logo
‘The fandom is quite intense': Guy Montgomery on the strange success of Guy Mont Spelling Bee

‘The fandom is quite intense': Guy Montgomery on the strange success of Guy Mont Spelling Bee

The Guardian03-06-2025

Guy Montgomery was an extremely annoying child. Each night at dinner, he would attempt to get his younger sister to laugh so hard she snorted out her food. One evening, when his parents had friends over, he spent the whole meal pretending to be a South African exchange student. 'My mum was like, 'He's not, he's my son,'' Montgomery says. 'She was chasing me around the table, laughing, and I ran to my bedroom. When she came in later I was asleep.'
He once read a joke book out loud all the way from Blenheim to Christchurch, a four-hour trip, telling zingers such as this one: 'How do you keep an ugly monster in suspense?'
'How?' I ask.
'I'll tell you tomorrow,' the now 36-year-old Montgomery says, and I don't know if I'm grinning because it's kind of funny or because he's so obviously delighted.
Needling loved ones to the point where they are frustrated but laughing – 'so that the annoyance has no power' – is a comedic styling that has propelled the New Zealand comedian's career and powered his popular game show Guy Montgomery's Guy Mont Spelling Bee, kicking off its second Australian season this week on ABC. The irreverent and absurd show contains various segments that give guests – including Rove McManus, Hannah Gadsby, Hamish Blake and Denise Scott – the chance to tell jokes while failing abysmally at spelling tasks that range from basic to impossible. Montgomery reigns over the resulting chaos like a kind of encyclopedic svengali. 'I describe myself as the protagonist and antagonist of the show,' Montgomery says. 'It's designed to be enjoyable to watch and irritating to take part in.'
Raised in Christchurch, Montgomery dipped into standup aged 22 when he was 'idling around' post-bachelor's degree. During the day, he worked as a mascot at agricultural shows, with stints as a popsicle, an orange bull and a peach-flavoured Bundaberg; at night he hit up local comedy clubs. He was already funny by then, he tells me, devoid of the self-effacement Kiwis are known for. 'I was funny basically the whole time,' he says, deadpan. 'I just didn't take it seriously. I got drunk and told a story and it went well, and I did the same thing again and it didn't. I had no control.'
Sign up for the fun stuff with our rundown of must-reads, pop culture and tips for the weekend, every Saturday morning
He needed to get better, but he didn't want people he knew watching, so he went to Canada – randomly chosen for ease of visa access – and hit the standup circuit in Toronto while working in hospitality, tallying his gigs in the same notebook he wrote his jokes in. 'It was kind of an extreme form of self-discipline,' he says.
That's when he started to learn how to get people to laugh. 'When I first started I was just copying Rhys Darby; they were my jokes, but I was in his cadence, and you overlay all of these influences until your own voice emerges,' he says. 'You're not being funny on your terms. You don't necessarily believe in what you're saying because you're just chasing the ability to make people laugh, and that's the addictive feeling. Over time, it goes from saying something you hope the audience will laugh at to saying something you know they'll laugh at.'
Returning to New Zealand in 2014, he won the Billy T award for the country's top emerging standup comedian. This led to a series of TV hosting gigs, during which he met and vibed with local comedian Tim Batt. Their podcast together, The Worst Idea of All Time, gave an indication of the kind of cult following Montgomery's comedy inspires, with 350 people filling a New York theatre in 2016 to watch him and Batt talk about Sex and the City 2, a film they had watched every week for a year.
Montgomery conceived The Guy Mont Spelling Bee in Auckland during Covid lockdown in 2020, inviting comedian friends and acquaintances – including Ayo Edebiri and Rose Matafeo – to join in on Zoom and stream the results on YouTube. 'I was always intrigued with the idea of spelling bees – there's all the pomp and pageantry,' he says. 'You'd watch the moderators reading out these quite ornate sentences just to get the word in there, and that's a pre-existing joke format.'
It spiralled out to a stage show, and in 2023 it was picked up by New Zealand's channel Three, after which Montgomery and co-writer Joseph Moore pitched it to the ABC with comedian Aaron Chen attached as co-host. Montgomery says having two seasons of the New Zealand show under their belt was an advantage, in that producers have mostly left them alone. 'Because it arrived fully formed, it means it's an accurate and total expression of a comedic instinct.' Some returning comedians are invited to help brainstorm new games for the show, but Montgomery and Moore are still the lead writers.
The recipe has proven a hit, generating rave reviews and lengthy Reddit threads. 'When people fall in love with the comedy format like this, the fandom is quite intense,' Montgomery says.
Sign up to Saved for Later
Catch up on the fun stuff with Guardian Australia's culture and lifestyle rundown of pop culture, trends and tips
after newsletter promotion
Fans often speculate how much work must go into the show's preparation. 'You do drive yourself crazy writing this many jokes,' Montgomery admits. 'But also I love that … I want it to feel like it's brimming or overstuffed, and for people to want to know what the joke [was] for a certain word that we didn't get to say.'
The handmade, retro feeling of the set is also intentional, to spark nostalgia and a childlike desire to walk in and touch everything. 'There's a comfort food quality to these shows,' Montgomery says. 'They don't reflect any of the crazy stuff that's happening, it's pure escapism.'
This might also account for the intergenerational audience, with kids coming to the show with their grandparents. 'I used to know what my audience demographic looked like but in Australia now it just looks like everyone,' he says.
Staff in this Wellington cafe recognise Montgomery because of his partner, the New Zealand actor Chelsie Preston Crayford, who was filming nearby last year. In Australia, people now stop him on the street; audiences for his standup shows have tripled. 'I'm experiencing success,' he says. 'In New Zealand, no one knows or cares.'
Initially, that popularity brought on anxiety and a kind of guilt, which he has talked to his therapist about. 'She said: 'You're looking over the ledge of what would happen if it went wrong and you think you're going to fall all the way down, but you've got all these years of practice and experience,' he says.
These days, he exudes the quiet confidence of someone who has found not only their calling but their gift: 'What I'm really good at, the means I have of helping the masses, is by being funny.'
Season two of Guy Montgomery's Guy Mont Spelling Bee premieres on ABC TV and iView on 4 June. Guy Montgomery is touring Australia through June and July.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Noel Edmonds, 76, reveals the weird quirk in his home which is actually an adorable tribute to his 'earth angel' wife Liz Davies, 55
Noel Edmonds, 76, reveals the weird quirk in his home which is actually an adorable tribute to his 'earth angel' wife Liz Davies, 55

