Comedian takes Billy T Award

MURRAY WILSON/Manawatu Standard

FUNNY MAN: Nick Gibb winner of The Billy T Award for comedy.

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Palmerston North funnyman Nick Gibb hopes his success on the New Zealand comedy stage will take him all the way to Edinburgh.

Gibb has taken out this year's prestigious Billy T Award with his show Pakehas Be All Like This, which he performed at the New Zealand Comedy Festival's closing ceremony, The Last Laugh.

Inspired by legendary New Zealand comedian Billy T James, the award was started by the New Zealand Comedy Trust in 1997 and is the most sought after accolade an up-and-coming New Zealand comedian can get.

The Palmerston North-born funnyman made his first stand-up performance just three years ago at The Globe for Cornstars.

Gibb already has the 2010 Wellington Raw Comedy Competition crown and was a finalist in the National Raw Comedy Competition, but he said this topped them all: "It was great, I was completely stupefied, I honestly didn't think I had a chance of winning it."

Festival organisers said this year's group was particularly strong, and with past winners including Radar, Paul Ego, Dai Henwood and Ben Hurley, recipients of the famous yellow towel typically go on to bigger things.

Gibb said his competitors were all incredibly strong and he was not named as a favourite.

But having conquered the New Zealand amateur stage, he is hoping the award will add weight to a planned presence at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival later this year.

The Billy T Award includes a $5000 cash prize which will go towards getting to the festival, but Gibb is hoping the award may help with audience numbers as well.

"I don't know how much it means to punters over there but I'm hoping it will make it easier to get reviewers to the shows, and because I'll be in the free section of the festival, it's the reviewers that make or break."

Gibb said the award turned what started out as a "sideline thing" four years ago into a full-time career path he's now devoted to pursuing.

Gibb said he would be performing a number of shows along with his friend, Wellington-based comedian Sarah Harpur, to fundraise for his Edinburgh campaign. He is hoping to do a few of those shows in Palmerston North, and Harpur's hometown of Dannevirke, but people can also catch him in action at the Missing Wingman Trust Charity Show on June 10 at the Regent on Broadway Theatre.

As well as the yellow towel and the cash, the award has also earned him a guaranteed appearance on TV show 7 Days.

- © Fairfax NZ News