
Australian Comedian Andrew Hamilton Embarks On First New Zealand Tour
In response to growing demand, Australian online comedy star, ANDREW HAMILTON will tour New Zealand for the very first time this June with his award-nominated, critically acclaimed debut show ' Jokes About the Time I Went to Prison '.
Andrew will perform a select run of dates in Auckland, Wellington, Tauranga, Christchurch and Whatawhata (in the Waikato). The New Zealand shows will kick off Andrew's extended international tour with dates soon to be announced.
Tickets are on sale now head to ALIST.COM.AU
In 2021, Andrew spent four months in two of Sydney's maximum-security prisons for the supply of psychedelic drugs. While incarcerated, Andrew began noticing the transportive power of laughter. After all, if a joke can make you forget you're in prison, what else can it do? Upon his release from prison, Andrew took up stand-up comedy, initially under strict bail conditions where his parents had to come with him to shows, and he had to be home in time for curfew.
One year later, Andrew's debut solo show, 'Jokes About the Time I Went to Prison', garnered him critical acclaim, along with a nomination for 'Best Newcomer' at the renowned Melbourne International Comedy Festival in 2023.
Following the success of 'Jokes About the Time …' Andrew performed sold-out festival shows in 2024 with his follow-up comedy ' Shit Bloke'.
He then embarked on his first solo headline tour later that year, entertaining packed-out rooms all around Australia. The tour aligned with the widely publicised release of Andrew's autobiography, ' The Profound Benefits of a Stint in Prison' (Affirm Press).
Andrew's viral online appearances have attracted over a billion views, and earned him an international following, initially as a member of the viral YouTube channel, YeahMadTV, and now with The OG Crew.
For a unique night of comedy, don't miss Andrew Hamilton this June.
Wednesday, June 11 – WHATAWHATA – The Backyard Gastropub
Thursday, June 12 – AUCKLAND – The Tuning Fork
Friday, June 13 – TAURANGA – 16th Avenue Theatre
Saturday, June 14 – PETONE – Abandoned Taproom
Sunday, June 15 – CHRISTCHURCH – Space Academy
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Newsroom
3 hours ago
- Newsroom
Sky taking the reins at Three makes sense for everyone
Comment: TV3 was New Zealand's first privately owned television station but in 35 years of operation it has lost well north of $1 billion in total for a string of local and overseas owners. While it produced some great TV it was also a great destroyer of shareholder value. The latest owner, US giant Warner Bros. Discovery finally cried enough and gave it away to Sky for less than you'd tip a waiter. Warners must have been close to shutting the doors on what was left of the local TV network after previously gutting the operation and contracting out its 6pm news production to Stuff. It may have stemmed the bleeding, but it clearly had no appetite for the investment required to keep the channel competitive. After buying the TV operation in 2020 (minus its only real asset – a large building and adjacent properties on Auckland's city fringe) for $20 million Warners lost hundreds of millions trying to keep a channel that produced some local shows, including news and (light) current affairs, afloat. In the end, it left a shell of a station (programmes are put to air from a control room in Sterling, Virginia) playing mainly reality shows. Sky has always been the logical owner of Three, but it has been smart enough not be sucked into paying over the odds for a free-to-air broadcaster in a small and declining market dominated by a state-owned network. There have been plenty of discussions between Sky and TV3's owners over the years, and at least one formal offer, which was turned down by the private equity funds that controlled MediaWorks (TV3's parent company at the time). Then CEO of Sky, John Fellet, dryly and correctly remarked at the time 'I think I've dodged a bullet.' One Australian private equity fund paid about $800 million for the business but lumbered the company with $700 million in debt. The banks moved in (not for the first time) and tipped MediaWorks into the hands of the receivers in 2013. A new set of private equity owners struggled along and lost