A Whanganui comedian is tickling ribs on the national stage.

Matt Stellingwerf has been nominated for New Zealand's top comedy honour, the Billy T James award.

The criminologist turned comic covers topics ranging from love, drugs, sex - and what it's like to interview a death row inmate - in his acclaimed routine.

He can even find humour in the sordid love lives of the Olympians, Shakespeare's influence on sexting, and how Einstein predicted the break up of One Direction.

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The former Wanganui Collegiate student has fond memories of Whanganui - and says the city prepared him for audience hecklers.

"Being in my Collegiate uniform, when you've spent five years being called a 'ringy', or people saying you're from poofters' palace, anything a drunk guy from Auckland yells at you on stage is not nearly as threatening," he said.

"I live in Auckland now, I'm afraid, as much as I would love to live in Whanganui when I look at house prices - the nice places you could buy in St John's Hill for less than a one-bedroom apartment here.

"And I dig the vibe of Whanganui - it's a cool place."

Reviews have praised Stellingwerf's laid-back manner and intellectual banter.

Mat Campbell from Keeping Up With NZ said Stellingwerf was "at times undeniably lovable".

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"His references are far and wide, with everything from Anne Frank to cougars getting a going over".

Stellingwerf's act was also described as "utterly filthy".

Making his debut in 2012, the 28-year-old has won a number of awards, including best comedian at Dunedin Fringe Festival, and has appeared on TV3's AotearoHA.

Stellingwerf's producer Taylor McLeod said the comedian's stage confidence hid a shy personality.

"My first impression of Matt ... he was the cowardly lion. He took a while to come out of his shell, but he's shown huge potential with a kind of intelligent humour that's sometimes hard to pull off," she said.

A four-time NZ Comedy Guild award winner, Stellingwerf is taking his stage show to Auckland, Wellington, Palmerston North, Christchurch and Dunedin over the next two months.

The winner of the Billy T James award will be decided at Last Laughs on May 15.