Nish Kumar, Olga Koch, Becky Lucas and many more comedians are heading to the NZ International Comedy Festival 2025.
The lineup for this year’s NZ International Comedy Festival with Best Foods Mayo – to give it its full, catchy title – was announced last week (March 5), and it features a strong mix of international and local stars.
From overseas, panel show regular Nish Kumar, comedian and podcast host Olga Koch, Australian stand-up and presenter Becky Lucas, TV writer Adam Kay and the award-winning Mark Simmons will all perform at the festival. Jen Brister, Laura Lexx, Ahir Shah, Sarah Keyworth and more UK comedians will also make their festival debut this year.
From Aotearoa, Melanie Bracewell, Josh Thomson, Abby Howells and James Mustapic are just some of the big Kiwi names scheduled for sets.
The festival will take over Auckland and Wellington throughout the month of May, with over 150 comedians delivering more than 600 live performances.
The festival’s flagship event, the Best Foods Comedy Gala, is returning this year, heading to both cities with host Hayley Sproull.
Lucas will host the Best Comedy Show on Earth at SkyCity Theatre, presenting an evening of hilarious comedy from a selection of crowd favourites and rising stars from this year’s programme.
Other events include the Auckland Preview Show at Basement Theatre, where fans can catch sneak peaks of the packed festival lineup, Late Laughs, where the comedians come out to play every Friday and Saturday night at Wellington’s Fringe Bar, and The Comedy Mixtape, where host Joe Daymond will showcase some of his favourite comedians on the scene at Q Theatre and Te Auaha.
Closing out the festival is Last Laughs, hosted by Eli Matthewson. The epic celebration will unite the local comedy community together at SkyCity Theatre to watch performances from the Billy T nominees and Fred Award finalists. The winners will also be announced on the night.
Find out more information about the NZ International Comedy Festival with Best Foods Mayo here.