Get ready to unleash the laughter, as the 31st NZ International Comedy Festival with Best Foods Mayo arrives this May for over three full weeks bursting with unparalleled hilarity and unforgettable live comedy. Taking over the month of May, the annual festival boasts a side-splitting line-up of more than 150 local and international comics, taking to the stage in 24 venues, over 600 performances, representing 25 countries.
As always, the audience favourites made by the NZ Comedy Festival Presents team are back, with unmissable line-ups and an abundance of laughter. Opening up the month of comedy is the jewel in the festival crown in both Auckland and Wellington, the Best Foods Comedy Gala. This year, The Great Comedy Debate will fight it out to decide if ‘humans are the best animal’, with host Robbie Nicol, labelled as the “Kiwi John Oliver”! The Best Comedy Show On Earth offers some of the biggest names and freshest talent in the festival, hosted by Hayley Sproull. To close out the festival, ARIA-winning stand-up and RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under judge, Rhys Nicholson will be hosting Last Laughs, where nominees perform and the prestigious Comedy Fest Awards, the Billy T Award and Fred Award are handed out.
THREE will be filming three TV specials to capture the NZ Comedy Fest in action for those around the motu this year, with the Best Foods Comedy Gala in Tāmaki Makaurau, 7 Days Live – Festival Special NZ vs The World and Last Laughs.
With hundreds of shows on offer, take a bite early to discover brilliant comedians at The Comedy Mixtape hosted by award-winning comic and Celebrity Treasure Island star Courtney Dawson at Te Pou Theatre in Auckland or in Wellington by Jerome Chandrahasen at Te Auaha Tapere Nui; see the Basement Preview Show hosted by Bailey Poching, where you can catch a preview of Rhiannon McCall, Johanna Cosgrove, Itay Ben-Dom, Liv McKenzie, Lana Walters and more. Wellingtonians can also enjoy a sampler of local comedians in the Festival at the Wellington Preview Showat Fringe Bar, with Li’i Alaimoana, Viki Moananu, Hoani Hotene, Krystine Nation and more.
From across the ditch and beyond comes a slew of iconic international comics, including Fern Brady (SCOT), The Guilty Feminist (UK), Adam Kay (UK), Schalk Bezuidenhout (SA), Olga Koch (UK), David O’Doherty (IRE), Ian Smith (UK), Hannah Campbell(SCOT), Mark Simmons (UK) and the return of fan favourite Wilson Dixon (USA), alongside some of Australia’s hottest acts, Rhys Nicholson, Nazeem Hussain, Tom Cashman, Takashi Wakasugi, He Huang, Imaan Hadchiti, Ivan Aristeguieta, Jenny Tian, fan favourite Heath Franklin’s Chopper and more.
As always a strong local contingent of well known faces and rising stars bring laughs aplenty, including Guy Montgomery, Alice Snedden, Pax Assadi, Hayley Sproull, Te Radar, Melanie Bracewell, Abby Howells and Angella Dravid, Tom Sainsbury, Trygve Wakenshaw, Barnie Duncan, Laura Daniel, Eli Matthewson, Henry Yan, Guy Williams, Jerome Chandrahasen, Rhys Matthewson, Brynley Stent, Auntie Lianne, Dr Joel Rindelaub, Jamaine Ross, Orin Ruaine-Prattley, Kajun Brooking, Ray O’Leary, Courtney Dawson, Sowmya Hiremath, Trent Baumann, Gabby Anderson and Lesa McLeod-Whiting, and more names than you can shake a stick at.
There’s something for everyone, and god knows we need a laugh now more than ever, so find people you like hanging out with and take your pick of some of the great comedians on offer. We encourage you not only to support the artists you love, but also to discover someone new!
2024 NZ INTERNATIONAL COMEDY FESTIVAL WITH BEST FOODS MAYO
3 – 26 May, 2024
Auckland and Wellington
The full programme is live and on-sale here.