Billy T’ Billy: Dai Henwood, Justine Smith and Irene Pink on NZ comedy in the 00s

Host Rhys Mathewson, right, Irene Pink, Justine Smith and Dai Henwood on this week's episode of Billy T' Billy. Photo / NZ Herald

While we all know the many downsides to smoking cigarettes, there was a surprising benefit around the turn of the century for comedians looking to keep time - at least for award-winner Dai Henwood when he started out.

“I was taught how to measure the length of my set by Mike King. Say you come out and you’d light a cigarette, and then you put it down, and it takes seven minutes for a cigarette to burn when you’re not smoking it. So you take one puff, put it down, and then you’d know you’re halfway through your set when that cigarette finished.”

It’s just one of the insights into how comedy was back at the start of the 21st century - and how things have changed since - in the latest episode of Billy T’ Billy, the Herald’s comedy podcast.

This year marks 30 years since the first New Zealand International Comedy Festival - or the Auckland International Laugh Festival, as it was known originally. As part of the celebrations for this milestone, Billy T’ Billy will be spotlighting the festival for a special trio of episodes looking at how the festival was formed and how comedy has changed during that time.

For this week’s episode, host Rhys Mathewson is joined by Dai Henwood, Justine Smith and Irene Pink to talk all things comedy from 2003 - a few years before cigarettes were banned in restaurants and public spaces - to 2013, from the rise of new venues to the increasing presence of international comedians visiting the country.

The 00s also marked a grim milestone for the Comedy Festival. After Smith won the Billy T Award in 2003, it was not won by another woman until Rose Matafeo did in 2013, with few women nominated for the acclaimed prize in between.

Asked why it took a decade for a woman to win the rising star award, Smith said that the lack of women “bred itself”.

“Other women didn’t like coming to the space where they were they were the only one, and because there weren’t many of us, we would get spaced out. So I hardly ever gigged with Irene or Michelle [A’Court] or Jan [Maree] or whatever, because we just wouldn’t be on the same lineups.”

Smith said that while she didn’t personally have a problem with it and was able to compartmentalize a lot of the abuse directed her, she has come to realise that she was in an unique position.

“I’ve come to understand that I was lucky and I came through kind of - I wouldn’t say unscathed cause I had terrible shit said to me and terrible things done to me by male comics in a sexual gross way, but I was able to not let it stop me.

“And so what I say now to women is that it’s not about awards, it’s not about anything. It’s about being tenacious, but also being a unit.”

Pink said that women were basically a “novelty act” during that period because there were so few of them that they stood out because of their gender.

She added that the “aggressive” side of standup comedy - “it’s basically you are saying, I’m funny and I’m gonna make you laugh” - adds to the off-putting nature of the role.

“A lot of women aren’t attracted to that, which is why lots of women start off as characters because it’s safer to be not yourself.”

For more from Dai, Justine and Irene on their Comedy Festival memories, listen to the full episode of Billy T’ Billy now.

Billy T’ Billy is a NZ Herald podcast celebrating local comedy, in partnership with the New Zealand International Comedy Festival. New episodes are out every Tuesday.

The festival is now on in Auckland and Wellington, and runs until May 28th.

You can follow the podcast at iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts and Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.