hundreds of millions before selling up in 2020. No doubt Sky would have, once more, run the ruler over the TV operation at this point. It would have come up with a price tag of $1 but Michael Anderson (former MediaWorks CEO) pulled off a genius move and convinced US-based Discovery to pay $20 million for the TV assets. Discovery later merged with Warners – both companies enjoyed long-term relationships with Sky. From the beginning, Discovery seemed devoid of a strategy. The writing was on the screen when Warners left its major hits like Game of Thrones, White Lotus and other popular programmes on Sky channels. These shows could've transformed Three and seriously hurt TVNZ but clearly Warner Bros. felt it could make more money leaving them at Sky. The enduring relationship with Sky has clearly played a role in Warners giving Three to its local ally. Sky CEO Sophie Maloney told Newstalk ZB's Mike Hosking that she and her Warners counterpart (based in Singapore) had been discussing various options for Three off and on for about two years. Maloney also indicated that despite all of Warners' restructuring of the business and the deal with Stuff to supply it with a cut-price news service, Three was still unprofitable. Maloney's rock-steady confidence around the deal has been reassuring for Sky shareholders and, under questioning from a skeptical Hosking, she was unequivocal that TV3 would return to profit under Sky's management. Her optimism has been shared by share broking analysts with one predicting the deal might be worth $48 million to Sky. Sky says it has locked in a supply of Warner programmes for Three and judging by Maloney's confidence around profitability it is likely to be at a very good price. The synergies and value that Sky can bring to Three have always been obvious. Its sales and marketing team will take over the free-to-air inventory and add it to the advertising spots it's selling on the pay TV channels. Having more eyeballs available to advertisers will help it compete, and possibly give it an edge over TVNZ and other media companies. Three will also be a handy vehicle to promote Sky's own channels and subscription products. More rugby and cricket on Three will boost its ratings and Sky might also decide to migrate the best programmes from Sky Open (formerly Prime) to its new free-to-air platform. This would allow it to shut Sky Open, which is likely to have been losing millions annually. Sky has had to persist with its loss-making channel, so it could guarantee a free-to-air outlet for sport. That problem is now solved. Hosking put it to Maloney that TVNZ was now 'dead in the water' in terms of sport but the Sky CEO diplomatically suggested that certain segments of TVNZ's audience might be attractive enough to keep it in the hunt. NZ on Air will also find Sky a more attractive owner of Three than Warner Bros. While the reach of a platform rather than its owner should be the major factor in funding local shows for a network, there had to be some unease about giving millions in public money to an American corporate giant that has been rapidly reducing its staff and financial commitment to local programming. Will Sky look to up the level of quality programming (local and international) on Three? It's hard to know. Any significant cash investment in shows, unless they are a spectacular ratings success, is hard to recoup in this market. Warners and previous owners of Three have found out the hard way. Sky might be interested in a modest investment given its zero-capital outlay. It will want to stall the decline of the linear audience as much as it can while it builds up the on-demand platform, ThreeNow. Maloney described ThreeNow, which has been growing audiences, as a jewel in the crown. She will have a decision to make when Three's contract with Stuff to produce a 6pm news bulletin ends. The contract may have one, but most likely two, years to go. Sky will probably want a better product while Stuff will want more money. It might be an opportunity to move to a 30-minute, higher-quality bulletin. Before Warner Bros. shut its own news division (Newshub), it had, for many years, produced a nightly 30-minute news bulletin for Prime (Sky Open). It was a point of difference in the market and one of Prime's strongest performing shows.


