Celeb Picks With Joe Daymond

We asked kiwi actor and comedian Joe Daymond for his top picks for shows you shouldn't miss in this year's Festival!

Check out his top tier selections and discover someone new from the incredible: Kajun Brooking, Auntie Lianne, Hoani Hotene, and Advait Kirtikar!

Kajun Brooking - Illumingati

I’ve worked with Kajun a lot through the years. One thing with Kaj is I’ve said to many people through that period that I think he fully encompasses what is special with Māori humour and brings that authentically into both the modern day, and the performing arts spaces that we have in stand up. Now that isn’t important just for the sake of having Māori voices in these spaces. But because the very global brand of our comedic humour is heavily based on Māori voices, sensibilities and cultural touchstones. Taika, Flights, they all bring a taste of Māori humour that when you trace it back to its roots, start with people exactly like Kajun. Not many of those people ever have or will do stand up comedy, hence why we’re lucky that my bro is.

Check out Kajun's show HERE.

Auntie Lianne - Auntie Lianne's Gone Rogue

Lianne fits into that same mould as Kaj. Authentic, raw, herself. I dunno what it is about Lianne but she just cracks me up. She brings warmth to the stage that I feel like I know her way better than I do, and I personally have an affinity to comedians like that. Maybe it’s a brown thing, but laughing for us is quite vulnerable, for us to laugh is because we trust you, for us to trust you is because we like you, that’s why brown people cover our mouths when we laugh. Lianne is someone I like very much. She’s inviting on stage, personable, and someone who I wish I had the opportunity to see a longer set from more and more because she’s someone who rewards you the more time you spend with her.

Check out Auntie Lianne's show HERE.

Hoani Hotene - Hoh' Mamma Jamma

You heard it here first. Hoani will be on tv in the next 18 months. This word has totally been overused. But he’s genuinely a comedic genius. That phrase means different shit to different people but to me I don’t use that for people who make people laugh, I think everyone can do that. I reserve it for people who do stuff on stage that I think only they can do. They can’t be replicated, can’t be copied, he’s someone who’s style you’ll see mimic’d by younger comedians in years to come and to me that’s not only the greatest compliment you can give a comedian, it’s a marker to me at least that someone’s a genius.

Check out Hoani's show HERE.

2024 Billy T Award nominee Advait Kirtikar - New Show, Who Dis?

King of the One Liners. I don’t think anyone does it better in NZ. Advait and I have performed together over the years, to all types of crowds, and he’s never stepped a foot wrong. The true strength of a comedian can be seen when you can put them anywhere on a lineup, in any gig, in any city, at any time, and they bring it, and he’s someone that always brings consistently new, funny and creative joke ideas. I don’t know if there are many more prolific joke writers. The amount of quality stuff he churns out is nothing short of amazing especially being someone that personally knows how hard that is. You rarely ever see him do the same stuff, he’s never afraid to be topical, he’s never afraid to try things out, and he brings a masterful understanding of comedy to every show he does whether that be through misdirection, callbacks, all that shit. My only piece of advice will be if you watch Advait and you think you know where the joke is going, no you don’t.

Check out Advait's show HERE.