May 11, 2026 • 12 mins
This morning Billy T nominee, mother and comedian Samantha Hannah joins Nick in studio.
Her new show Peekaboo! starts tonight at Bats for the NZ International Comedy Festival.
Currently 7 months pregnant with an 18-month-old, Samantha has bought her experience with motherhood into her stand up.
Samantha and Nick talk identity, preshow rituals and anxiety, and balancing parenthood, having a full-time job and stand up. And how does it feel getting nominated for a Billy T Award?
The NZ International Comedy Festival brings live comedy to Wellington till May 24th. Samantha's show runs from tonight to Sat 16th May. Get tickets here.
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Speaker 1 (00:07):
You're listening to the Wellington Mornings podcast with Nick Mills
from News Talk said be We've been.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Joined by a Billy Tea nominee, which I've just told
her a story about Billy T. James because I knew
Billy T. James a little bit, an amazing guy, and
she's a mother, an accidental children's entertainer and one of
Wellington's funniest exports. Samantha Hannah joins us now in the studio,
Sam is it Samantha or is it sam?
Speaker 3 (00:32):
You can call me whereveryone people call me Sammy, but yes,
I'm Samantha Hannah when I'm on stage or what do
you prefer? Let's go Sami. It's too formal. That's what
my mom calls me when I'm in trouble, Samantha. So
let's just go with Sami.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
Okay, because I was going to say, I'm going to
call you Samantha. You have to call me Nicholas.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
All right, how do you feel about that?
Speaker 2 (00:48):
I feel like you'd be my mother.
Speaker 3 (00:49):
Yeah, the red go. So we'll just do neck and Sami.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
Okay, let's stick to it. Okay, Now, I mean you've
just had a baby not so long ago.
Speaker 3 (00:55):
Yeah, not too long ago. He's eighteen months now and
I've got another one on the way, so I'm dune
two months from our second.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
How the hell can you do? Stand up?
Speaker 1 (01:04):
I don't.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
We'll sit down sometimes, yes, just take a little seat
on the stage. But no, it's been great. It's been great.
And I kind of applied for the Ability Award before
I knew I was going to get pregnant, and so
it all just happened at the same time. And now, yeah,
what can you do? Just got go for I can
rest when the baby comes, Nick, I'll be fine.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
You can rest with the biby.
Speaker 3 (01:26):
I keep telling myself, I'm delusion, absolutely delusional at this point,
but it's the only thing that's keeping me going. But no,
it's been a lot of fun, and it has been
a distraction, which is quite good because sometimes the later months,
you know, they can drag a bit.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
Can you tell me how you meet your partner? Your
husband and married?
Speaker 3 (01:44):
We're actually not married, but I did meet him when
I wrote a show called How to Find a Husband
in a Year, So it's quite a fun. It's a
it's a fun point that we're not officially married, but
we're I mean we may as well be. But yes,
So I was trying to find a husband in a
year as a joke. It was all for materials for
a show, and I started saying yes to everyone on
you know, the dating apps. It was Tinder at the time.
And I was in New Zealand. I was doing a
(02:05):
working holiday here and I was in Wellington just for
a few weeks, and he was actually in London. So
we're twelve thousand miles apart, and we matched because he
was thinking about moving back here and he thought, I'll
just see what's out there, so he set his settings
to Wellington and I just said yes because I was
saying yes to everyone because I was trying to write
a show. I was looking for material.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
And we're also looking for a husband.
Speaker 3 (02:24):
No, that was that was a very tug in cheek.
It was the concert of the show. But I wouldn't
say I was really.
Speaker 2 (02:31):
Died anyone else when they came up.
Speaker 3 (02:33):
Yeah, heaps of people, but I mean there was a
lot of funny stories involved. But then anyway, so we
met and across the different sides of the world and
started chatting, and I went back to the UK to
meet him in real life and we've been together ever since.