Daily Mail​

time3 hours ago

  • Daily Mail​

Noel Edmonds, 76, reveals the weird quirk in his home which is actually an adorable tribute to his 'earth angel' wife Liz Davies, 55

Noel Edmonds has revealed there is a very weird quirk in his New Zealand home, where all his clocks are stopped at 11.06. But it's no mistake, and instead a very sweet tribute to his wife of 16 years. Speaking in his new show Noel Edmonds' Kiwi Adventure, the presenter, 76, revealed 11.06 is actually the time he met his wife Liz Davies, 55. The pair were first introduced in 2006 when she was his make up artist on Deal Or No Deal and they tied the knot three years later. 'Generally speaking, when you round here, see a clock at six minutes past 11, it's not broken,' Noel said. From A-list scandals and red carpet mishaps to exclusive pictures and viral moments, subscribe to the Daily Mail's new Showbiz newsletter to stay in the loop. Speaking in his new show Noel Edmonds' Kiwi Adventure, the presenter, 76, revealed 11.06 is actually the time he met his wife Liz Davies, 55 'That was the time on the sixth of October, 2006, yep, when my earth angel arrived and introduced herself.' Despite two previous failed marriages, and Noel saying he'd never tie the knot again, the television personality said he felt Liz's magnetic energy before they even met. Gushing about Liz, Noel said: 'Liz was sent to me. She is an earth angel, which I know some people will fall about laughing. I knew she was in the room before I turned around. I looked her and went, Oh, thank goodness, there you are, the sustenance of her energy is my lifeblood. I mean, it really is. 'You will never, ever pull us apart, because we are one. To find that in your life is a gift. 'I believe it's a gift from the cosmos. It was an unforgettable moment. So the clocks are there, the time of my life.' In response to her husband's kind words, Liz joked: 'I thought someone has got to look after him. Doing my little bit of care in the community.' ITV dropped a first look at Noel's new life abroad last week after quitting the UK and being replaced on Deal Or No Deal. The TV personality and radio presenter was best known for his stint hosting the Channel 4 game show from 2005 to 2016 when it ended, before its revival with Stephen Mulhern in 2023. ITV dropped a first look at Noel's new life abroad last week after quitting the UK and being replaced on Deal Or No Deal But after more than 50 years on British TV and radio, Noel left the UK in 2018 with his wife Liz to build a new life in New Zealand. They have now opened a hospitality business in the small rural, riverside town of Ngatimoti, which includes a vineyard, coffee cart, general store, restaurant and pub. And ITV has now given viewers a first look at his new reality show Noel Edmonds' Kiwi Adventure, set to launch on June 20 - which sees the presenter literally bare all. First-look images of the programme show Noel stripping down to show off his toned physique, seemingly to enter a kind of plunge pool. Other pictures show Noel and Liz at work on their business, known as River Haven, with one depicting them outside its on-site pub, cheekily named The B***er Inn. With some showing them beaming, and others seeing them in deep, serious conversation, it suggests their entrepreneurial journey has not always been smooth. The couple only bought the land for their business two years ago - so it is only just now entering its second full season of trading. And Noel admits in the first-look trailer: 'New Zealand's a great place to come to. It's not the easiest place to set up a business.' The veteran presenter also confesses at another point in the clip: 'We're haemorrhaging money at the moment.' Not only are they trying to get their existing business up and running, Noel will also strive to build New Zealand's first energy garden in the upcoming show. It is a lot of pressure after moving 11,500 miles away - and the programme will see the couple battle unseasonal weather, bad press and feelings of still being outsiders. It remains to be seen whether they will survive the challenges life down under throws at them.

