Cal Wilson (born 5 October 1970) 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 ...

stand-up comedian, author, radio and

television presenter A television presenter (or television host, some become a "television personality") is a person who introduces, hosts television show, television programs, often serving as a mediator for the program and the audience. Nowadays, it is common for ...

Early life

After attending high school in

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

, New Zealand, Wilson completed a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

at the

University of Canterbury The University of Canterbury ( mi, Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha; postnominal abbreviation ''Cantuar.'' or ''Cant.'' for ''Cantuariensis'', the Latin name for Canterbury) is a public research university based in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was ...

Comedy career

She co-founded the Court Jesters improv group in 1990 and was part of the New Zealand team that won the World

Theatresports Theatresports is a form of improvisational theatre, which uses the format of a competition for dramatic effect. Opposing teams can perform scenes based on audience suggestions, with ratings by the audience or by a panel of judges. Developed by di ...

title in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

in 1994. She moved to

stand-up comedy Stand-up comedy is a comedy, comedic performance to a live audience in which the performer addresses the audience directly from the stage. The performer is known as a comedian, a comic or a stand-up. Stand-up comedy consists of One-line joke ...

full-time and in 1997 was the inaugural winner (with Ewen Gilmour) of New Zealand's most prestigious comedy award, the

Billy T William James Te Wehi Taitoko (17 January 1948 – 7 August 1991) better known by his stage name Billy T. James, was a New Zealand entertainer, comedian, musician and actor. He became a key figure in the development of New Zealand comedy and a ...

. She also regularly appeared on TV3's ''Pulp Comedy''. In recent years she has been working from

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. In 2001, Wilson won the ''Best Newcomer'' Award at the

Melbourne International Comedy Festival The Melbourne International Comedy Festival (MICF) is the largest stand-alone comedy festival and the second-largest international comedy festival in the world. Established in 1987, it takes place annually in Melbourne over four weeks, typicall ...

. She has appeared to critical acclaim at the

Edinburgh Festival Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...

. Her 2006 show ''Up There, Cal Wilson'' sold out at the

Television

Wilson has appeared on the

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal A ...

comedy shows ''

SkitHOUSE ''Skithouse'' (styled ''skitHOUSE'') was an Australian sketch comedy television series that ran on Network Ten from 9 February 2003 to 28 July 2004. The series was produced by Roving Enterprises. It featured many well-known Australian comedians, ...

'', ''

Rove Live ''Rove'', also titled ''Rove Live'', was an Australian television variety show that featured live music performances and interviews with local and international celebrity guests. The program premiered on the Nine Network on 22 September 1999, be ...

'', ''

Thank God You're Here ''Thank God You're Here'' is an Australian television improvised comedy program created by Working Dog Productions, which premiered on Network Ten on 5 April 2006, and aired for the first three seasons and on Seven for the fourth season. Each ...

'', ''

Good News Week ''Good News Week'' is an Australian satirical panel game show hosted by Paul McDermott that aired from 19 April 1996 to 27 May 2000, and 11 February 2008 to 28 April 2012. The show's initial run aired on ABC until being bought by Network Ten in ...

'', '' Spicks and Specks'', '' The Project'', '' Celebrity Name Game'', ''

Show Me the Movie! ''Show Me the Movie!'' was a weekly Australian television comedy panel show, which premiered on Network 10 on 22 March 2018 and ran until 28 March 2019. The program was hosted by Rove McManus who, with team captains Joel Creasey, Jane Harber ( ...

'', '' Would I Lie to You? Australia'', ''

Have You Been Paying Attention? ''Have You Been Paying Attention?'' (abbreviated on social media as HYBPA? and stylised on-screen as Have you been paying attention? in sentence case) is an Australian panel game television quiz show on Network 10. The series, which is produce ...

'' and ''

Hughesy, We Have a Problem ''Hughesy, We Have a Problem'' was an Australian comedy panel television series which premiered on Network 10 on 30 January 2018. The program was hosted by Dave Hughes, who along with a panel of comedians, attempted to solve problems of viewers ...

'' and the New Zealand TV show ''

7 days Seven Days or 7 Days may refer to: * Week, an amount of time Film * ''7 Days'' (2010 film) (''Les 7 jours du talion''), Canadian thriller film * ''7 Days'' (2021 film), American romantic comedy film * ''Seven Days'' (1925 film), American silent ...

''. In 2002, she helped write the screenplay for the New Zealand sitcom ''

Willy Nilly ''Willy Nilly Show'' is a New Zealand television series originally based on a short film by the same name. It follows the lives of two middle-aged farming brothers, Eric (Sean Duffy) and Harry (Mark Hadlow) who are catapulted into the modern worl ...