So when I moved back to the UK, I went
and moved in with him. We were there for a
couple of years and he said I want to move
back to New Zealand and I went, well, I've been
there before, I liked it, let's go. So we moved
(02:56):
here about five years ago, and now we have a kid,
we've got another one on the way. I'm still doing
comedy off the back of that show, so it's all
worked out pretty well.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
Yeah. I don't want to say on any type thing
like sexes because I'm not. I'm not that guy at all, right,
And a woman can do anything and I, you know,
including have children, but still up comic and motherhood. How
does that work well for me?
Speaker 3 (03:19):
It's been great because I mean what I've done stand
up for years. I did it in the UK. I
gave up for a while, I came back to it
and then I moved to New Zealand and that's when
I started taking it really seriously because I love the
scene here. I think, especially in Wellington. I think we've
got some amazing acts here and so I love comedy.
But I'd always worry about it or i'd get in
my head or you get nerves. And then I had
a baby, and I think it's now just that is
(03:41):
much scarier being responsible for another life that getting up
on stage and chatting to people for an hour.
Speaker 1 (03:47):
It isn't.
Speaker 3 (03:48):
So it's given me a whole new kind of way
of talking on stage, being on stage, and so I
think I find even more joy from it now. Also
it's nice to get the baby in bed and go
all right, I can go and do something for myself now.
So I think it gave me my identity back quicker
as well after having a kid, because I could get
on stage and process a lot of it by telling
jokes about it.
Speaker 2 (04:06):
I've said before when I said you were coming into
the to our audience, I said to them that I
wonder you know, tonight's your show? Your show? You know
it starts tonight night. Yeah, and you're in here today.
Now that's weird. What's your what's your pre show routine?
Speaker 3 (04:21):
Well, I'm actually doing packing at the moment, so I've
just left my director and a producer at the theater
while they help pack in for me. Even though I'm
not there, it's fine to pop into this interview. So really,
I've got three hours today to put it together with
the tech for the first time ever, and then I'd
go on tonight. But so yeah, that's the process. The process.
Usually with the festival, you're kind of running it in
the space the same day that you're doing it for real.
Speaker 2 (04:43):
Do you do it like a sound check and get
a field you stand up, they'd say a couple of
jokes and nobody and like laugh at yourself and.
Speaker 3 (04:49):
Yeah, you kind of have to do it a little bit.
But that's the worst part of it because it's not real.
And I think that's the beauty of stand up is
whatever happens today, if things go wrong, if it doesn't.
It's such an easy medium. It's just you in a
make so you can just react to that.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
Have you had those days where you know, I do.
I have them on this show where I think, wow,
it's a great topic and you're starting and it's just blur.
Speaker 3 (05:09):
Usually you'd get that out before tonight, So those will
be the open mic nights while you'll be trying the
idea for the first time and see if it sticks.
I've done a lot of them, so although I've never
done the show before, lots of the material I've been
running for the last six months to year, trying it
at different open mic nights or different professional nights, trying
it all get in it together, so I know the material.
I know the material works. Does it work with the
(05:30):
tech and the order that I've decided to put it
on for a whole hour tonight? Don't know. We'll find
out tonight. I'm going to find out in real time
the same time my audience does.
Speaker 2 (05:36):
I mean, I always get thoughts of getting stuck. Do
you ever get stuck? You've said this jart before and
New Plymouth and it's everyone's laughing and laughing. I know
that's going to work. I've got that one, and then
you do it and it's.
Speaker 3 (05:50):
Stayed absolutely and funny. You say that because New Plymouth
are They're fantastic. Audiences are really like New Plymouth. They've
got a really good sense of humor up there. But yes,
you'll do a joke probably that works in New Plymouth.
You'll take it somewhere else and it might not just
hit and you never know, but that's what's so fun
about it. And then you'll figure your way out of it.
And I think this is you get more experienced, you
kind of can see the crowd, you can respond to it,
and you can change if it's not work, and hopefully
(06:11):
you've got another bit of material that you can go.