‘Stupider than everyone else': one comic's semi-naked bid to perform dozens of Penguin novels
‘Stupider than everyone else': one comic's semi-naked bid to perform dozens of Penguin novels

The Guardian

time9 hours ago

  • The Guardian

‘Stupider than everyone else': one comic's semi-naked bid to perform dozens of Penguin novels

Comedy smash-hits come in all shapes and sizes. You've got your standup, your sketch – and then there are those shows in which semi-naked Australians impersonate penguins to dramatise the western literary canon. Such is Garry Starr: Classic Penguins by 43-year-old goofball Damien Warren-Smith, which delighted Edinburgh last summer, then hoovered up awards on the Australian festival circuit. After winning the prestigious Best Show gong at Melbourne's Comedy festival ('for me that's a Commonwealth gold,' says Warren-Smith, 'and Edinburgh's the Olympics'), this unlike-anything-else comedy set is now returning to the UK, picked up by fringe super-producer Francesca (Fleabag) Moody and expanded for bigger audiences. The show, which animates a bookshelf full of Penguin classics in 60 minutes, is not a complete departure for its host. Yet another graduate of celebrated French clown school Ecole Philippe Gaulier, Warren-Smith's first stunt was to showcase every theatre style in under an hour (Garry Starr Performs Everything, 2018), and his second was to bring all of Greek mythology to life in the same timeframe. It's a simple formula, as he admits: 'Choose a highbrow topic that most people know quite a lot about, then just get it wrong – which makes me stupider than everybody else.' Garry, according to his creator, isn't a character, he's just 'the most enthusiastic but slightly less intelligent version of myself. He's like me if I had no inhibitions.' In Classic Penguins, that 'eternal optimist and over-reacher' turns his attention towards great books. Clad in tailcoat, flippers and alarmingly little else, our lanky host performs one inexplicable stunt onstage after another – then explains them by revealing the title of the next book off his paperback pile. 'I was in a Perth bookshop two years ago,' he says, 'and happened to notice those beautiful, aesthetically appealing orange and cream spines on the shelf, and the penny dropped. I was like, 'Oh my God, it's got to be [my next show].' I called my producer straight away. I then put together a list of over 100 books, and went through it giving them the Garry treatment. What is the one thing I know about this book already? Frankenstein builds a monster, say. And what could Garry get wrong about it?' Watching the show, the pleasure is intense as you puzzle out Garry's doofus misinterpretation, what bizarre visual gag or literary pun is now unfolding in front of you. But what flips the show from bookish brain-tease into raise-the-roof party-comedy is the involvement of its audience. 'I never made a conscious decision to push things as far as I could [with audience participation],' says Warren-Smith, on Zoom from Oz. 'But being on my own, I wanted to play with people.' Being on his own wasn't always the plan: Warren-Smith has variously worked as an actor, and as part of the clown troupe A Plague of Idiots. His solo career began, reluctantly, when they disbanded. 'So now, if I had an idea for a scene that needed two people – well, I couldn't pay someone to be a plant. So I'd just ask audience members to help.' In Classic Penguins, spectators are duly invited to be shot, tied to the floor, to manhandle our naked host, and join him in bringing Rudyard Kipling's Jungle Book to very improbable life. That latter scene is one of Warren-Smith's favourites, for reasons I can't reveal without spoilers. Another is his Wind in the Willows skit, the 'puerile' (his word) content of which you can probably guess. 'There's about 30% of the audience who just can't control themselves after that.' What concerns its creator, now the show (and his career) is scaling up, is whether he can keep his percentages that high. 'When I saw Ricky Gervais in a stadium, it was completely un-thrilling. If the only way to make money is live, and you have to get bigger to do it – or stay smaller and charge more – that doesn't interest me. I'd rather continue to make work my way and not be famous or wealthy.' I suspect there might be a middle way, for an act – and a show – whose potency certainly won't be limited to small rooms. That would be good news for Warren-Smith, because 'for 45 minutes after every show as Garry, I am just buzzing. Every single show, I have to pinch myself, because when I was an actor I never found that kind of freedom and pleasure.' But if all else fails, Classic Penguins may have opened up other professional avenues. 'On the last night in Edinburgh, this woman came up to me and said, 'Have you read all these books? Do you read a lot? Would you be interested in being a judge for the Booker prize?' I was like, 'Aah, yeah, sure. Drop me an email!' Thinking this was maybe a crazy person.' He's since been told it was legit. 'And had I not dismissed it quite so much,' he says, just a little wistfully, 'maybe I could be a Booker judge by now …' Classic Penguins is at Soho theatre, London, from 14-26 July, then at Underbelly George Square, Edinburgh, from 30 July to 24 August

