Skip to main content
Sign in

Debbie Dorday - Funny As Interview

2019
Interview Group
Funny As
TV series Funny As: The Story of New Zealand Comedy draws on interviews with dozens of comedy talents. Check out dozens of extended interviews captured for the 2019 Augusto series, including new anecdotes and asides.

Debbie Dorday is best known for her cabaret shows, where she performed as both a dancer and a comedian. In this Funny As interview, Debbie chats about her life and career, including:

  • Learning to dance at the age of three, by sneaking into dance lessons without her parents knowing
  • Attending an English stage school instead of the ballet school her father thought she was attending
  • Dancing with the Moulin Rouge company, and touring Europe in the late 1960s
  • Almost encountering a man with a knife, as she walked to her car after a show in Auckland
  • Launching cabaret club Burgundy's, and how her past experience as a dancer helped her in the role

Copyright

This interview was recorded for 2019 TV series Funny As: The Story of New Zealand Comedy. All audiovisual content is copyright to Augusto, and may not be reproduced. Publication of Funny As extended interviews made possible with funding from the NZ Lotteries Grants Board.