupid stuff” that comes with it.

ELI MATTHEWSON

“I would describe my first experience of stand-up as traumatic,” says Mathewson. “Luckily, the nerves have mostly gone away.” The Billy T and Fred Award nominee grew up in Christchurch in a family of creatives. Finding his way into the arts scene, he started performing stand-up and worked as a writer and actor on Jono and Ben and Funny Girls. Now juggling jobs as an actor, comedian, writer and director, he’s grateful for the skills each role has taught him. “You develop so many tools as a stand-up, it keeps you learning and growing.” In many ways, it’s the control of standup that appeals to him. “I like being in control. No matter what, I can decide what to do or how to react.”

RHYS MATHEWSON

Mathewson was 15 when he fell in love with comedy. “I did a programme that taught high school kids how to write and perform comedy. I realised, this is what I want to do for the rest of my life.” That kickstarted his career in comedy. “When I was under 18, my parents would drive me to gigs … midway through uni I dropped out to be a full-time comedian.” In 2010, he took home the Billy T Award and has since gone on to perform the UK comedy circuit and, most recently, open for Jack Whitehall at Spark Arena. He says the comedy scene has changed massively since he started. “I’m continually surprised and amazed by the sheer inventiveness, empathy and quality of New Zealand comedy – it’s world class.”

BRYNLEY STENT

A goblin, a giraffe and a Gloriavale runaway are just some of the characters Stent has dreamt up on stage. She says she enjoys the safety and freedom of playing characters. “With character and sketch comedy you’re one step removed. I would be happy doing a comedy show with a character and nobody laughing because it’s not me, it’s me portraying a character.” A regular on the weekly improv show Snort, the actor, writer and comedian says she enjoys playing off-beat personas. “I like playing characters with elements of comedy and sadness or something different about them.” This year, she heads into the festival as a Billy T nominee, putting on another sketch and mime show.