Billy T’ Billy: Brynley Stent hands the yellow towel to 2023 comedy award winner Abby Howells

Billy T winners Abby Howells, left, and Brynley Stent. Photo / NZ Herald

The New Zealand International Comedy Festival has wrapped up for another year with the Billy T Award being handed out to another rising comedian.

Abby Howells has won the prestigious prize, which includes a yellow towel in Billy T James’ honour, for her latest comedy show, La Soupco.

The award has been handed out since 1997 and has a huge legacy of winners, including Taika Waititi, Jemaine Clement, Dai Henwood and Rose Matafeo. For Howells though, her win comes a decade after quitting comedy, when she was sexually harassed by a fellow comedian.

Speaking to 2021 Billy T winner Brynley Stent on the NZ Herald podcast, Billy T’ Billy, Howells said that it took her a while to build back her confidence again, avoiding certain venues because the comedian who harassed her still works there, and started with smaller, safer venues like The Basement.

Stent praised Howells for her comeback, and said that few people outside of the industry realise how difficult it is to leave the arts and try to return.

“There’s the circumstances around why you may have left, but then there’s also the feeling of that imposter syndrome of like, ‘oh my gosh, I’ve been out of this game for so long’.

“I think a similar thing happens when people leave and they go overseas for a bit and they feel like they’re leaving the industry train, because when you hop on the industry train, you hop on and you think every year I get slightly better, and you make these little milestones and you slowly work your way up. And when you take a break from that, it really truly feels like you’ve stepped off the train and the train keeps going,” Stent said.

“And you think to yourself, how am I ever gonna get back on? And I think it takes a lot of strength, but also like a lack of ego in a really good way because I know some people don’t come back because they’re like ‘I won’t be as good as I could have been’.”

Howells said that a quote by Franklin Roosevelt helped her get back into the game. “He said it’s really easy to sit in the stands and be a critic, but I would always rather be the gladiator in the arena, even when I’m face down in the dirt - ‘cause I know that I’m trying, and I’m out there. And that was what I told myself when I came back. I was like, you are,the gladiator in the arena, and even if this goes badly, then like, you tried, you came back and that’s massive.

“Turns out I was pretty crack-up this whole time!” she joked.

Listen to the latest episode of Billy T’ Billy for more from Abby and Brynley on the theatrical side of their comedy, the rising strength of New Zealand comedy, and the record number of women winning the Billy T Award.

You can listen to this episode of Billy T’ Billy and the back catalogue of interviews between previous nominees and winners on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.