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Abby Howells
Abigail Mai Howells is a New Zealand comedian, actor, and writer. She was the winner of the Billy T Award in 2023. Early life and educationHowells was born in and grew up in Dunedin, New Zealand.[2][3] She attended an all-girls high school, where she acted in school productions of The Wizard of Oz as the Cowardly Lion and in Seussical as Horton the Elephant.[4] She received a bachelor of arts in film and media studies from the University of Otago, and a masters in creative writing (specifically screenwriting[3]) from Victoria University of Wellington's International Institute of Modern Letters in 2014. At Victoria, she wrote the screenplay Standing Up, which won the Brad McGann Award.[5] Howells completed a PhD in theatre studies from the University of Otago;[6] her thesis, titled "Performing Prison: How Is Life on the Inside Portrayed to the Outside World?",[1] explored how incarcerated women are portrayed in film and television.[7] CareerHowells was a founding member of Discharge, a female comedy collective.[8][5] She served as head writer for the group, penning the shows What is This? Woman's Hour? (2012),[9] Benedict Cumberbatch Must Die (2014),[10] and 28 Days: A Period Piece (2015).[5][11] In 2014, Howells wrote Crossbow Cat, which won the Auckland Festival's Judges' Choice and People's Choice awards, and audio play The Crash in 2015, which aired on Radio New Zealand.[12] She presented her solo show Glocknid: Dwarf Warrior in 2014, which won the Best Newcomer Award at the 2015 Wellington International Comedy Festival.[5][13] She portrayed Beatrix in Trick of the Light Theatre's Beards Beards Beards, which toured the United Kingdom,[11] and her play Attila the Hun was part of the 2017 Young and Hungry Festival.[5] In 2018 she performed White Men at the Dunedin Fringe Festival.[12] Howells acted in Fold by Jo Randerson in 2018, and The Bald Soprano in 2019.[14][15] After starting stand-up in her 20s, Howells quit comedy for seven years following sexual harassment from another comedian and bad experiences with on-stage harassment;[2][16] during this period she completed her PhD.[3] Howells's show HarleQueen, inspired by her experiences as a woman in comedy, won the Director's Award at the New Zealand International Comedy Festival in 2021;[2] she also performed the show at Edinburgh Fringe.[3] In 2023 at the NZICF, she wrote and performed La Soupco, which is "based on a screenplay Howells wrote when she was 11 years old ... a post-World War II nautical-themed romance set in Spain for little reason, where the characters don't have names".[17] For the show, Howells won the Billy T Award.[2][6][16][13][18] The New Zealand Herald wrote that La Soupco "strikes a wonderful balance between a theatrical concept and traditional stand-up".[17] In 2024, Howells and Angella Dravid formed an improv group called The Improfessionals and performed at the NZICF.[19] On television, Howells has appeared on 7 Days, Guy Montgomery's Guy Mont-Spelling Bee, Shortland Street, and Taskmaster New Zealand.[3][20][21] She also acted in the Netflix film The Royal Treatment (2022).[12] Howells directed the second season of comedy podcast Did Titanic Sink?, hosted by Tim Batt and Carlo Ritchie.[22] She has been a guest on Backyard Stories with Claudia Nankervis and The Worst Idea of All Time.[12] She has cited Blackadder and Jerry Seinfeld as influences.[6] As of 2024[update], Howells is repped by Token.[12] Personal lifeHowells is open about being autistic, explaining that "It takes the pressure off me a little bit. I can really relax and just be myself ... I don't have to process everything I do through a 'would a 'normal' person say this?' lens."[23][24] She is interested in the Titanic disaster.[22] As of 2024[update], Howells is in a relationship with Robbie Nichol.[3] References
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