New Zealand’s rising comics: Nominees announced for Billy T Award 2025

The 2025 Billy T Award nominees (from L-R): David Stuart, Hoani Hotene, Lesa-MacLeod-Whiting, Itay Dom and Booth the Clown & Jak Darling. Photos / Supplied. Composite by NZ Herald.

For the second year in a row, six performers have been selected to contend for New Zealand’s most prestigious comedy prize, the Billy T Award.

The award, named after iconic Kiwi comedian Billy T James, is given out to the best rising star in the New Zealand comedy scene.

The nominees for 2025 are David Stuart, Hoani Hotene, Itay Dom, Lesa MacLeod-Whiting, and duo Booth the Clown and Jak Darling.

They were selected from a group of 17 that performed in a showcase at the Civic Theatre on Saturday night.

Stuart is a Scottish expat who has been in New Zealand since 2021, and describes himself as an “internationally obscure pre-celebrity” and a “criminally unappreciated cultural icon”.

Hotene is the 2022 winner of the NZ Raw Comedy Quest competition, and has twice won Breakthrough Comedian at the NZ Comedy Guild, alongside a nomination this year for Best Newcomer at the Comedy Festival.

Dom is known as an opening act for local comedians, but performed his solo show, Crowd Pleaser, at this year’s festival. He also was a contestant on the second season of The Bachelorette.

MacLeod-Whiting is the co-founder of improv company Tiny Dog, and was nominated for her debut solo show at the 2023 Comedy Festival. She debuted at the Comedy Gala in Wellington this year.

Booth and Jak are described as “unapologetically queer” genderfluid performers, and recently performed together at the Auckland Fringe Festival. Jak was a Best Newcomer nominee this year for their solo debut show.

In a change from recent years, this year’s nominees are predominantly Wellington based.

New Zealand Comedy Trust chief executive Lauren Whitney said a Billy T Award nomination was ”a key career milestone, and we can’t wait for audiences to experience their talent at next year’s NZ International Comedy Festival”.

All five acts will perform hour-long shows at the International Comedy Festival in Auckland and Wellington in May.

The award was founded in 1997, with Cal Wilson and Ewen Gilmour the inaugural winners.

Winners since then have included international success stories Rose Matafeo, Jemaine Clement, Taika Waititi, Guy Montgomery and Melanie Bracewell.

After a decade passed without a female winner, the last six winners of the award have all been women, including Abby Howells and reigning winner Lana Walters.

Howells serves on the judging panel this year, alongside Jane Yonge, Rob Brown, Paul Douglas, Maria Deere and Jerome Chandrahasen.