I think they'll like this more. And sometimes it's just
not going to go your way, and that's fine.
Speaker 2 (06:16):
I suffer from any sort of anxiety or any sort
of news.
Speaker 3 (06:20):
Yeah I do, especially before like a big show like tonight,
you do because you're like, is it going to work?
But I think if you do, If you do, say
hopefully by next week when I take it up to Auckland,
I'll be like, I've done this five times now, I
kind of know where I'm going with it, but yeah,
tonight I'll be an absolute mess. I remember the first
time I ever performed in front of my partner, my
Kywi partner, that how I ended up moving here. He
saw me, but itore the Edinburgh Finge Festival, and I
(06:42):
was crying and nearly thrown up in the taxi on
the way. And he'd never seen me do comedy before
and he was going, oh my gosh, this is she's
going to be all riot light. He was genuinely a
bit worried and thinking, oh, this is going to be
a disaster. And then because he saw what a mess
I was. And then as soon as I come out
on stage, oh, I'm fine, And he couldn't believe the change.
It's showtime and you just you get the adrenaline. Adrenaline
helps you quite a bit, and he couldn't believe it.
(07:03):
And he was really relieved because he had quite a
few friends coming hiss off, she's funny, and so he
was quite pleasantly surprised.
Speaker 2 (07:09):
He did.
Speaker 3 (07:10):
He's a really, he's a really. He's a big supporter
of my comedy and he will be there tonight, which
is nice because he doesn't get to see my comedy
as often anymore because, you know, having kids, he's he's
doing a lot of bed times at the moment. Yes
about it, Yeah, peekaboo. So I wrote it when I
was on maternity leave. I've got a full time job
as well, so I had to write it before I
went back to work, and so came back to comedy,
came back to work, and also trying to balance having
(07:32):
a kid and now being pregnant as well. And I
always come back to the fact that, yeah, I'm entertaining
my son at home all day and he's a lot
easier than some of the adult audience. He's he'll just
literally laugh at Peekaboo. And so it started making me think,
how can I create a show from my peers that
gives him the same kind of joy that you can
give a kid. And so that's where the idea came from.
(07:52):
And he thinks I'm hilarious, and I'm like, I can
how can I make my audience at night react in
the same way? And so that's where the idea started,
and it's I've since remembered how to talk to adults again.
I have re entered society. So it is good. It's
quite a grown up show, but I hope it retains
a bit of joy. So I like to say, if
you've had a baby, you'll totally relate, But as long
as you've been a baby, it'll be fine. So it's
not just for adults and parents.
Speaker 2 (08:14):
Sort of comedy, is it?
Speaker 1 (08:15):
Is it?
Speaker 2 (08:16):
I mean, you know what sort of comedy?
Speaker 3 (08:18):
So I do stand up. I do stand up. I
tell jokes, and I've said sixteen plus. I think if
you're sixteen and your parents are all right, when you
come in, there will be a few words in there,
and there'll be a few content warnings, but it's it's
for most people, but it's not for kids.
Speaker 2 (08:35):
What about the social media connection with comedy. I mean
it's messing, isn't it. I mean everyone's standley being a
fan of comedy again because of social media, aren't they.
Speaker 3 (08:46):
Yeah. Yeah, it's been huge, and I think it's actually
kind of reignited it a lot. I think people are
coming out again because they see these clips online, especially
if it's a bit crowd work, and they go I
want to experience that. They get the phoemo and you know,
you can sit on your phone, you can scroll, you
can see something funny, but it's not the same as
being in a room and having that live experience. So
I think people seeing online has made people come out
to the theater. I mean, I'm I've only got three
(09:07):
tickets left for tonight tomorrow night. I've only got about
eight tickets left. Like we're selling out in Wellington on
a midweek. I'm doing five nights, Yeah, five nights here,
five nights Auckland. So there's obviously an appetite for live comedy.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
But tell us a little bit about that festival. I mean,
how big is the festival? I mean, how many x
are on.
