Thomas Sainsbury

Thomas Sainsbury is a New Zealand actor, writer, comedian, and filmmaker. He began his career in theatre as an actor and playwright, before gaining widespread recognition in New Zealand from 2017 for his short-form comedy videos released on social media.

As a screenwriter and performer, Sainsbury has contributed to many local television shows, including Wellington Paranormal, and feature films Pork Pie and Loop Track. With Madeline Sami he co-wrote Super City, which won the SWANZ Scriptwriters Best Comedy Script Award in 2011.

His 2023 podcast Small Town Scandal won Podcast of the Year and Best Comedy Podcast at the 2024 New Zealand Radio & Podcast Awards. A television version was released in 2026.

Early life and education Thomas Sainsbury was born in Matamata, New Zealand, and is the youngest of three children. He was raised on a dairy farm and attended Matamata College. Sainsbury was encouraged in acting and drama by his parents, including at age 9, accompanying them to the Matamata Operatic Society rendition of Little Shop of Horrors. He was immediately inspired to write a sequel for his school assembly and thrived in the creative process of writing and performing it.

Career

Theatre Sainsbury established himself as a playwright in New Zealand, producing over 50 plays. Notable theatre works include And Then You Die, The Christmas Monologues, The Mall, Loser, A Simple Procedure, and Sunday Roast. Several of these plays have been performed internationally.

He has also written, co-written, and performed in numerous live comedy theatre productions, including The Opening Night Before Christmas, Infectious, Camping, D.O.C.ing, Giggly Gerties, Dynamotion, Gays in Space and Hauraki Horror. These productions frequently featured collaborations with other New Zealand comedians, including Kura Forrester, Brynley Stent and Chris Parker.

Sainsbury is a four-time winner of the Playmarket Young Playwright of the Year. He has also been a three-time finalist for the Bruce Mason Playwriting Award. His play The Canary won the Playmarket 2010 Special Prize for an Auckland Playwright.

As an actor, he has appeared in Shortland Street as Jason Kirkpatrick and in TV comedy series including Educators, Under the Vines, Sweet Tooth, and Wellington Paranormal. In 2020, Sainsbury co-wrote and starred in the horror comedy feature film Dead. He also appeared in Pork Pie. In 2023, he wrote, directed and starred in the horror film Loop Track.

Comedian Sainsbury has worked as a comedian in New Zealand since 2014..

From 2017, Sainsbury gained widespread recognition for short-form comedy videos released on social media, which combined character comedy with satire of New Zealand culture and public figures. His most viewed videos from this period featured impersonations of politicians, including Paula Bennett, Simon Bridges and Jacinda Ardern. These performances often made use of wigs, costumes, and Snapchat face-manipulation filters. While political impersonation formed a notable part of his early online output, Sainsbury later shifted focus toward broader character-based and narrative comedy.

His social media work earned widespread recognition, including being named the New Zealand Herald's Entertainment Hero of the Year in 2020. The same year, he released a non-fiction book called New Zealanders: A Field Guide, which expanded on characters developed in his online comedy and offered satirical descriptions of familiar New Zealand archetypes.

As a comedy personality, he has appeared on numerous New Zealand comedy panel shows and entertainment programmes including Jono and Ben, 7 Days, Have You Been Paying Attention?, The Masked Singer, Guy Montgomery's Guy Mont-Spelling Bee, and Taskmaster New Zealand. In 2021 and 2022, he appeared as a regular team captain on TVNZ's revival of Give Us a Clue and co-hosted the competitive cooking series Snack Masters.

In 2023, he received the Rielly Comedy Award from the Variety Artists Club of New Zealand for his contribution to New Zealand entertainment. That year, he also released the fictional comedy murder-mystery podcast series Small Town Scandal that was produced and distributed by New Zealand Media and Entertainment. In 2024, the series won both ‘Podcast of the Year’ and ‘Best Comedy Podcast’ at the New Zealand Radio & Podcast Awards, and was subsequently announced for television adaptation.

Personal life Sainsbury is openly gay. In interviews, he has spoken about his coming out and his experiences prior to publicly identifying as gay. He has also discussed his role as a sperm donor for a lesbian couple, describing his relationship with their children as similar to that of an uncle.

Awards Playmarket Young Playwright of the Year – Four-time winner (2001), (2003), (2005) and (2007) Bruce Mason Playwriting Award – Two-time Nominee (2008) and (2009) Aotearoa Film and Television Awards (2011) – Nominated for Best Script – Drama/Comedy (with Madeleine Sami): for Super City Aotearoa Film and Television Awards (2022) Best Comedy Script: for Wellington Paranormal, series four, Episode four New Zealand Radio & Podcast Awards (2024) – Podcast of the Year and Best Comedy Podcast for Small Town Scandal

Filmography Television Film