Brazilian comedian jailed for eight years for offensive jokes
Brazilian comedian jailed for eight years for offensive jokes

Telegraph

time10 hours ago

  • Telegraph

Brazilian comedian jailed for eight years for offensive jokes

A Brazilian comedian has been sentenced to more than eight years in prison for telling offensive jokes. Léo Lins was found guilty of inciting intolerance with a 2022 stand-up routine that made fun of black people, indigenous people, fat people, gay people, Jews, evangelicals, disabled people and those with HIV. During the performance, which was uploaded to YouTube and has more than three million views, Lins told a 4,000-strong crowd in Curitiba, in southern Brazil: 'Prejudice, to me, is a primitive thing that shouldn't exist any more. Just like indigenous people. Enough already.' Wearing a bright red shirt and yellow trousers, he warned the audience that he 'jokes about everything and everyone'. 'I hired an interpreter so I could offend the deaf' He told them: 'What show could be more inclusive? I even hired a sign language interpreter just to be able to offend the deaf-mute.' However, a judge in the São Paulo state criminal court last week found that his act amounted to 'practising' or 'inciting' racism and religious intolerance, as well as being discriminatory towards disabled people. Judge Barbara de Lima Iseppi said that 'freedom of expression is not absolute nor unlimited' and 'when there is a confrontation between the fundamental precept of liberty of expression and the principles of human dignity and judicial equality, the latter should win out'. The judge imposed a total jail sentence of eight years and three months, which Lins intends to appeal against. Lins's targets were not limited to minorities and those with disabilities. 'I'm totally against paedophilia – I'm more in favour of incest,' he told the audience, who roared with laughter throughout the set. 'If you're going to abuse a child, abuse your own. What's he going to do? Tell his dad?' The comedian remains free pending the appeal, and continues to post messages and videos to his more than 4.5 million followers on social media. On Monday, he posted a photograph of his 'prison kit', which included a packet of cigarettes and a pair of handcuffs. His legal team has described the sentence as a threat to freedom of speech and an attempt to 'criminalise comedy'. 'It seems like people have lost the ability to interpret the obvious,' said Lins. 'We're living through one of the biggest epidemics of our time: rational blindness. Judgments are now based entirely on emotion – no one listens any more, they only want to impose their own truth.' New drive to enforce hate speech laws in Brazil On top of the prison sentence, he has been ordered to pay a fine of 300,000 reais (£40,000) in collective moral damages. Brazil has had anti-hate speech laws on the books for years, but has only recently begun to aggressively enforce them. The Washington Post reported that Jamil Assis of the Sivis Institute, a Brazilian free speech think tank, said there has been an increase in 'modern judges' who are removing protections historically granted to satirical speech. Lins's conviction has been criticised by sections of Brazilian society, including journalists, free speech advocates, conservative politicians and other comedians. But others have defended the decision to jail him. Fábio de Sá Cesnik, a lawyer with the Brazilian law firm CQS/F, told the Folha de newspaper that there must be some limits on free speech. 'Harming the dignity of someone else is equally important,' he said.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store