Speaker 3 (09:24):
Do you know what, I don't think I've got the
numbers off the top of my head, but there'll be
quite a few. So I'm over at Bat's Theater. I
think tonight there'll be about six or seven shows probably
going on in that theater alone. You've got other venues,
so in Wellington you've got Fringe Bor there'll be a
couple of shows going on there. So it goes on
for three weeks in Wellington and Auckland at the same time,
and pretty much from Tuesday through to Saturday there'll be
(09:47):
people doing their main shows and then you also get
kind of line up shows as well on the Sunday
nights in different places, so there's heap. So if you've
ever thought, oh, I do you know, I've not seen
comedy in a while, just go on the Comedy fest
website comedy.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
If you ever heard of a guy called Dive, you
Irish comedian, your grandfather, it's the early comedian I've ever
seen live. I mean, is it fun?
Speaker 3 (10:10):
Is it so much fun? And I think people don't
realize how much how much talent there is in New Zealand.
A lot of New Zealand acts end up being massive
overseas because they're so good, and I think not everyone
realizes that here, and so I would definitely say if
you do like comedy, go and see what's happening locally
in Wellington or Auckland, because there is a lot out there.
And yeah, the festival is the place to see. It's
(10:32):
all curated, so no one that's going to be on
is just on by chance. Everyone's been chosen to be
part of this festival, which hopefully means that they'll be
able to put on a good show for you.
Speaker 2 (10:39):
Have you done Wellrington before?
Speaker 3 (10:40):
Yeah, I've done Wellington before. I've done Auckland before, so
looking forward to doing But Wellington's my hometown, you know,
I live here, so it's a bit of a home crowd.
And then I got but when I got to Aukland,
because I'm doing the Ability te Award, that's where I'm judged,
so I don't get to get I don't not judged
on homework. But that's fine. I've got five days to
kind of boost the show.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
Here and I'm really curious. I mean, how big a
deal is it for you? The Billy Ty Award. I
mean it's it's sort of common down as the classic
comedian A War New Zealand. Where were you when you
first found out that you were in the finals?
Speaker 3 (11:10):
Yeah, so I was. I remember I was at home
and they usually they phone you straight away after the showcase,
and they didn't phone until after I think it was
twelve pm. So I thought, well, I've definitely not got
it because they phoned the winners far the nominees first,
and then they phoned everyone else that didn't get through after,
and I thought, well, it's too late, it's a no.
But because it was so tight this year, the judges,
I think I had to reconvene and get back together.
That's why it was so delayed. So I was sitting
(11:32):
there waiting by the phone, staring at the phone, and
I accepted I didn't get in, It's fine. And then
when I got the call, I honestly couldn't believe. It
was are you sure?
Speaker 2 (11:39):
Are you sure?
Speaker 3 (11:40):
Why are you phoning me so late? What you doing
to my nerves? But I knew about the competition before
I moved to New Zealand, even when I was in
the UK. It really does. It goes out of this country.
It is a big deal. So yeah, I was really excited.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
And I mean for my part the billed tea game,
I mean bullied t himself because I knew they go. Yeah, incredible.
It's incredible that his name carries on because you know,
even on Instagram you see still clips and he's still
you know, in New Zealand's Greatest, So they have him
in there. When you win it, can you think of
me because I'll be rooting for you.
Speaker 3 (12:09):
Oh, thank you, And I really.
Speaker 2 (12:11):
Hope the show goes well. Peekyboo. The show's called It's
on bets tonight and see it for five nights. It's
been a real pleasure meeting you. Break a leg tonight
and good luck with the second baby. You're my hero
two under, two under full time job at a comedian.
That's the laugh at itself.
Speaker 3 (12:31):
That the only way I can get through is by
laughing at it to be honest. So yeah, we need
That's why we need jalks, don't we? Just to coop.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
We've got to have some fun in life, don't we. Gosh,
you're my new hero. Samantha Hannah shows on tonight, Peeky Boo.