Otago Daily Times
5 days ago
- Otago Daily Times
Collaboration driver in taking conducting route
Ben Bayl is on his first visit to Dunedin to conduct the Dunedin Symphony Orchestra. PHOTOS: SUPPLIED Ben Bayl has gone from pianist to organist to conductor as he discovered the joys of working in a team. He talks to Rebecca Fox from his home in Budapest about his journey. A common held cliche of conductors as dictatorial figures is becoming a thing of the past, says Australian conductor Ben Bayl. He believes it is far more rewarding to be a positive collaborator with the musicians he is leading. "I think the people skills are an essential part of the job, and it's something which I really kind of enjoy, meeting new people, working with new musicians, as it will be in Dunedin." Bayl will conduct the Dunedin Symphony Orchestra for the first time in two performances of "Sublime Schubert" this weekend on his first visit to the lower South Island. With only a week to meet the DSO's musicians and prepare for the concert, it is a tight turnaround which is normal for symphony performances. "It's like a first date with 60 people at once, and they make up their minds very quickly. So the first impression is very important." So while Bayl does not find he gets nervous before performances, that first meeting with a new orchestra can be a bit nerve-racking. "Sometimes the very first rehearsal with a new orchestra I do like to get out of the way just so you establish that bond and begin to work together. "I've heard lots of amazing things about the orchestra, so I'm really looking forward to meeting." Bayl has arrived in New Zealand from Budapest where he lives with his Hungarian wife and two preschool daughters. He will fit in a visit to his family in Sydney, where he was born and grew up, as well as a performance with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra in Hobart on this trip. The travel is part of the job, especially given Bayl likes to return to Australia whenever possible, although he tries not be away from home for more than a fortnight at a time and if the job requires a longer stay, he often brings his family along with him. Last year the family came out to Brisbane with him for his season with Opera Queensland which required him to be there for eight weeks. "I guess it was like having a regular day job." It was a special project for Bayl as it included Australian acrobatic company Circa, combining acrobatics and opera, in the story of Dido and Aeneas. "It was a lot of fun. I quite enjoy these ideas of mixing different artistic worlds like opera and acrobatics. You wouldn't naturally put them together but someone had the genius idea to try it and I think it worked really well." Mixing things up is something Bayl has done a bit of in his life after starting out playing piano aged 4. "There was music in the family, we had a piano at home. My dad couldn't read music but could kind of play anything by ear and my mum had an aunt who was a piano teacher." Bayl and his three younger siblings were encouraged to give everything a go, so along with piano Bayl played cricket. "For me, it was the music that stuck, I think and I was also lucky, even at primary school there was a really good music teacher and a little concert band so I actually played the saxophone as well." Ben Bayl looks to create a positive collaboration with the musicians he leads. Then when he went to high school, he wanted to join the orchestra, so started playing the flute. "I wasn't really good at the flute. I couldn't get a decent sound out of it and I ended up being transferred to the percussion section because I could play xylophone and vibraphone and marimba because they were set up like a piano keyboard." It was then he started reading orchestral scores, having plenty of time in between the percussions calls to play. Bayl believes having inspiring teachers and mentors in that time encouraged his continued interest in music. Around this time he became interested in organ and choir music. However, he never actually wanted to be a professional musician and applied to study law at university. With his place secured, he decided instead to do a gap year, heading to England where he taught piano, travelled and "did the gap year thing". Then he received the opportunity to be the first Australian Organ Scholar of King's College Cambridge. "This is the point where I thought perhaps I should take this seriously so I never did begin the law degree." During this time he did a lot of work with choirs and singers which led to his interest in conducting. "So actually after university I kind of moved away from the organ and church music and went more towards opera, theatre world, orchestras, conducting, and this side of musical life." He had begun to realise he was not that excited about being a soloist. "I guess I loved the team nature of music. I loved the collaborative nature of opera and playing in an orchestra which I did a lot as a harpsichordists and keyboard player. I just loved the feeling of being on stage with other musicians, creating something together." So conducting offered him the opportunity to be involved in team-building and teamwork. Bayl then studied conducting at London's National Opera Studio and Royal Academy of Music. "Opera, of course, music is just one side of everything that's going on. If you think also about the dramatic action, lights, costumes, stage, it's something which you