The Billy T Award is a

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

comedy award recognizing up-and-coming New Zealand comedians with outstanding potential. It has been presented annually since its inception in 1997 when

Cal Wilson Cal Wilson (born 5 October 1970) is a New Zealand stand-up comedian, author, radio and television presenter. Early life After attending high school in Christchurch, New Zealand, Wilson completed a Bachelor of Arts at the University of Canterbu ...

and

Ewen Gilmour David Ewen Gilmour (22 January 1963 – 3 October 2014), commonly known as Ewen Gilmour, was a New Zealand comedian and television presenter. Usually sporting long brown hair with a goatee and wearing a jacket and jeans, he was a self-describ ...

shared the award. The Billy T was shared between two comedians until 2001 when it became a solo award.NZ On Air, Press Release: ‘New Zealand Laughs On Air’ 23/4/02. The awards are an initiative of the

New Zealand Comedy Trust {{Short description, Annual comedy festival in New Zealand The New Zealand International Comedy Festival is held simultaneously over three weeks during April/May in Auckland and Wellington. From its beginnings as a 2-day event, the Festival has n ...

to ‘foster and encourage outstanding New Zealand talent.'NZ International Comedy festival, Press Release: ‘2007 Billy T Nominees’ 16/1/2007

Billy T James

The Billy T Awards were named in honour of New Zealand comedian Billy T. James. The winner receives ‘the yellow towel’ in tribute to the towel worn by James in some of his most famous sketches.

Judging

The winner is selected from five nominees performing during the

New Zealand International Comedy Festival {{Short description, Annual comedy festival in New Zealand The New Zealand International Comedy Festival is held simultaneously over three weeks during April/May in Auckland and Wellington. From its beginnings as a 2-day event, the Festival has n ...

. Five judges select a winner based on their proven comedic ability, talent, dedication and potential.

Billy T Award: winners and nominees

{, border="2" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 0 1em 0 0; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaa solid; border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 100%;" , - style="background:#efefef;align:center" ! Year ! align=left , Billy T recipient(s) ! align=left , Other nominees , - , valign=top , 1997 , valign=top ,

, Mike King
Brendhan Lovegrove

Radar Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance (''ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, w ...

Raybon Kan Raybon Kan (born 1966) is a New Zealand comedian and newspaper columnist. Early life and family Kan's family moved to Wellington, New Zealand soon after his birth in Masterton. He began his education at St Mark's Church School. He showed an ea ...

, - , valign=top , 1998 , Brendhan Lovegrove
Radar (Andrew Lumsden)
Sugar and Spice (

Jonathan Brugh Jonathan Brugh, also known as Jonny Brugh, is a New Zealand comedian, actor, and musician. He is best known for his work in ''What We Do in the Shadows'' (2014). In the 1990s he was part of the comic duo Sugar and Spice. Early life Jona ...

and

Jason Hoyte Jason Hoyte is a New Zealand screen and voice actor and radio DJ. He has at least 25 television shows to his credit and is best known for his roles as Steve Mudgeway in ''Seven Periods with Mr Gormsby'' and Malcolm "Smudge" in ''Nothing Trivial' ...

) , valign=top , Philip Patston
Jaq Tweedie , - , valign=top , 1999 , valign=top , Philip Patston
The Humourbeasts (

Jemaine Clement Jemaine Atea Mahana Clement (born 10 January 1974) is a New Zealand actor, comedian, musician and filmmaker. He has released several albums with Bret McKenzie as the musical comedy duo Flight of the Conchords, and created a comedy series of the ...

and Taika Cohen) ,

Paul Ego Paul Ego (birth name Paul Jones) is a Billy T Award winning New Zealand comedian. He is best known both for his current role as leader of Team One on the New Zealand comedy current affairs panel show 7 Days, and as the voice artist of the Stickm ...

Irene Pink
Jon Stubbs , - , valign=top , 2000 , valign=top , Mike Loder
Paul Ego , Jan Maree
Irene Pink
Benjamin Crellin , - , valign=top , 2001 , valign=top , Jan Maree , Jeremy Elwood

Rhys Darby Rhys Montague Darby (born 21 March 1974) is a New Zealand actor and comedian, known for his energetic physical comedy routines, telling stories accompanied with mime and sound effects of things such as machinery and animals. He was nominated for ...

Jon Stubbs
Benjamin Crellin , - , valign=top , 2002 , valign=top ,

Dai Henwood Dafydd Morgan "Dai" Henwood (born 7 February 1978) is a New Zealand comedian. He is best known for his hosting of several television shows found on Three but also performs stand-up comedy. Life and career Henwood was born in 1978 to father R ...

, Rhys Darby
Tarun Mohanbhai
Benjamin Crellin
GARY (Brett O'Gorman, Jamie Bowen and Mick Andrews) , - , valign=top , 2003 , valign=top , Justine Smith , Penny Ashton
Sully O'Sullivan
Benjamin Crellin
GARY (Brett O'Gorman, Jamie Bowen and Mick Andrews) , - , valign=top , 2004 , valign=top ,

Ben Hurley Ben Hurley is a stand up comedian from New Zealand. Hurley started his comedy career in Wellington as resident host of The Wellington Comedy Club. After winning the Billy T Award he moved to London and worked on the comedy circuit there between ...

, Cohen Holloway
Ezequiel Balmori
Jamie Bowen
Penny Ashton , - , valign=top , 2005 , valign=top ,

Sam Wills Sam Wills (born 28 August 1978) is a Timaru, New Zealand prop comic, busker, and clown residing in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. He performs under the name The Boy With Tape On His Face and, more recently, as Tape Face. He was also half of the two-p ...

