Funny As: The Story of New Zealand Comedy

The story of women's comedy from the fraught emergence of stand up through to women getting to hold all the creative cards in the making of their own comedy programmes.

With New Zealand having first planted its comedy roots in character and sketch-based humour, Funny As charts its evolution to stand-up comedy and more intimate, realism based performances. But as digital platforms emerge, and new talent comes of age, are we seeing a return to the character comedy of our past?

With Māori and Pacifica performers having played a significant role in New Zealand’s comedy story, this episode showcases the brilliance of Māori and Pacific Island comedy and examines the challenge of confronting racism through humour.

Since The Topp Twins made their names busking on Auckland’s Queen Street, music has been an integral part of New Zealand comedy. Looking back at the use of music to create comedy gold, this episode charts the rise of some of our best musical comic talent, from show bands to international sensations Flight of the Conchords.

Birds of a feather flock together and Kiwis are no different. This episode tells the story of comedians who teamed up to create some of our best and most iconic comedy – but also looks at the mavericks who went it alone to carve their own comedy journeys.