A FUNNY THING HAPPENED

Kiwi comedy has come of age, with an increasingly diverse collection of performers bringing our particular brand of humour to the world.

- MICHAEL BOTUR & RUSSELL BAILLIE

On television at least, it appears we have reached peak local comedy. On Wednesday nights on TVNZ 2, there’s a double dose of the export-quality sitcom – the fourth and final series of Wellington Paranormal and Rose Matafeo’s UK-made Starstruck. The following night, it’s the turn of hardy perennial panel show 7 Days on Three, in its new early-evening time slot with revamped teams, and on Prime, Pax Assadi’s new autobiographical sitcom, Raised by Refugees. On Friday, some of those familiar 7 Days faces are up the road on TVNZ 2’s own panel news quiz, Have You Been Paying Attention? This week, Rhys Darby and Taika Waititi’s LA-filmed pirate comedy Our Flag Means Death begins on HBO Max in the US – which has also been screening Paranormal and Starstruck – and on Sky TV’s Neon in this country. At home, Kiwi comedians are trying to sell us houses, burgers, yogurt and phone plans. The pandemic may have put paid to two annual comedy festivals and affected the live stand-up scene and corporate circuit, but those who have got a foot in the door on local television would appear to be thriving. They’re putting the ’tainment in infotainment shows such as Seven Sharp and The Project, or juggling their telly gigs with radio and podcast careers. Comedy in New Zealand, it seems, has become a serious business. It’s also undergoing both a generational and cultural shift. Two hours to midnight on Queen Street, Auck-land. It’s January, the moon is nearly full and the twentysomethings filling comedy club The Classic are forking over $15 each, which buys you two hours and 10 comedians.