, Cori Gonzalez-Macuer
Darren Jardine
James Nokise

Jo Randerson Joanna Ruth Randerson (born 1973) is a New Zealand writer, director and performer. She is the founder and artistic director of Barbarian Productions, a Wellington-based theatre production company. Biography Randerson was born in Auckland, New Ze ...

, - , valign=top , 2006 , valign=top , Cori Gonzalez-Macuer , James Nokise
Jerome Chandrahasen
Cameron Blair
Gish (Justin Hansen) , - , valign=top , 2007 , valign=top , Mrs Peacock (Jarrod Baker and Dave Smith) , Alex Hawley
Jamie Bowen
Grant Lobban , - , valign=top , 2008 , valign=top , Steve Wrigley , Simon McKinney
Grant Lobban
The Lonesome Buckwhips
Jim Brown , - , valign=top , 2009 , valign=top , Chris Brain , Jim Brown
James Keating
Vaughan King
Dave Wiggins , - , valign=top , 2010 , valign=top , Rhys Mathewson , Jarred Fell
Clayton Carrick-Leslie
Vaughan King
TJ McDonald , - , valign=top , 2011 , valign=top , Nick Gibb , Joseph Harper

Urzila Carlson Urzila Carlson (born 15 February 1976) is a South African born New Zealand comedian and actress, known for her stand-up performances as well as her appearances on television programs in both New Zealand and Australia. Carlson is a regular panelli ...

Nick Rado
Cameron Murray , - , valign=top , 2012 , valign=top , Guy Williams ,

Tom Furniss Tom Annan Furniss (born 1988) is a New Zealand comedian. Life and career Tom grew up in Mount Maunganui. He studied Screen and Media Studies at The University of Waikato. In early 2010 he was selected as a finalist in Raw Comedy Quest. In the 20 ...

Rose Matafeo Rose Catherine Lettitia Matafeo (; born 25 February 1992) is a New Zealand comedian, actress, and TV presenter. She was a writer and performer on the New Zealand late-night comedy sketch show ''Funny Girls''. In 2018, she won the Edinburgh Comed ...

Tevita Manukia
TJ McDonald , - , valign=top , 2013 , valign=top ,

, Tom Furniss
Eli Matthewson
Pax Assadi
Joseph Moore , - , valign=top , 2014 , valign=top ,

Guy Montgomery Guy Montgomery is a comedian from New Zealand. He was the winner of the Billy T award in 2014. Early life Montgomery was born and raised in Christchurch, New Zealand. He then went on to study at Victoria University of Wellington. Television Mo ...

, Brendon Green
Jamaine Ross
Stephen Witt
Tim Batt , - , valign=top , 2015 , valign=top , Hamish Parkinson , Eli Matthewson
Matt Stellingwerf

Nic Sampson Nic Sampson is a New Zealand actor, comedian, and writer known for his roles as Chip Thorn, the Yellow Mystic Ranger on ''Power Rangers Mystic Force'', Detective Constable Sam Breen on ''The Brokenwood Mysteries'', and for the New Zealand sketc ...

Tim Batt , - , valign=top , 2016 , valign=top ,

David Correos David Correos (born 8 December 1992) is a comedian from New Zealand. He was the winner of the Billy T Award in 2016. Early life Correos's parents immigrated to Christchurch in the 1980s from the Philippines; he grew up in Woolston. During his t ...

, Alice Brine
James Malcolm

Laura Daniel Laura Daniel (born 1990) is an actress and comedian from New Zealand. She currently reports on television show ''Seven Sharp''. Previously, she has starred in the television series '' Funny Girls'' and ''Jono and Ben''. She has been in a relati ...

Matt Stellingwerf , - , valign=top , 2017 , valign=top , Angella Dravid , Paul Williams
Li'i Alaimoana
Ray O'Leary
Patch Lambert , - , valign=top , 2018 , valign=top ,

Melanie Bracewell Melanie Bracewell (born July 19, 1995) is a New Zealand comedian, actress and scriptwriter. In 2018, Bracewell won New Zealand's Billy T Award. Life and career Bracewell grew up in Beach Haven in Auckland's North Shore, and is a niece of ...

Alice Snedden Alice Snedden is a New Zealand stand-up comedian, television writer and actress. First working as a writer on New Zealand comedy shows such as ''Funny Girls'', ''Jono and Ben'' and ''7 Days'', Snedden created the serie''Alice Snedden's Bad News ...

Donna Brookbanks
James Malcolm
Two Hearts (

& Joseph Moore) , - , valign=top , 2019 , valign=top , Kura Forrester , Donna Brookbanks
James Mustapic
Ray Shipley
Tom Sainsbury , - , valign=top , 2021 , valign=top ,

Brynley Stent Brynley Alexandra Stent (born 1989) is a New Zealand actor, comedian and scriptwriter. She appeared on the first season of the New Zealand adaptation of '' Taskmaster'' and played the character Kelly-Anne Johnson on long running New Zealand soap ...

, James Mustapic
Josh Davies
Lana Walters

Controversy

In 2003, Mike Loder was blacklisted from the 2004 festival after sending fake congratulatory letters to nominees Sully O’Sullivan and Penny Ashton. In 2005, Philip Patston, the 1999 winner who is gay and disabled, volunteered to give up his award in response to the rhetoric and policies of the National Party under

Don Brash Donald Thomas Brash (born 24 September 1940) is a former New Zealand politician who was Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the New Zealand National Party from October 2003 to November 2006, and the Leader of ACT New Zealand from April to No ...

.Scoop.co.nz, press release: ‘Eradicate me: gay and disabled comedian,’ 30/10/05.

Trivia

* Rhys Mathewson is the youngest recipient of the award at age 19. * Benjamin Crellin (2000–03) and Jamie Bowen (2002–04, 2007) share the record for most nominations (four).

References

New Zealand comedy New Zealand awards Comedy and humor awards