“I just stopped my friend sending an email after the Billy T Jams because he was like, ‘we don’t find out who won’. He did have a few wines, but he was genuinely furious.”
Matthewson, who has been performing since 2010 and was twice nominated for the Billy T, said he has similarly had to talk his dad out of emailing after missing out on prizes.
“When I got kicked off Dancing with the Stars, he did think it was a conspiracy. He thought megachurches were banding together to vote for other people to get me out. And I was like, ‘Dad, no, I just didn’t get enough text votes’.”
Though Henry’s on his side. “I think something funky was going. I think it was rigged. I think a producer didn’t like you and you got pushed out,” she joked.
One of the other challenges they both face as comedians is in how much of their personal self to put on stage, particularly when it comes to dates or partners.
Matthewson said if he has a joke about someone, he avoids getting permission from them to perform it until he has done it a few times - “I don’t wanna waste emotional energy getting permission for the joke and then it, and then do it and it’s not even funny”.
For Henry, she has a full system in place for exes - no warning if they were racist towards her, a heads up if they were lovely but it didn’t work out, and then a Facetime performance for those still in her life, but even the best-planned systems don’t always work out.
“There has been one situation where I went on a date with someone. It was an all-good date, but I decided after it, I didn’t wanna continue it.
The next day I flew down to Wellington to do a set about it, and they were in the audience. They walked in before the show, and the whole set was about me dissecting the date - it was a picnic, and I was dissecting what all the food meant on the date - and they walked in. I had to go up to them immediately and be like, ‘I’m so sorry, I’m talking about you’.”
Listen to the full podcast for more from Janaye and Eli on the writing and rehearsing process, comedy versus improv, bad reviews, and performing standup about current and former partners
Billy T’ Billy is a NZ Herald podcast celebrating local comedy ahead of the New Zealand International Comedy Festival. Each episode has a different 2023 nominee talking with a former Billy T or Fred Award winner. New episodes are out every Tuesday.
This year’s Billy T nominees, include Howells, Gabby Anderson, Jack Ansett, Janaye Henry and Maria Williams. The New Zealand International Comedy Festival runs from May 6th to May 28th.
You can follow the podcast at iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts and Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
