Dai Henwood is ready to make Kiwis laugh this comedy festival season.
Dai Henwood is ready to make Kiwis laugh this comedy festival season.
The NZ Comedy Festival Gala is returning to Christchurch this May for the first time in nearly 10 years, while the full festival line-up for Auckland and Wellington has also announced.
Kiwi comedian Dai Henwood ONZM will be a host at the festival’s three opening Galas, taking place in Auckland,Wellington, and Christchurch.
Henwood, who was diagnosed with stage 4 bowel cancer in 2020 and went public with the news in 2023, recently completed the 7 Days Live tour last year while undergoing chemotherapy.
“I find laughter so healing, and that’s why I always think laughter is what I need most in the hardest situations,” he told the Herald last year.
Henwood is among the 150 local and international performers who will take to the stage at this year’s festival.
Among them are Henwood’s fellow 7 Days castmate Paul Ego, Snapchat comedian and podcaster Tom Sainsbury, NZ Today host Guy Williams, and ZM’s Hayley Sproull.
NZ Today host Guy Williams will perform stand up. Photo / Matt Klitcher
Last year’s Best International act joint winners Elouise Eftos and Rosco McClellan will also return for shows, as well as festival favourite Chopper (Heath Franklin) and Nazeem Hussain from across the ditch.
Jake Lambert, Jessie Nixon, Emmanuel Sonubi, Sashi Perera, Elf Lyons, Benny Feldman, Ed Night, Tarang Hardikar and Sofie Hagen are among other international acts heading to New Zealand for the festival.
For the second year, Justine Smith will host B***h Better Have My Funny, which celebrates women and non-binary comedians. Comedy Central’s Bouncers star Joe Daymond will also host Joe Daymond’s Comedy Mixtape.
At the end of the festival, Auckland’s SkyCity Theatre will host the Last Laughs Awards Gala, with Guy Mont Spelling Bee host Guy Montgomery at the helm. This will give audiences the chance to see the Billy T and Fred Award nominees before the winners are announced.
Award-winning comedian Elouise Eftos also returns to the festival.
Those on the outskirts of Wellington will also be in for a laugh, because for the first time, the NZ Comedy Trust is expanding even further, with Comedy Fest in Petone every Friday and Saturday and Comedy Fest in Porirua every Sunday. More Comedy Trust shows will also be announced in the coming weeks.
The festival runs from May 1-24, with the full programme live and on sale now.
More information on dates and locations can be found at comedyfestival.co.nz.
Mitchell Hageman joined the Herald’s entertainment and lifestyle team in 2024. He previously worked as a multimedia journalist for Hawke’s Bay Today.
