2009 NZ Comedy Guild Award Winners Announced

In a gala ceremony at Auckland’s The Classic Comedy Club on Sunday night, the winners of the 2009 NZ Comedy Guild Awards were announced in front of a packed audience.

The 9th annual NZ Comedy Guild Awards, presented for the first time by Comedy Central, were a celebration of the stellar year that New Zealand Comedy has experienced in 2009. The rise of local comedy on television and in front of record-number live audiences throughout the year has been due, in no small part, to the decades of hard work put in by performers, producers and the NZ Comedy Guild.

Perhaps not surprisingly, television comedy was represented more prominently than in previous years. Local boy made Hollywood star Rhys Darby took home the Kevin Smith Trophy for Artistic Achievement for his work on Flight Of The Conchords, whilst the success locally of 7Days saw Paul Ego win “Best Comedy Performance on Television” and TV3 winning “Best Media Support.”

However, live shows are still the backbone of local comedy, and were strongly represented across the awards, with Te Radar winning the “Comedy Central award for Best Show” for Eating the Dog, Vaughan King taking away “Best Show Concept” for his Billy T Award nominated Inventor, The Classic winning “Best Venue” for a ninth successive year, and 2009 Billy T Award winner Chris Brain recognized for his writing with “Comedy Central Gag Of The Year”. “Best Male” and “Best Female” comedians for 2009 were Brendhan Lovegrove and Jan Maree, respectively.

The NZ Comedy Guild wishes to congratulate all the winners and nominees, and wishes all comedians another great year of work, leading up to our 10th anniversary Awards in 2010.

FULL LIST OF NOMINEES AND WINNERS:

BEST NEWCOMER BEST SHOW CONCEPT

CHRIS COOK HEIDI AND ROSE’S GUIDE TO THE
JOSEPH HARPER UNCOOL
STELLA GRAHAM Winner: VAUGHAN KING – THE
Winner: INVENTOR
SARAH HARPUR JAN MAREE – HAVE YOU MET ME?
ANDY CLAY’S BOOK OF LOVE

BEST SHOW BEST VENUE

Winner:EATING THE DOG – TE RADAR Winner: THE CLASSIC (AUCKLAND)
JAN MAREE – HAVE YOU MET ME? SNATCH (PONSONBY)
ANDY CLAY’S BOOK OF LOVE SAN FRANSISCO BATHHOUSE (WGTN)
OFFICE BOY – STEVE WRIGLEY THE COOK (HAMILTON)
THE BASEMENT (NEW PLYMOUTH)

BEST MEDIA SUPPORT BEST INTERNATIONAL GUEST

COMEDY CENTRAL CAREY MARX
RADIO NZ NATIONAL Winner: MICKEY D
Winner: TV3 JANEY GODLEY
C4 JASON COOK
THE ROCK
NEW ZEALAND HERALD

BEST INDUSTRY FRIEND BEST TELEVISION PERFORMANCE

JAN MAREE BEN HURLEY – 7 DAYS
Winner: SCOTT BLANKS Winner: PAUL EGO – 7 DAYS
DEREK FLORES JEREMY CORBETT – 7 DAYS
RICHARD CARRINGTON

MOST IMPROVED COMEDIAN THE ANDREW KOVACHEVICH CUP

Winner: ROB CALLAGHAN FIGJAM
TJ MACDONALD DIANE SPENCER
CHRIS BRAIN HEIDI AND ROSE
JARRED FELL JAN MAREE
Winner: BENJAMIN CRELLIN
RHYS MATHEWSON

BEST GAG BEST MC

VAUGHAN KING ANDREW CLAY
Winner: CHRIS BRAIN Winner: STEVE WRIGLEY
SIMON MCKINNEY JAN MAREE
CLAYTON CARRICK-LESLIE
JEREMY ELWOOD

BEST MALE COMEDIAN BEST FEMALE COMEDIAN

BEN HURLEY MICHELE A’COURT
Winner: BRENDHAN LOVEGROVE Winner: JAN MAREE
STEVE WRIGLEY DIANE SPENCER
JEREMY ELWOOD JUSTINE SMITH

KEVIN SMITH TROPHY GREEN ROOM AWARD

STEVE WRIGLEY
BEN HURLEY – 7 DAYS SIMON MCKINNEY
DAI HENWOOD – “Dai another Day” DVD Winner:
Winner: VAUGHAN KING
RHYS DARBY – FOTC SEASON 2

ENDS