create, which music is an important part of. So I just really enjoy that process." It's not an easy path to choose. First Bayl took apprenticeship roles with experienced conductors. He was appointed Assistant Conductor to Ivan Fischer at the Budapest Festival Orchestra and the Konzerthausorchester Berlin. He also assisted Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Yannick Nezet-Seguin, Daniel Harding and Richard Hickox with ensembles such as the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Orchestre Revolutionnaire et Romantique and Mahler Chamber Orchestra. "That's also a very good way to learn what to do or indeed what not to do in some cases. So I think that vocational side of it is really important, because the thing really with conducting is that you can't just practice in front of a mirror. It's a reactive activity, and I believe you can only learn by doing and practice by doing." That is what makes conducting difficult, he says. "You need the hours in front of musicians to hone your craft." Having and developing people skills is an important part of that journey, Bayl believes but it is often one not taught in conducting courses. Working as a freelance conductor, Bayl has found the music world in Europe to be 90% recovered from the turbulence that Covid-19 wrecked on the industry. "Its more or less back to where it was, but I think there is a little bit more caution in terms of long-term forward planning and programming. It's just taken a long time for the ecosystem to recover. There is more uncertainty." On the positive side, if you can look at it that way, Bayl says is that people seem to appreciate live music much more now than they did in the past. "You can't match that feeling of being in the room." For Bayl there was no safety net or proper financial support during those times and his wife was pregnant with their first baby when Covid hit. Having both Australian and Netherlands passports, thanks to his father, Bayl was able to move between countries. So they visited Australia twice in 2021 for concert performances going through hotel quarantine both times. Those experiences made him think more about his career as a whole so he did some online training in leadership management. "I looked at just broadening my skills beyond the podium and used the time to upskill as well." These days he has a full schedule. Once he returns from Australasia he has concerts with the Warsaw Chamber Opera and the Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra followed by concerts in Amsterdam and Stuttgart. "No two days are the same really. I would say that working with orchestras is a bit different to opera because with an orchestra, with a symphonic programme, it's usually contained within a week. Opera's a bit different, especially if it's a new production, because it tends to take up more like five to seven weeks." One of his more recent highlights has been La Fest in Stuttgart, an opera which is a festival of baroque music and dance. It was about how human's celebrate events in their lives both happy and sad. Bayl, a choreographer and director, spent 18 months creating the work. "It was a very unusual show with the orchestra on the stage and 48 different pieces of music from 30 different composers and that was a huge project which is still going." He puts his interest in baroque music down to his time playing the organ and working with church choirs as they performed a lot of old music on historic instruments or copies of. "For me its an interesting sound world like being able to recreate a sound that those composers would have been familiar with which is different to the sound of a modern orchestra because the instruments have changed and developed in many ways, especially the strings. "So when I do Baroque music with a modern symphony orchestra like we do some Handel fireworks music next week I do try with the orchestra to explore as much achieving that sound world with the modern instruments as we can." Bayl is also the founder of the Australian Romantic and Classical Orchestra, although he no longer works with it, and is involved with English group the Hanover Band, an orchestra that plays on historic instruments music from the classical period. "We actually did a very big project in the pandemic. We recorded all the Beethoven symphonies for digital video broadcast basically in two weeks." When not working with companies, he finds there is plenty of work to do learning new music and preparing for upcoming concerts. And while he has a manager there is still work involved as there is with any small business. "You have to be your own accountant, publicity, logistics. It's like running a small business for one which is also what they don't teach at college. I feel like conductors should have an economics degree, a psychology degree, a music degree and a lot of experience and then you can start to get somewhere." Bayl, who is in his mid-40s, says there is always things to learn in the job whether it is how to do things better or interpret a score in a different way. "I think that's true especially with conducting. I think the amount of experience is really, really important and I always feel that there's more to know. There's always more to learn. There's always more depth to something and I think that should not be underestimated." TO SEE Sublime Schubert Dunedin Symphony Orchestra, July 19, 5pm. July 20, 3pm, King's and Queen's Performing Arts Centre.


