PRESS RELEASE, 515 words, For Immediate Release

2007 NZ Comedy Guild Awards – The Winners

The 2007 NZ Comedy Guild Awards, presented on Sunday night in Auckland, recognized some outstanding international success, local stars, and the odd surprising newcomer. Rhys Darby, home for the event between filming scenes in "The Yes Men" alongside Jim Carrey and the upcoming second season of Flight Of The Conchords, picked up two awards; "Best Onscreen Comedy Performance", and "The Kevin Smith Memorial Trophy for Artist Achievement", an award he has now claimed three years in a row. Also continuing their winning streaks were Michele A'Court, who has now reigned as NZ's Best Female Comedian for an incredible six years straight, Sam Wills, whose alter-ego The Boy With Tape On His Face won both "Best Show" and "Best Show Concept" for a second year, and Brendhan Lovegrove, who repeated his 2006 win for "The Andrew Kovachevich Cup".

Relative newcomer Simon McKinney was the surprise of the night, beating out veterans Lovegrove, Dai Henwood and "Best MC" winner Jeremy Elwood to take the "Best Male Comedian" title, whilst Maori Television took top honours in the category of "Best Media Support."

The full list of nominees and winners is as follows.

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BEST NEWCOMER
Diane Spencer
Clayton Carrick-Lesley
Moody
Winner: Rhys Mathewson

BEST SHOW CONCEPT
Clean comedy show – Dave Wiggins
Passport Control – Jeremy Elwood
Rock 101 – Mrs Peacock
Winner: Sam Wills, "The Boy With Tape On His Face"

MULTIMEDIA Award for BEST SHOW
Rock 101 – Mrs Peacock
AotearoHA! – TV3 / NZ International Comedy Festival
I do these things so you don't have to – Jamie Bowen
Winner: Sam Wills, "The Boy With Tape On His Face"

BEST COMEDY VENUE
The Cook (Hamilton)
San Francisco Bathhouse (Wellington)
Buzz (Lower Hutt)
Winner: The Classic Comedy Club, Auckland

BEST MEDIA SUPPORT.
Radio New Zealand National
Wellington Access Radio
C4
The Rock
New Zealand Herald
Winner: Maori Television

BEST INTERNATIONAL GUEST.
Phil Nicol
Mickey D
Winner: Stephen K Amos

BEST INDUSTRY FRIEND
Nigel Grant
Jan Maree
Matt Elliot
Winner: Richard Carrington, Notorious Management

BEST ON-SCREEN COMEDY PERFORMANCE.
Andre King – AotearoHA! – TV3/NZ International Comedy Festival
Simon McKinney – Festival Gala – TVNZ/NZ International Comedy Festival/Satellite Media
Dai Henwood – Various – C4
Winner: Rhys Darby, Flight of the Conchords – HBO

MOST IMPROVED COMEDIAN
Figjam
Winner: Darren Jardine

THE ANDREW KOVACEVICH MEMORIAL CUP
Andre King
Winner: Brendhan Lovegrove

Bfm GAG OF THE YEAR
Jeremy Elwood – "Deerhunting"
Derek Flores – "Dick Smith"
Winner: Brendhan Lovegrove "1.4 Billion Chinese"

BEST MC
Simon McKinney
Jamie Bowen
Andrew Clay
Winner : Jeremy Elwood

BEST MALE COMEDIAN
Brendhan Lovegrove
Dai Henwood
Jeremy Elwood
Winner: Simon McKinney

BEST FEMALE COMEDIAN
Irene Pink
Jan Maree
Winner: Michele A'Court

THE KEVIN SMITH MEMORIAL CUP FOR BEST ARTIST ACHIEVEMENT.
Flight of the Conchords – For renewal of their HBO series
Dai Henwood – For his overall contribution to C4's programming.
Winner: Rhys Darby - For his landing of a role in Yes Men with Jim Carrey

THE GREEN ROOM AWARD.
Jamie Bowen
Dave Wiggins
Vaughan King
Winner: Grant Lobban

ENDS