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The New Zealand Comedy Guild is the association representing the interests of comedy professionals in Aotearoa. These professionals include performers, writers, producers, venue managers and more. |
Our History, as penned by Michelle A'Court
The NZ Comedy Guild was established in 1999 with the mission statement, “To promote and protect the interests of professional stand-up comedians and live comedy performers in NZ’s entertainment industry.” According to my diary, the first meeting was held on Saturday 27 March 1999 at the Classic. We were a fledgling industry then – very few people were making a fulltime living out of comedy, but it was starting to happen. There was a feeling that comedians needed to represent themselves with one voice to the Festival, to the Classic, and to people who produced live gigs and also television programmes (Pulp Comedy, the Festival Gala and so forth.) After a bit of discussion, we called ourselves a “guild” (rather than a union) to recognise that comedy is craft (rather than a trade) and because some people were uncomfortable with the word “union”. Pfft. The membership fee was set at $30 a year.
In large part it was about establishing pay rates (we set a Rate Card for Guild recommended minimum rates in March 2001 – which haven’t changed very much) and sharing information about what we were earning for corporate work (so we weren’t undercutting each other); representing ourselves in disputes (with knob-ends who ran gigs in random bars and might have refused to pay); negotiating with the Festival and TVNZ (in the early years, for example, comedians weren’t paid for their appearances in the televised Gala, hence the Great Gala Boycott threatened in 2002); and professional development – running workshops, sharing skills, talking about our experiences in the industry.
So advocacy, but also “pastoral care” – providing a place for open discussion, the chance to bitch and moan with the possibility it might lead to change, and a growing sense of community as we all attended each other’s weddings and christenings, and some funerals. And we created the annual comedy awards – “The Guildies”.
The inaugural Guildies were held at 7pm on Thursday 13 December 2001 at the Silo (now the Basement) Theatre. There were 6 awards: Best Achievement by a Male Comedian; Best Achievement by a Female Comedian; Best Tour, Best Show Concept, Best Media Outlet for Comedy; and Best Person to Share a Greenroom With.
In large part it was about establishing pay rates (we set a Rate Card for Guild recommended minimum rates in March 2001 – which haven’t changed very much) and sharing information about what we were earning for corporate work (so we weren’t undercutting each other); representing ourselves in disputes (with knob-ends who ran gigs in random bars and might have refused to pay); negotiating with the Festival and TVNZ (in the early years, for example, comedians weren’t paid for their appearances in the televised Gala, hence the Great Gala Boycott threatened in 2002); and professional development – running workshops, sharing skills, talking about our experiences in the industry.
So advocacy, but also “pastoral care” – providing a place for open discussion, the chance to bitch and moan with the possibility it might lead to change, and a growing sense of community as we all attended each other’s weddings and christenings, and some funerals. And we created the annual comedy awards – “The Guildies”.
The inaugural Guildies were held at 7pm on Thursday 13 December 2001 at the Silo (now the Basement) Theatre. There were 6 awards: Best Achievement by a Male Comedian; Best Achievement by a Female Comedian; Best Tour, Best Show Concept, Best Media Outlet for Comedy; and Best Person to Share a Greenroom With.