''. In 2007, she was part of the ensemble cast of the Australian sketch comedy TV show, '' The Wedge''. In 2008, Wilson appeared in the eighth series of the Australian version of '' Dancing with the Stars.'' Paired with series 7 winner Craig Monley, she was the 3rd eliminated contestant. In 2010, she became host of the program ''

Sleuth 101 ''Sleuth 101'' was an Australian comedy "improvisatory whodunit game show" television series, broadcast on ABC1 in 2010. The series revolves around a murder-mystery that must be solved by a celebrity guest detective. Each episode features a gu ...

'' and also took part in the Melbourne International Comedy Festival Great Debate. In 2012, she appeared as a guest on the UK comedy quiz show '' QI (J series)'' (Episodes 3 - Journeys, and 6 - Joints), and in 2013 was captain of "Team Cal" in the Australian light entertainment television series ''

Slide Show A slide show (slideshow) is a presentation of a series of still images (Presentation slide, slides) on a projection screen or electronic display device, typically in a prearranged sequence. The changes may be automatic and at regular intervals o ...

''. In 2018, Wilson voiced Petal and Thorn in the kids' TV series '' Kitty Is Not a Cat''. In 2019, she recorded
Netflix Original Comedy Special
title
Comedians of the World
representing

. She is currently touring a new stand-up show,
Gifted Underachiever
. In 2022, Wilson participated in the eighth season of the Australian version of '' I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!''. In August 2022, it was revealed that Wilson would host the seventh season of

The Great Australian Bake Off ''The Great Australian Bake Off'' is an Australian television baking series that is based on the BBC baking competition ''The Great British Bake Off.'' The series first premiered on 9 July 2013 on the Nine Network and ran for one season with ...

alongside

Natalie Tran Natalie Tran (born 24 July 1986), known online as communitychannel, is an Australian YouTuber, actress, and comedian. She is best known for her comedy videos in which she discusses everyday issues. She began posting on YouTube in 2006 while a ...

and new judges Darren Purchese and

Rachel Khoo Rachel Khoo ( Chinese: 邱瑞秋; born 28 August 1980.) is a British cook, author, and broadcaster who has hosted and co-hosted television cooking shows on the BBC, Food Network, and Netflix. Early life Khoo was born in Croydon, South London. ...

Radio

In 2007, Wilson co-hosted, with

Akmal Saleh Akmal Saleh ( ar, أكمل صالح Coptic: AKMAΛ CAΛΕϨ) (born 21 July 1964) is an Egyptian-Australian comedian and actor. He was born in Egypt and arrived in Sydney with his family in 1975 at the age of 11. He has been performing comedy si ...

, the

drive time Drive time is the daypart in which radio broadcasters can reach the most people who listen to car radios while driving, usually to and from work, or on public transportation. Drive-time periods are when the number of radio listeners in this c ...

radio show The ''Akmal Show with Cal Wilson'' (later called ''The Wrong Way Home with Akmal, Cal and Ed''), which aired on Nova FM Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide & Perth. Prior to that role, she was a regular guest on the

Triple M Triple M is an Australian commercial radio network owned and operated by Southern Cross Austereo. The network consists of 40 radio stations broadcasting a mainstream rock music format and 5 digital radio stations. The network dates back to th ...

program ''

Get This ''Get This'' was an Australian radio comedy Radio programming, show which aired on Triple M and was hosted by Tony Martin (comedian), Tony Martin and Ed Kavalee, with contributions from panel operator, Richard Marsland. A different guest co-hos ...

''. In 2009, Wilson co-hosted Mornings on

Nova 100 Nova 100 (call sign: 3MEL) is a commercial radio station in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, broadcasting on 100.3 MHz. The station is owned by NOVA Entertainment along with sister station, smoothfm 91.5. History Nova 100 commenced on th ...

(Melbourne) with

Dylan Lewis Dylan Thomas Lewis (also known as DiRK ViLE) is an Australian television and radio host. Biography Early life Lewis was educated at Caulfield Grammar School and graduated in 1990; he then studied a Bachelor of Education in Drama and Music de ...

. She resigned from

in November, 2009.

Personal life

Wilson married Chris Woods in January 2008. They have a son, Digby and live in Sunshine in Victoria. They have two cats.

References

Elinks

Official Website
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Cal 1970 births Living people New Zealand comedians New Zealand women comedians New Zealand expatriates in Australia New Zealand stand-up comedians University of Canterbury alumni Place of birth missing (living people) 21st-century Australian comedians Australian women comedians 20th-century comedians I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! (Australian TV series) participants People from Christchurch