The Spinoff
6 days ago
- The Spinoff
The Unity Books bestseller chart for the week ending July 18
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books' stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington. AUCKLAND 1 Better the Blood by Michael Bennett (Simon & Schuster, $27) Aotearoa writer Michael Bennett's 2023 crime novel boosted his profile overseas with the likes of Val McDermid blurbing it. Curious to see it back up on top this week (and unseating the former prime minister's memoir!). 2 Wonderland by Tracy Farr (Cuba Press, $38) Wellington novelist Tracy Farr cracks Auckland's bestseller list! Here's the blurb: 'Te Motu Kairangi Miramar Peninsula, Wellington 1912. Doctor Matti Loverock spends her days and nights bringing babies into the world, which means her daughters – seven-year-old triplets Ada, Oona and Hanna – have grown up at Wonderland, the once-thriving amusement park owned by their father, Charlie. Then a grieving woman arrives to stay from the other side of the world, in pain and incognito, fleeing scandal. She ignites the triplets' curiosity and brings work for Matti, diverting them all from what is really happening at Wonderland. In a bold reimagining, Marie Curie – famous for her work on radioactivity – comes to Aotearoa and discovers both solace and wonder.' 3 Polkinghorne: Inside the Trial of the Century by Steve Braunias (Allen & Unwin, $38) Australian might be obsessed with the mushroom lady, but we're still hung up on Polk. 4 A Different Kind of Power by Jacinda Ardern (Penguin, $60) Unseated! 5 My Three Rivers by Shirley Metcalfe (Cuba Press, $38) Charming memoir of rural life. 6 Tackling the Hens by Mary McCallum (Cuba Press, $25) Another Wellingtonian! Local hero Mary McCallum's poetry is witty, sharp and warm. 7 Strange Pictures by Uketsu (Pushkin Press, $37) The latest blockbuster to come out of Japan – a chilling murder mystery that readers can't put down. 8 Butter by Asako Yuzuki (4th Estate, $35) The book that paved the way for Strange Pictures, above. 9 The River is Waiting by Wally Lamb (Simon & Schuster, $40) What is the river waiting for? 10 1985 by Dominic Hoey (Penguin, $38) The Spinoff's Lyric Waiwiri-Smith and Claire Mabey had a chat about how much they liked this novel, and why. Here's a snippet: 'I [Lyric] love the love for Grey Lynn that runs through the book as well. He writes about that suburb with so much care, like you know Obi has haunted every street corner and still wholeheartedly believes this is the only place on Earth that feels like home. I can smell the vinegar factory and mildew on the pages. I kind of wonder whether these characters and their shameless habits might be a bit garish for a reader who wants to read some kind of underdog story, where Obi does find the treasure and suddenly everything is fixed, or dad gets his shit together and publishes his poems. But, like Grey Lynn, some things mostly just stay the same forever.' WELLINGTON 1 A Different Kind of Power by Jacinda Ardern (Penguin, $60) 2 A Voice for the Silenced by Harry Walker ($35) A powerful collection of writing by incarcerated people. 3 M ātauranga Māori by Hirini Moko Mead (Huia, $45) An essential book for anyone keen to understand what mātauranga means and how it operates. 4 Stone & Sky #10 Rivers Of London by Ben Aaronvitch (Orion Books, $38) A brand new novel in the bestselling detective series. 5 The Book of Guilt by Catherine Chidgey (Te Herenga Waka University Press, $38) A propulsive novel that asks major questions about our very souls – a guaranteed great read. 6 Tūmahi Māori: A Pathway to Understanding Māori Verbs by Hone Waengarangi Morris (Massey University Press, $45) Grammar! A new essential resource for te reo Māori learners. 7 The Safe Keep by Yael van der Wouden (Penguin, $26) Wonderful historical novel about how houses hold histories, and people, too. 8 James by Percival Everett (Picador, $38) This retelling of Huckleberry Finn is one of the biggest novels of the decade. 9 No, I Don't Get Danger Money: Confessions of an Accidental War Correspondent by Lisette Reymer (Allen & Unwin, $38) Absolutely thrilling memoir from Aotearoa's Lisette Reymer. You can get a whiff of it by reading Reymer's edition of My Life in TV right here on The Spinoff. 10 Oceans Between Us: Pacific Peoples and Racism in Aotearoa edited by Sereana Naepi (Auckland University Press, $40) 'Through ten essays rooted in the va – the relational space of story, dialogue and environment – each chapter builds on the next, weaving together lived experiences and sharp Between Us is both a testimony and a call to action. It documents the struggles of Pacific peoples and envisions a world beyond now. A rallying cry for justice, a demand for equity and a catalyst for change, this book is not about survival alone – it' s about thriving.'