Get along. Oh it's only two tickets left, so you
better be bloody quick.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
For more from Wellington Mornings with Nick Mills. Listen live
to news talks It'd be Wellington from nine am weekdays,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio
You're listening to the Wellington Mornings podcast with Nick Mills
from News Talk said be We've been.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Joined by a Billy Tea nominee, which I've just told
her a story about Billy T. James because I knew
Billy T. James a little bit, an amazing guy, and
she's a mother, an accidental children's entertainer and one of
Wellington's funniest exports. Samantha Hannah joins us now in the studio,
Sam is it Samantha or is it sam?
Speaker 3 (00:32):
You can call me whereveryone people call me Sammy, but yes,
I'm Samantha Hannah when I'm on stage or what do
you prefer? Let's go Sami. It's too formal. That's what
my mom calls me when I'm in trouble, Samantha. So
let's just go with Sami.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
Okay, because I was going to say, I'm going to
call you Samantha. You have to call me Nicholas.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
All right, how do you feel about that?
Speaker 2 (00:48):
I feel like you'd be my mother.
Speaker 3 (00:49):
Yeah, the red go. So we'll just do neck and Sami.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
Okay, let's stick to it. Okay, Now, I mean you've
just had a baby not so long ago.
Speaker 3 (00:55):
Yeah, not too long ago. He's eighteen months now and
I've got another one on the way, so I'm dune
two months from our second.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
How the hell can you do? Stand up?
Speaker 1 (01:04):
I don't.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
We'll sit down sometimes, yes, just take a little seat
on the stage. But no, it's been great. It's been great.
And I kind of applied for the Ability Award before
I knew I was going to get pregnant, and so
it all just happened at the same time. And now, yeah,
what can you do? Just got go for I can
rest when the baby comes, Nick, I'll be fine.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
You can rest with the biby.
Speaker 3 (01:26):
I keep telling myself, I'm delusion, absolutely delusional at this point,
but it's the only thing that's keeping me going. But no,
it's been a lot of fun, and it has been
a distraction, which is quite good because sometimes the later months,
you know, they can drag a bit.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
Can you tell me how you meet your partner? Your
husband and married?
Speaker 3 (01:44):
We're actually not married, but I did meet him when
I wrote a show called How to Find a Husband
in a Year, So it's quite a fun. It's a
it's a fun point that we're not officially married, but
we're I mean we may as well be. But yes,
So I was trying to find a husband in a
year as a joke. It was all for materials for
a show, and I started saying yes to everyone on
you know, the dating apps. It was Tinder at the time.
And I was in New Zealand. I was doing a
(02:05):
working holiday here and I was in Wellington just for
a few weeks, and he was actually in London. So
we're twelve thousand miles apart, and we matched because he
was thinking about moving back here and he thought, I'll
just see what's out there, so he set his settings
to Wellington and I just said yes because I was
saying yes to everyone because I was trying to write
a show. I was looking for material.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
And we're also looking for a husband.
Speaker 3 (02:24):
No, that was that was a very tug in cheek.
It was the concert of the show. But I wouldn't
say I was really.
Speaker 2 (02:31):
Died anyone else when they came up.
Speaker 3 (02:33):
Yeah, heaps of people, but I mean there was a
lot of funny stories involved. But then anyway, so we
met and across the different sides of the world and
started chatting, and I went back to the UK to
meet him in real life and we've been together ever since.
So when I moved back to the UK, I went
and moved in with him. We were there for a
couple of years and he said I want to move
back to New Zealand and I went, well, I've been
there before, I liked it, let's go. So we moved
(02:56):
here about five years ago, and now we have a kid,
we've got another one on the way. I'm still doing
comedy off the back of that show, so it's all
worked out pretty well.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
Yeah. I don't want to say on any type thing
like sexes because I'm not. I'm not that guy at all, right,
And a woman can do anything and I, you know,
including have children, but still up comic and motherhood. How
does that work well for me?
