The Monkey Theatre brings more fantastic comedians to Whitianga!
Justine Smith from Taskmaster & The Project!
Nick Rado from Have You Been Paying Attention & 7 Days
Courtney Dawson from Have You Been Paying Attention
Those who know Justine, or have seen her perform, will know she does not suffer fools gladly. Her charming and expressive performance take her audience along the journey with her, while never far from a punch line or a subtle gag using the raise of an eyebrow.
This Christchurch girl made good, now residing in west Auckland, there’s not a lot that gets past Justine. If you were to try and define Justine as a lover or a fighter, you'd have to say both. She is capable of tearing strips off people on stage, and then buying them a drink after the show.
Justine has previously won the 'Billy T Award' In 2003 and The NZ Comedy Guild 'Best Female Comedian' In 2008 and 2016 as well as Best MC 2016. a popular comedy festival performer, Her solo shows: 'The Justine Smith Hour', 'Return of the Jussi' 'Jussi Town' and 'Justine Smith: Abroad" have garnered critical acclaim. Justine has also written two live shows with Irene Pink, 'I’m Sorry I Said That' and 'The Pitch'. The latter was the recipient of The NZ Comedy Trust’s Creative Comedy Initiative Grant.
Justine has been performing around New Zealand for blimmin’ ages.
Nick Rado is a multi-award winning writer, MC and stand-up comedian. Nick is a guest panellist and head writer of over 250 episodes for TV3's award-winning topical news comedy show 7 Days. Nick is the only comedian to win the NZ Comedy Guild Award for 'Best Comedy MC' five times; he is also the winner of Best Male Comedian NZ Comedy Guild Awards 2019. Rado was hand-selected to perform at the Sydney Opera House for the prestigious Just for Laughs Sydney showcase. He has opened for Rob Brydon, Aziz Ansari and Russell Howard on their nationwide tours. He was also featured in Rhys Darby's Sitcom Short Poppies on Netflix. As seen on, The Comedy Channel Australia, the Nightwatchmen and Narrow World of Sports for Fox Sports Australia and as heard on The Rock's Sporting Rumble.
Courtney made her comedic debut on the Classic stage in 2018 - after 30 years of testing material on her friends, whanau, random party goers, unsuspecting train conductors, long-suffering bar staff and the occasional police officer.
True to her self-deprecating brand of humour, it would make Courtney slightly uncomfortable to acknowledge that she was joint winner of the 2019 Raw Quest, and voted Best Newcomer in the 2019 Comedy Guild Awards, but true to her nature as a yarn/drama queen, after a drink or two and she’ll tell you all about it.