Cal Wilson - Funny As Interview

Funny As Interviews – 2019

After starting her career in improv comedy, Cal Wilson worked in the United States and made a name for herself in Australia. In this Funny As interview, the comedian and actor covered many subjects, including:

How learning improv comedy with The Court Jesters in Christchurch taught her to be funny and "really fearless"
The challenges of being a female comedian in the 1990s
The "trail by fire" of her first television job, Skitz, and making the move to Auckland
Recalling her worst comedy gig, where chicken drumsticks were thrown
How a comedy gig for Kiwi military serving in East Timor proved to be "life-changing"
Missing friend and fellow comedian Ewen Gilmour, who died in October 2014
Working in Australia for over 15 years — "I had to make the sheep joke first before everyone else did, so we’d get it out of the way"
How freedom of speech applies to both performer and audience — and the importance of not punching down in comedy
How her "useless skill" of chatting for a living has been worthwhile

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.

Skitz was a trial by fire. I would say napalm in fact . . . it was like the most brutal introduction to TV possible — but set me up for being unfazed by anything afterwards.
– Cal Wilson recalls working on 1990s sketch comedy show Skitz

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