Michèle A'Court

Michèle Edith A'Court (born 1961) is a New Zealand comedian, writer and feminist. She has toured New Zealand and international venues with her standup comedy shows and in 2010 was awarded the Female Comedian of the Decade at the NZ Comedy Guild Awards. A'Court has appeared in many TV shows since the late 1980s including What Now, 7Days and The Project. She is a regular columnist with The Spinoff and the author of two books. She was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to the entertainment and comedy industries, in the 2023 New Year Honours.

Biography A'Court trained in journalism, and has a degree in English literature and drama from Victoria University of Wellington. In the mid-1980s she worked as a TVNZ publicist. She then got a job as a host on children's television show What Now starting in 1987. She saw comedy as a vehicle for social activism as a feminist as well as making people feel 'better about life'. When she was young was inspired by the comedy of Danny Kaye and Carol Burnett. When she started doing stand-up comedy in the 1990s there were very few women. A'Court acknowledged in 2022 the fight for women to get a fairer representation as performers was continuing and also recognised that comedy billing that used to be often one woman per show only, are now often a 50:50 ratio. A'Court supported the comedy industry of New Zealand by establishing the New Zealand Comedy Guild and she was the chairperson from 1999 to 2006. and Friday Laughs in 2022 alongside her husband, comedian Jeremy Elwood. A'Court has written guest columns for Stuff and is a guest writer for The Spinoff.

Books

Stuff I Forgot To Tell My Daughter (2015) Foreword – Funny As: The Story of New Zealand Comedy

Selected screenography

L&P Top Town (1986) Final Female Comedian of the Decade (2010) New Zealand Comedy Awards (NZ Comedy Guild) Nominated – Best Presenter: Entertainment (2020) (with Leonie Hayden and Alex Casey): On the Rag New Zealand Television Awards

Personal life A'Court lives in Auckland and is married to comedian Jeremy Elwood.