Eli Matthewson performing in Whangārei as part of Laughs on Tour

Eli Matthewson appeared on Celebrity Treasure Island. Photo / TVNZ

Northland has been chosen as the location for some of the country’s top comedians to crack their jokes for their Laughs on Tour.

And it could be something to do with household comedian Eli Matthewson’s memories of the last time he performed here

“I’ve only performed in href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/topic/whangarei/" target="_blank">Whangārei once before but, honestly, it was one of the best gigs of my entire life. It was the best audience and everyone was in a great mood. I don’t know what it was, there was just something in the air that night,” he recalls of his 2017 Forum North gig.

The 35-year-old is hoping Northland audiences will bring the same kind of energy to the Whangārei and Kerikeri shows on Friday and Saturday, July 12-13, respectively.

He describes the two-hour comedy showcase as having a “real killer line-up” featuring What We Do in the Shadows star and 7 Days regular Cori Gonzalez-Macuer, writer, improviser and comedian Lesa Macleod-Whiting, popular Wellington comedian, MC and comedy producer Jerome Chandrahasen, local comedy talent Kipling DC, as well as himself, Have You Been Paying Attention?, Dancing with the Stars and 7 Days star Matthewson, who will also be hosting.

“I’ll be there across the night popping up and down and I’ll be talking about all sorts of things that have been happening at the moment, like, me and my boyfriend bought a house and people have already tried to rob us four times,” he said.

Matthewson’s material derives from his everyday life, during which he jots down notes on a phone app or notebook. Then, at a regular meet with comedian friends, they hash their notes out into jokes before performing them at five-minute free stand-up shows at bars around Auckland to gauge the response. From there he builds his content into a show.

Eli Matthewson describes the two-hour comedy showcase as having a “real killer line-up”.

“I’m always trying to find the funny side of everything,” he explains. “In every situation, I’m always trying to search for something witty. Then I try to cram as many jokes into every sentence as I can. The aim is to keep it as short as possible.”

Growing up in Christchurch, Matthewson was the funny guy at school who was always mucking around with drama kids and taking any opportunity to perform in front of the class, although, not, he emphasises, in a disruptive way.

“I was a goody-good. There were definitely a few occasions where I would crack a joke at the exact wrong time but, because I got my homework done on time, the teachers didn’t mind too much.”

He remembers his first comedy stint during a school speech, aged 8, where the teachers had provided a list of topics to select from. He ignored them and chose his own; roasting the Spice Girls. He knew it went well because the following year, a kid plagiarised his speech.

Lesa Macleod-Whiting

He believes being one of five kids and the only boy also put him in a position where he liked to show off. Matthewson was 21 when he revealed to the family he was gay, little knowing that, seven years later, his father too, having suppressed it for Matthewson’s upbringing, would come out. Such is his pride in his father’s courage to be himself, that his dad has featured heavily in his stand-up shows.

“I did one show that was mostly about him, so he came to see it six times.”

Matthewson was pursuing a career in serious acting by undertaking a course at Unitec when a friend convinced him to see a comedy show and his path swayed. His comedy career was already taking off before he graduated and, soon after, he appeared on the likes of Jono and Ben, Shortland Street, Funny Girls and Celebrity Treasure Island, as well as presenting and hosting TVNZ’s music show U-Live and the radio’s The Edge Breakfast. He has won awards at various festivals, including the prestigious Fred Award, and was twice a nominee for the Billy T award.

One of his most popular moments was after a comedy gala where he poked fun at the real estate agent awards, the content of which was later used by real estate agents in their advertising. He took it with the same attitude as the primary school plagiarism — “Imitation is the best flattery”.

Cori Gonzalez-Macuer

Cori Gonzalez-Macuer, who will be starring alongside Matthewson at Laughs on Tour, has a career spanning over 20 years and his unique brand of self-deprecating observational and deadpan comedy has earned him the Billy T Award and an appearance in Wellington Paranormal.

Lesa Macleod-Whiting’s stand-up career began in 2020 when she went on the same year to become a finalist at the Wellington Raw Comedy Quest and win Best Newcomer at the Wellington Comedy Awards. Jerome Chandrahasen is a regular performer at the NZ Comedy Fest, where he recently performed at the Comedy Gala and hosted The Comedy Mixtape. He also regularly performs around the country, and has taken his shows to the Edinburgh Fringe and NZ Fringe.

Jerome Chandrahasen

Rounding out the line-up is local comedy talent Kipling DC (Ngāpuhi) hailing from Whangārei. Known for his fast-paced humorous action and killer twists, he won Best Joke at the 2020 Wellington Comedy Awards, and considers himself the fourth-best comedian to come out of Whangārei Boys High School after Billy T James, and two others.

Says Matthewson: “It’s a really fun variety and its own sort of comedy gala. It’s gonna be an awesome show!”

Laughs on Tour kicks off with Friday Laughs on July 12 at 8pm at OneOneSix, Whangārei, followed by Saturday Laughs on July 13 at 8pm at Turner Centre in Kerikeri. Tickets are $30 plus a booking fee, and can be obtained from Eventfinda. R-16.