Growing Old Gets Funnier By The Year

For Immediate Release
23 February 2007

The 2007 NZ International Comedy Festival

Growing Old Gets Funnier By The Year

On the 4th of May more kiwis than ever before are expected to get the giggles when The 2007 NZ International Comedy Festival unleashes 3 weeks of highly infectious comedy in a stunning line-up of local and international Festival acts.

Now in its 15th consecutive year the NZ International Comedy Festival continues its commitment to develop local comedy which is fast growing to meet the demands of a burgeoning national audience. Last year a record number of 69,000 people attended the Festival causing many shows to sell out in advance.

New Zealand's Comedy Festival is one of the only events of it's kind in the world that runs simultaneously in two major cities including a travelling roadshow (The Comedy Convoy) which tours 6 major regional cities during the last week of the Festival. It is also the only Arts Festival in New Zealand, that receives it's own Prime Time Television Show with the broadcast of the Crunchie Comedy Gala.

Over the years the Festival has attracted some of the biggest names of comedy from around the world including Eddie Izzard (UK), Greg Proops (USA), Jimeoin (IRE/AUS), Bill Bailley (UK), Dom Irrera (USA) and Danny Bhoy (SCOT) and has assisted in the establishment of local icons such as Flight of the Conchords, Ewen Gilmour, Dai Henwood, Brendhan Lovegrove, Naked Samoans and Michele A'Court.

2007 will see some of the biggest names of comedy Ardal O'Hanlon (IRE), Carl Barron (AUS), Dai Henwood (NZ), Rich Hall (USA), Ewen Gilmour (NZ), Ed Byrne (IRE), Phil Nichol (CAN), Stephen K Amos (UK), Dylan Moran (IRE), Peter Hellier (AUS) and Mike King (NZ) to name but a few.

Since 1995 the Festival has worked under the directives of the NZ Comedy Trust - a non profit organisation set up to stage and promote the Festival and give the local industry the resources, training and support to get NZ work seen on the international stage. The Festival exists and survives on funding received by Creative NZ, both Auckland and Wellington City Councils and Corporate Sponsorship.

In this vein the 2007 Festival programme provides more opportunities for comedians to perform their work to a public audience. One of these opportunities is finding more places to present live comedy. This year the Festival is delighted to welcome The San Francisco Bathhouse in Cuba Street as its comedy hub for the Wellington Festival season. LATE LAUGHS finds its home here and its late night, loose and playful reputation is sure to attract local and international comedians to try out some risqué material in a social late night setting. The Paramount Theatre also joins the Wellington Festival stable to house the larger scale Festival Events including First Laughs and the Lindauer Comedy Divas.

In addition to creating more venues The NZ Comedy Trust also rewards comedians for their excellence and potential by granting them resources to travel and present work offshore. Two awards offer this opportunity, the first is the time honoured Billy T Award recognising the potential of emerging comedians. The winner of this takes home a $5000 cash prize. The second award, which premiered at last years Festival is the prestigious FRED Award, which honours outstanding achievements of those who have been working in pro comedy for at least 8 years, and have what it takes to make it internationally.

Last year iconic kiwi comedian Brendhan Lovegrove took home the 2006 FRED Award and went on to win The Best Male Performer at the 2006 Comedy Guild Awards in Auckland and and was the first NZ comedian to be invited to appear of Rove Live. He will be staging a new show this year in the Auckland and Wellington Festival seasons. The 2006 Billy T Award was won by Wellingtonian Cori Gonzalez-Macuer, who used the prize money to travel and perform in the UK. The Festival is delighted he has come home and will again be performing in this years Festival.

Another major initiative of the NZ Comedy Trust is Class Comedians, a secondary school programme produced to assist in the development of the NZ Comedy industry. The programme runs from Feb - May and culminates in a Festival Showcase for it's graduates. In 2007 the Trust will run it's first Class Comedians Masterclass for past graduates to continue the growth of NZ Comedy.

With over 200 performers, 100 shows in over 30 venues - NZ is sure to catch the Laugh!

The 2007 NZ International Comedy Festival runs:
4 May - 27 May in Auckland
7 May - 26 May in Wellington
20 - 26 May The Comedy Convoy (nationwide)

Ends

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