Tofiga Fepulea'i (born February 5, 1974) 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 ...

-based actor and comedian of Samoan descent best known as a member of the stand-up comedy duo

Laughing Samoans The Laughing Samoans were a New Zealand-based duo formed by comedians Eteuati Ete and Tofiga Fepulea'i, both of Samoan descent. The duo have toured in New Zealand in sold-out shows and internationally to Australia, United States, the Cook Island ...

Biography

Fepulea'i was born and grew up in

Wellington, New Zealand Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by metr ...

. His mother is Fuamago Malae Malagamaali'i Fepulea'i from Papa Sataua,

Falealupo Falealupo is a village in Samoa situated at the west end of Savai'i island from the International Date Line used until 29 December 2011. The village has two main settlements, Falealupo-Uta, situated inland by the main island highway and Falealu ...

, Sagone and Fasito'outa and his father is Tu'ua Semurana Fepulea'i from Fusi Safotulafai and Sale'aula, Savai’i. He was educated at

Rongotai College Rongotai College is a state single-sex boys' secondary school in the southeastern suburb of Rongotai, Wellington, New Zealand. Serving Years 9 to 13 (ages 12 to 18), the school has 622 students as of July 2015. About 40 per cent of the student ...

. Fepulea'i's first stand-up comedy show was called ''Laughing with Samoans''. First performed at the

New Zealand Fringe Festival The New Zealand Fringe Festival is an open access arts festival in Wellington, New Zealand held over several weeks in February and March each year. The 2020 programme marked the festival's 30th anniversary. Background The festival was establish ...

in Wellington in 2003 it changed name and became a duo performed with

Eteuati Ete Etuate Ete (born ~1962) is a New Zealand-based actor and comedian best known as one half of the Samoan duo Laughing Samoans. Biography Ete was born in Samoa and moved to New Zealand with his parents at the age of 12. He was one of the first Pac ...

called the Laughing Samoans. Fepulea'i and Ete have toured this show around New Zealand, places in the Pacific, Australia and North America. Title of their shows include ''Laughing with Samoans'' (2003), ''A Small Samoan Wedding'' (2005), ''Off Work'' (2007), and ''Choka Block'' (2011) with DVD's produced too. In 2010 they made a television series ''The Laughing Samoans at Large''. The Laughing Samoans disbanded in 2016. Among the characters Fepulea'i and Ete perform in the Laughing Samoans are two women, Aunty Tala and her niece, Fai. Scholar Sarina Pearson says of these characters, "Whether Fepulea‘i and Ete are enacting a relatively straightforward parody of women or performing yet another layer of gender inversion by parodying fa‘afafine is ambiguous." In April 2017 Fepulea'i premiered his first solo show called ''I It'' in Auckland, with presentations in Wellington and Samoa. The first acting role for Fepulea'i in a feature film was in 2020 in the film ''Take Home Pay.'' In 2021 his show ''Sorry bout it'' was part of the New Zealand Comedy Festival national tour and features

James Nokise James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguati ...

as the opening act. Fepulea'i was a youth worker for 12 years and he has a company 3Sons that hold school holiday programmes for Pasifika boys called ''o a’u lea (this is me)'' about wellbeing and identity. Alongside Inangaro Vakaafi, Fepulea'i has been co-hosting a mid-morning radio show called ''Island Time'' on Radio 531pi ( Pacific Media).

References

External links

Laughing Samoans ProfileTofiga's Blog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fepuleai, Tofiga Living people New Zealand people of Samoan descent New Zealand male actors New Zealand male comedians Male actors from Wellington City People educated at Rongotai College Actors of Samoan descent 1974 births