The lineup for the 2026 NZ International Comedy Festival with Best Foods Mayo is here.
The festival, presented by the NZ Comedy Trust, will bring the laughs to Auckland and Wellington between May 1st-24th.
Now in its 33rd year, and celebrating 30 years in the capital, this year’s edition features over 150 hometown comics, rising stars and international favourites across more than 550 performances.
Tickets go on sale to the general public on Thursday, March 5 at 10am local time.
The Best Foods Comedy Gala returns this year, heading to the aforementioned two cities alongside Christchurch for the first time in almost 10 years, led by host Dai Henwood, ONZM.
For the second year running, B***h Better Have My Funny returns to Auckland on the Q main stage, celebrating the brilliance of women and non-binary comedians, hosted by Justine Smith (“Taskmaster” and “7 Days”).
The Best Comedy Show on Earth, always a crowd favourite, returns to Skycity Theatre to deliver selected highlights from this year’s programme.
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Joe Draymond, creator and star of Comedy Central’s “Bouncers,” brings his Comedy Mixtape once more to stages in Auckland and Wellington, backed by a curated selection of some of his absolute must-sees from the local comedy scene.
Closing out the festival will be the Last Laughs Awards Gala, hosted by Guy Montgomery at Skycity Theatre. It’s your chance to see the best in Kiwi comedy and catch performances from the Billy T and Fred Award nominees before the winners are announced.
As always, the festival features a plethora of local talent. Brynley Stent, Paul Ego, Tim Batt, Laser Kiwi, Abby Howells, James Nokise, Rhiannon McCall and Tom Sainsbury are just some of the Kiwi comedians booked for this year.
From overseas, comedians including Jake Lambert, Jessie Nixon, Emmanuel Sonubi, Sashi Perera, Elf Lyons, Benny Feldman, Ed Night, Tarang Hardikar, Sofie Hagen and more will perform this year, as will last year’s Best International joint winners Elouise Eftos and Rosco McClelland.
If all of the above isn’t enticing enough, the NZ Comedy Trust is set to announce even more shows in the coming weeks, “featuring comedy legends, fresh faces” and more.
Check out the full programme here.
2026 NZ International Comedy Festival with Best Foods Mayo
Ticket information available here
May 1st-24th
Auckland and Wellington