Speaker 3 (03:19):
It's been great because I mean what I've done stand
up for years. I did it in the UK. I
gave up for a while, I came back to it
and then I moved to New Zealand and that's when
I started taking it really seriously because I love the
scene here. I think, especially in Wellington. I think we've
got some amazing acts here and so I love comedy.
But I'd always worry about it or i'd get in
my head or you get nerves. And then I had
a baby, and I think it's now just that is
(03:41):
much scarier being responsible for another life that getting up
on stage and chatting to people for an hour.
Speaker 1 (03:47):
It isn't.
Speaker 3 (03:48):
So it's given me a whole new kind of way
of talking on stage, being on stage, and so I
think I find even more joy from it now. Also
it's nice to get the baby in bed and go
all right, I can go and do something for myself now.
So I think it gave me my identity back quicker
as well after having a kid, because I could get
on stage and process a lot of it by telling
jokes about it.
Speaker 2 (04:06):
I've said before when I said you were coming into
the to our audience, I said to them that I
wonder you know, tonight's your show? Your show? You know
it starts tonight night. Yeah, and you're in here today.
Now that's weird. What's your what's your pre show routine?
Speaker 3 (04:21):
Well, I'm actually doing packing at the moment, so I've
just left my director and a producer at the theater
while they help pack in for me. Even though I'm
not there, it's fine to pop into this interview. So really,
I've got three hours today to put it together with
the tech for the first time ever, and then I'd
go on tonight. But so yeah, that's the process. The process.
Usually with the festival, you're kind of running it in
the space the same day that you're doing it for real.
Speaker 2 (04:43):
Do you do it like a sound check and get
a field you stand up, they'd say a couple of
jokes and nobody and like laugh at yourself and.
Speaker 3 (04:49):
Yeah, you kind of have to do it a little bit.
But that's the worst part of it because it's not real.
And I think that's the beauty of stand up is
whatever happens today, if things go wrong, if it doesn't.
It's such an easy medium. It's just you in a
make so you can just react to that.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
Have you had those days where you know, I do.
I have them on this show where I think, wow,
it's a great topic and you're starting and it's just blur.
Speaker 3 (05:09):
Usually you'd get that out before tonight, So those will
be the open mic nights while you'll be trying the
idea for the first time and see if it sticks.
I've done a lot of them, so although I've never
done the show before, lots of the material I've been
running for the last six months to year, trying it
at different open mic nights or different professional nights, trying
it all get in it together, so I know the material.
I know the material works. Does it work with the
(05:30):
tech and the order that I've decided to put it
on for a whole hour tonight? Don't know. We'll find
out tonight. I'm going to find out in real time
the same time my audience does.
Speaker 2 (05:36):
I mean, I always get thoughts of getting stuck. Do
you ever get stuck? You've said this jart before and
New Plymouth and it's everyone's laughing and laughing. I know
that's going to work. I've got that one, and then
you do it and it's.
Speaker 3 (05:50):
Stayed absolutely and funny. You say that because New Plymouth
are They're fantastic. Audiences are really like New Plymouth. They've
got a really good sense of humor up there. But yes,
you'll do a joke probably that works in New Plymouth.
You'll take it somewhere else and it might not just
hit and you never know, but that's what's so fun
about it. And then you'll figure your way out of it.
And I think this is you get more experienced, you
kind of can see the crowd, you can respond to it,
and you can change if it's not work, and hopefully
(06:11):
you've got another bit of material that you can go.
I think they'll like this more. And sometimes it's just
not going to go your way, and that's fine.
Speaker 2 (06:16):
I suffer from any sort of anxiety or any sort
of news.
Speaker 3 (06:20):
Yeah I do, especially before like a big show like tonight,
you do because you're like, is it going to work?
