A) Alice Snedden
Alice Snedden could be considered Larry David to Rose Matafeo’s Jerry Seinfeld. After a five-year stand-up hiatus, the collaborator on Matafeo’s excellent romcom Starstruck steps back into the spotlight with Highly Credible.
B) Billy T
Hoping to take home the famous Billy T Award and its yellow towel this year are nominees Advait Kirtikar, Lana Walters, Liv McKenzie, Rhiannon McCall and Tough Tiger Fist. That will be announced at Last Laughs on May 26 at the end of the festival, as will the winner of the Fred Award for best show.
C) Culture Wars
For those fighting the good fight in the culture wars here comes the cavalry. In this live edition of The Guilty Feminist podcast, British comedian and host Deborah Frances-White and Aotearoa’s own Michèle A’Court put the world to rights with a run of special guests.
D) Doctors
Bafta-winner Dr Adam Kay talks about his life and medical career, which inspired the bestselling and television-adapted memoir This is Going to Hurt. In Science is No Joke, Auckland University chemistry lecturer-turned-media star Dr Joel Rindelaub tutors on using science to improve your partying potential.
E) Everything
A stand-up who seems to be everywhere in Australia, Tom Cashman covers everything in Everything. As everything consists of many things, squeezing every single thing into Everything’s single hour is a big ask. Advance reviews suggest the Taskmaster Australia funnyman succeeds, which is no small thing.
F) F-word, spiders
In a past show, Guy Montgomery had a routine pondering the arachnid Australian adage, “I’m not here to fuck spiders”, suggesting there was someone who would show up to do just that. Comedy fest veteran and Australian Heath Franklin, aka Chopper, insists it wasn’t him, titling his new show Not Here to F*ck Spiders. Montgomery has moved on to a new show, 50,000,000 Guy Fans Can’t Be Wrong. We are assuming some of that number are actually insects.
G) Gala
The 2024 Best Foods Comedy Gala, at Auckland’s Aotea Centre on May 3 and Wellington’s Opera House the following night, gives the most comedic bang for your buck. Award-winning comedian Chris Parker hosts the event and 17 of the festival’s highest-profile comedians, including Melanie Bracewell, Pax Assadi and Hayley Sproull (see X) perform short, sharp sets. The result screens on Three, May 9 & 16, 8.30pm, and streams on ThreeNow.
H) Home
Home may be where the heart is but what if you have two homes? In ImmHaHagrants, five comics (Dec McHale, Annie Guo, Elisa Bonnafous, Henry Cheung and Summer Xia) grapple with this question as they talk about adapting to life in Aotearoa.
I) Ireland
Irishman Ed Byrne has appeared in New Zealand so many times he now qualifies for citizenship. He’s performing his new show Tragedy Plus Time. Countryman Alan McElroy details his youthful shenanigans and his midlife ADHD diagnosis in Mad Innit?, and in Ready, Steady, David O’Doherty, another Irish returnee puts the minutiae of life under the microscope and sings a few songs.
J) Jed Parsons
Indie-pop musician Jed Parsons swerves into comedy with the unseasonal A Very ‘Jed Parsons’ Christmas. Described as a “multi-sensory shit show”, it sounds like Christmas with the in-laws.
K) Kids
Children can get in on the laughs with The Chuckle Monsters. These fluffy, technicolour puppets are the Fest’s answer to Sesame Street, only instead of teaching kids the alphabet, the Chuckle Monsters will teach them about improv comedy. Nobody tell David Seymour.
L) Lactose tolerance
Scottish comedian and panel show regular Fern Brady serves up I Gave You Milk to Drink. Gulp down her absurdist tales about magic mushrooms, being labelled “an inspirational autistic” and escaping comedy to run a goat farm in Greece.
M) #Mumlife
In Don’t Lick That, Billy T nominee Lana Walters discards the soiled nappy that is motherhood. Parents will find her terrible tales of toughing out the toddler years relatable. Non-parents will likely be put off the idea of parenthood forever.
N) Nightmares
Billy T winner Brynley Stent finds the funny in the frightening with Pus Goose. You may honk with laughter as she relives and deconstructs her recurring dream of being hunted by a grotesque bird.
O) Orgies
Group entanglements, flavoured condoms and the Titanic are some of the sex-positive topics covered in award-winning Scottish stand-up David Stuart’s show Good Breeding. The Titanic also floats to the surface in Iceberg Bigboat, in which improv troupe Big Reel recreate James Cameron’s Oscar-winning disaster epic Titanic entirely from memory.
P) Pub singalong
Undoubtedly one of the festival’s more intriguing – or painful – propositions is Pub Choir: Chaotic Good. This show transforms its entire audience – yes, including you – into a three-part choir that will learn how to belt out a song in harmonious unison within 90 minutes. Ear plugs optional.
Q) Queen
Laura Daniel splits from her and hubby Joseph Moore’s musical comedy duo Two Hearts to perform her first solo stand-up show in seven years. Despite the lack of musical accompaniment, its title Can You Smell That? Must be a Queen Going Off! proves she still intends to rock you.
R) Rhyses’ pieces
Between the two of them, the two Rhyses – Mathewson and Nicholson – are putting on four separate shows. Huge Big Party Congratulations is Aussie Nicholson’s follow-up to the award-winning Rhys! Rhys! Rhys! Nicholson is also hosting the aforementioned Last Laughs (see B). Meanwhile, it’s not the first comedy-fest rodeo for Billy T and Fred winner Mathewson; it’s his 10th, hence titling his show 10th Rodeo. Mathewson also hosts Surlibor, a gameshow with 10 comedians competing for $1000 in a format that resembles a certain survival reality franchise but not quite as outdoors.
S) Seven Days
Jeremy Corbett and his bemused eyebrow return for an international edition of the beloved panel show 7 Days. Locals Dai Henwood, Hayley Sproull and Melanie Bracewell take on foreigners Chopper (Aus), Olga Koch (UK) and Ian Smith (UK).
T) Te Radar
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before – Te Radar celebrates 30 years in comedy with Retrospectacle. He’ll dust off a different, award-winning docu-comedy each night so you could hear routines about being high (2022′s Intoxicana), being cold (2010′s Antarcticana) or being shot at (2005′s Timor ODDyssey).
U) Umbers, Becky
For more information, go to Z.
V) Voltron
Combing their powers like a comedic Voltron, the equally lateral-minded Abby Howells and Angella Dravid have joined forces for The Improfessionals, a show that slots together story, improv and stand-up.
W) Williams, Guy
Guy Williams comes out swinging with This Glasshouse Makes it Easy to See All the Cowards I’m Throwing Stones At. If his brilliant satirical show New Zealand Today (streaming on ThreeNow) proved anything, it’s that he does not miss.
X) X-Rated
Hayley Sproull gets hot and heavy in her blush-inducing show, Wild Flutters. She’ll ruminate on her younger years scouring the library for X-rated books, the sexual power of centaurs and detail how vintage French erotica led to her sexual awakening. There will be no baking.
Y) You don’t have to be crazy to work here but …
The humble office forms the corporate hub of several Fest shows. The award-winning Different Party is about two office workers surviving the day, H.R. The Musical is a cheery rebrand of the hellspawn department, and Tom Sainsbury explores office politics in The Man with the Cup from the Staffroom.
Z) Zoology
Ella Sussex, zoologist, and Becky Umbers, bird-like comedian, host Comedians vs Animals, a quiz show that pits two teams of comedians against each other in a fierce battle of animal trivia. Educational and fun? Nobody tell David Seymour.
The NZ International Comedy Festival runs in Auckland and Wellington throughout May. For more info, go to comedyfestival.co.nz