Voters can be anything they like on electoral roll, except rude

Behind the facade of humdrum suburban life there are many weird and wacky ways of earning a living - if the occupations listed in the electoral rolls are to be believed.

Wellington's Michael Fryer is an aquanaut and Friedrich Tomasz of Coromandel is a mystic.

Waitakere's Shirley Duke is a dialogue coach, but that doesn't mean she goes out to teach people how to talk to one another.

"I work for Shortland Street, and work with all the new actors to get them up to speed.

"I have three weeks to make sure their dialogue is credible. It's a fast turnaround because we have an episode a day."

Northland's Brian Carter lists his occupation as "in retreat", and Sam Donaldson's imagination apparently got away on him when he called himself a pro surfer.

"I was just being sort of silly. I'm building right now," he said.

In the Coromandel, Christine Gibb says she grabs whatever job she can, and that's why she is listed as a "Jill o trds" (Jill of all trades).

In Hamilton, Blair Christieson is a lion tamer, Cameron Curd is a Jedi master, and Mark Bryan lists his occupation as "parasite".

But Leanne Ireland has one of the most unusual occupations. The 32-year-old suburban mum is officially a "gaiety girl".

"I have re-interpreted the concept of 'gaiety' to be a celebration of life rather than a poorly paid prostitute or chorus line dancer," she said.

As a gaiety girl, Ms Ireland occasionally does singing telegrams or participates in the Free Lunch street theatre group.

Electoral Enrolment Centre national manager Murray Wicks said listing an occupation was not compulsory for enrolling, but was encouraged because it helped to identify people and was useful in selecting lists of potential jurors.

"If people want to call themselves whatever, that's what they are, with one exception. If it is offensive it will be changed to 'not stated'."