But I think if you do, If you do, say
hopefully by next week when I take it up to Auckland,
I'll be like, I've done this five times now, I
kind of know where I'm going with it, but yeah,
tonight I'll be an absolute mess. I remember the first
time I ever performed in front of my partner, my
Kywi partner, that how I ended up moving here. He
saw me, but itore the Edinburgh Finge Festival, and I
(06:42):
was crying and nearly thrown up in the taxi on
the way. And he'd never seen me do comedy before
and he was going, oh my gosh, this is she's
going to be all riot light. He was genuinely a
bit worried and thinking, oh, this is going to be
a disaster. And then because he saw what a mess
I was. And then as soon as I come out
on stage, oh, I'm fine, And he couldn't believe the change.
It's showtime and you just you get the adrenaline. Adrenaline
helps you quite a bit, and he couldn't believe it.
(07:03):
And he was really relieved because he had quite a
few friends coming hiss off, she's funny, and so he
was quite pleasantly surprised.
Speaker 2 (07:09):
He did.
Speaker 3 (07:10):
He's a really, he's a really. He's a big supporter
of my comedy and he will be there tonight, which
is nice because he doesn't get to see my comedy
as often anymore because, you know, having kids, he's he's
doing a lot of bed times at the moment. Yes
about it, Yeah, peekaboo. So I wrote it when I
was on maternity leave. I've got a full time job
as well, so I had to write it before I
went back to work, and so came back to comedy,
came back to work, and also trying to balance having
(07:32):
a kid and now being pregnant as well. And I
always come back to the fact that, yeah, I'm entertaining
my son at home all day and he's a lot
easier than some of the adult audience. He's he'll just
literally laugh at Peekaboo. And so it started making me think,
how can I create a show from my peers that
gives him the same kind of joy that you can
give a kid. And so that's where the idea came from.
(07:52):
And he thinks I'm hilarious, and I'm like, I can
how can I make my audience at night react in
the same way? And so that's where the idea started,
and it's I've since remembered how to talk to adults again.
I have re entered society. So it is good. It's
quite a grown up show, but I hope it retains
a bit of joy. So I like to say, if
you've had a baby, you'll totally relate, But as long
as you've been a baby, it'll be fine. So it's
not just for adults and parents.
Speaker 2 (08:14):
Sort of comedy, is it?
Speaker 1 (08:15):
Is it?
Speaker 2 (08:16):
I mean, you know what sort of comedy?
Speaker 3 (08:18):
So I do stand up. I do stand up. I
tell jokes, and I've said sixteen plus. I think if
you're sixteen and your parents are all right, when you
come in, there will be a few words in there,
and there'll be a few content warnings, but it's it's
for most people, but it's not for kids.
Speaker 2 (08:35):
What about the social media connection with comedy. I mean
it's messing, isn't it. I mean everyone's standley being a
fan of comedy again because of social media, aren't they.
Speaker 3 (08:46):
Yeah. Yeah, it's been huge, and I think it's actually
kind of reignited it a lot. I think people are
coming out again because they see these clips online, especially
if it's a bit crowd work, and they go I
want to experience that. They get the phoemo and you know,
you can sit on your phone, you can scroll, you
can see something funny, but it's not the same as
being in a room and having that live experience. So
I think people seeing online has made people come out
to the theater. I mean, I'm I've only got three
(09:07):
tickets left for tonight tomorrow night. I've only got about
eight tickets left. Like we're selling out in Wellington on
a midweek. I'm doing five nights, Yeah, five nights here,
five nights Auckland. So there's obviously an appetite for live comedy.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
But tell us a little bit about that festival. I mean,
how big is the festival? I mean, how many x
are on.
