Michèle A'Court

Michèle Edith A'Court ONZM (born 1961)[1] 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.

Michèle A'Court

ONZM
A smiling woman looking into the camera, with brown eyes, long dark hair and fringe, wearing round black glasses and a denim jacket over a spotted orange blouse.
A'Court in 2018
Born1961 (age 61–62)
EducationVictoria University of Wellington
Occupations
  • Comedian
  • writer
SpouseJeremy Elwood
Children1
Awards
  • Female Comedian of the Decade at the New Zealand Comedy Awards 2010
  • VAC Reilly Award for Excellence in Comedy (2015)

Biography

A'Court trained in journalism, and has a degree in English literature and drama from Victoria University of Wellington.[2] In the mid-1980s she worked as a TVNZ publicist.[3] She then got a job as a host on children's television show What Now starting in 1987.[4] 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.[5] 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 now comedy billing that used to be often one women per show are now often a 50:50 ratio.[5] In stand-up A'Court has toured New Zealand and performed around the world including Las Vegas, Edinburgh, and Vancouver.[6] 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.[5]

Since 2009 A'Court regularly appears on the comedy TV show 7Days and since 2018 has been a regular host on the current affairs programme The Project (both on the New Zealand Three TV channel).[7] Some recent stand-up comedy performances include headlining Mt Eden Comedy with Michele A'Court in 2015,[8] and Friday Laughs in 2022 alongside her husband, comedian Jeremy Elwood.[6]

A'Court has written two books. Her first book, Stuff I Forgot To Tell My Daughter (2015), was based on her stand-up comedy show of the same name.[9] A'Court has written guest columns for Stuff and is a guest writer for The Spinoff.[10][11][12]

Books
  • Stuff I Forgot To Tell My Daughter (2015)[9]
  • How We Met (2018)[13]
  • Foreword – Funny As: The Story of New Zealand Comedy[14]

Selected screenography
  • L&P Top Town (1986) Final[7]
  • What Now? (1987–1988), Presenter, Writer – Television[7]
  • Choice Not Chance (1992), Presenter – Short Film[7]
  • Pulp Comedy (1995–2003), Subject – Television[7]
  • Comedy Central (1995–1997), As: Various roles – Television[7]
  • Newsflash (1998), Writer – Television[7]
  • A Kiwi Christmas (1998), Narrator – Television[7]
  • Teen Sex (2005), Narrator – Television[7]
  • Breakfast (2006–2008), Presenter – Television[7]
  • Shortland Street (2008–2009), Writer, As: Helen Carson – Television[7]
  • 7 Days (2009) – ongoing, Subject – Television[7]
  • Staines Down Drains – Fool's Gold (2011), Writer, As: Mary–Jane Staines, Herk and Beanz – Television[7]
  • A Night at the Classic (2012), As: Michele – Television[7]
  • Go Girls (2013), As: Miriam Hirsch – Television[7]
  • Funny As: The Story of New Zealand Comedy (2019), Subject – Television[7]
  • The Project (2018) – ongoing, Presenter – Television[7]
  • On the Rag (2019–2022), Presenter – Web[7]

Awards and nominations
A'Court (right), after her investiture as an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit by the former governor-general, Sir Anand Satyanand, at Government House, Auckland, on 12 April 2023
  • Special Recognition Award for Excellence in Presentation (1991): Choice Not Chance ITVA Awards (New Zealand arm of the International Television Association)[7]
  • Female Comedian of the Decade (2010) New Zealand Comedy Awards (NZ Comedy Guild)[7]
  • VAC Reilly Award for Excellence in Comedy (2015)[15]
  • Nominated – Best Presenter: Entertainment (2020) (with Leonie Hayden and Alex Casey): On the Rag New Zealand Television Awards[7]
  • Appointed Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the 2023 New Year Honours, for services to the entertainment and comedy industries[16]

Personal life

A'Court lives in Auckland and is married to comedian Jeremy Elwood.[4]

References
  1. "A'Court, Michele, 1961-". National Library of New Zealand. Retrieved 31 December 2022.
  2. "Michele A'Court –'Stuff I Forgot To Tell My Daughter'". Scoop Independent News. Arts on Tour New Zealand. 4 February 2016. Retrieved 31 December 2022.
  3. "Michèle A'Court | Overview". NZ On Screen - Iwi Whitiāhua. Retrieved 31 December 2022.
  4. Smithies, As told to Grant (7 May 2022). "I wish: Michèle A'Court wishes she'd known about the stock markets earlier". Stuff. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  5. "New Year Honours: Michele A'Court says stand-up comedy a terrific vehicle for flying feminism flag". RNZ. 31 December 2022. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  6. "Friday Laughs with Michele A'Court and Jeremy Elwood". The Big Idea. 22 March 2022. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  7. "Michèle A'Court | Awards". NZ On Screen - Iwi Whitiāhua. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  8. "Mt Eden Comedy with Michele A'Court – De Post Belgian Beer Cafe, Auckland". UnderTheRadarNZ. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  9. "Michèle A'Court". Verb Wellington. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  10. PRO3, SPONSORED CONTENT BY ANMUM PEDIA (8 September 2019). "Michele A'Court on grandparenting and grief". Stuff. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  11. Elwood, Michele A'Court and Jeremy (9 March 2018). "Jeremy Elwood and Michele A'Court: the real reasons women don't speak up". Stuff. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  12. A'Court, Michele. "Michele A'Court". The Spinoff. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  13. "How we met: The ways great love begins by Michele A'Court". my.christchurchcitylibraries.com. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  14. "Writer: Michele A'Court – Writers • Auckland Writers Festival". www.writersfestival.co.nz. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  15. "Hire Michele A'Court for your next event". Celebrity Speakers NZ. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  16. "New Year Honours 2023 – the full list". 1 News. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
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