Speaker 3 (09:24):
Do you know what, I don't think I've got the
numbers off the top of my head, but there'll be
quite a few. So I'm over at Bat's Theater. I
think tonight there'll be about six or seven shows probably
going on in that theater alone. You've got other venues,
so in Wellington you've got Fringe Bor there'll be a
couple of shows going on there. So it goes on
for three weeks in Wellington and Auckland at the same time,
and pretty much from Tuesday through to Saturday there'll be
(09:47):
people doing their main shows and then you also get
kind of line up shows as well on the Sunday
nights in different places, so there's heap. So if you've
ever thought, oh, I do you know, I've not seen
comedy in a while, just go on the Comedy fest
website comedy.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
If you ever heard of a guy called Dive, you
Irish comedian, your grandfather, it's the early comedian I've ever
seen live. I mean, is it fun?
Speaker 3 (10:10):
Is it so much fun? And I think people don't
realize how much how much talent there is in New Zealand.
A lot of New Zealand acts end up being massive
overseas because they're so good, and I think not everyone
realizes that here, and so I would definitely say if
you do like comedy, go and see what's happening locally
in Wellington or Auckland, because there is a lot out there.
And yeah, the festival is the place to see. It's
(10:32):
all curated, so no one that's going to be on
is just on by chance. Everyone's been chosen to be
part of this festival, which hopefully means that they'll be
able to put on a good show for you.
Speaker 2 (10:39):
Have you done Wellrington before?
Speaker 3 (10:40):
Yeah, I've done Wellington before. I've done Auckland before, so
looking forward to doing But Wellington's my hometown, you know,
I live here, so it's a bit of a home crowd.
And then I got but when I got to Aukland,
because I'm doing the Ability te Award, that's where I'm judged,
so I don't get to get I don't not judged
on homework. But that's fine. I've got five days to
kind of boost the show.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
Here and I'm really curious. I mean, how big a
deal is it for you? The Billy Ty Award. I
mean it's it's sort of common down as the classic
comedian A War New Zealand. Where were you when you
first found out that you were in the finals?
Speaker 3 (11:10):
Yeah, so I was. I remember I was at home
and they usually they phone you straight away after the showcase,
and they didn't phone until after I think it was
twelve pm. So I thought, well, I've definitely not got
it because they phoned the winners far the nominees first,
and then they phoned everyone else that didn't get through after,
and I thought, well, it's too late, it's a no.
But because it was so tight this year, the judges,
I think I had to reconvene and get back together.
That's why it was so delayed. So I was sitting
(11:32):
there waiting by the phone, staring at the phone, and
I accepted I didn't get in, It's fine. And then
when I got the call, I honestly couldn't believe. It
was are you sure?
Speaker 2 (11:39):
Are you sure?
Speaker 3 (11:40):
Why are you phoning me so late? What you doing
to my nerves? But I knew about the competition before
I moved to New Zealand, even when I was in
the UK. It really does. It goes out of this country.
It is a big deal. So yeah, I was really excited.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
And I mean for my part the billed tea game,
I mean bullied t himself because I knew they go. Yeah, incredible.
It's incredible that his name carries on because you know,
even on Instagram you see still clips and he's still
you know, in New Zealand's Greatest, So they have him
in there. When you win it, can you think of
me because I'll be rooting for you.
Speaker 3 (12:09):
Oh, thank you, And I really.
Speaker 2 (12:11):
Hope the show goes well. Peekyboo. The show's called It's
on bets tonight and see it for five nights. It's
been a real pleasure meeting you. Break a leg tonight
and good luck with the second baby. You're my hero
two under, two under full time job at a comedian.
That's the laugh at itself.
Speaker 3 (12:31):
That the only way I can get through is by
laughing at it to be honest. So yeah, we need
That's why we need jalks, don't we? Just to coop.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
We've got to have some fun in life, don't we. Gosh,
you're my new hero. Samantha Hannah shows on tonight, Peeky Boo.
Get along. Oh it's only two tickets left, so you
better be bloody quick.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
For more from Wellington Mornings with Nick Mills. Listen live
to news talks It'd be Wellington from nine am weekdays,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio
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