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The Quest Is On To Find Wellington's Next Comedy Stars
The capital's premier open mic comedy competition, the Wellington Raw Comedy Quest, returns for 2025. A stepping stone for many New Zealand comedians, the Raw Comedy Quest offers the chance to witness the rising stars in stand-up comedy before they hit the big time. The first heat kicks off in Wellington on 3 July at Fringe Bar, MC'd by 2020 Quest finalist and 2025 Billy T nominee Lesa Macleod-Whiting.
Subsequent heats will follow every Thursday from 10 July – 7 August at Fringe Bar. The top comedians from each week will go head to head at the semifinals on 13 & 20 August, before the Wellington final takes place on 29 August at Hannah Playhouse, with MC Justine Smith.
The Wellington Raw Comedy Quest is held annually by the Humorous Arts Trust, who will be celebrating 15 years of supporting local comedy this August. This year also marks the 15th year Humorous Arts have run Wellington Raw.
Over this time, many winners and finalists have gone on to carve out successful careers in comedy. Last year's winner, Liv Ward, went on to become a finalist in the National Raw Comedy Quest, before also taking out Wellington's Best Newcomer at the NZ Comedy Festival this year. 2022 winner Hoani Hotene, who first kicked off his comedy career with Humorous Arts Trust's Raw Meat Monday (Wellington's longest-running open mic comedy night), became the coveted 2025 Billy T Award winner.
They aren't the only successes to come out of Pōneke from the Comedy Quest, with other winners including the likes of Janaye Henry, Maria Williams, Gabby Anderson and Orin Ruaine-Prattley.
"The Raw Quest is a real highlight of my year, I can't wait to see the next generation of Kiwi comics succeed and bring more great laughs to the capital" , says Humorous Arts Trust co-founder and comedian Jerome Chandrahasen.
To enter the Wellington Raw Comedy Quest all you need is 6 minutes of original material, and the guts to give it a go. To enter, just contact contact@
The Wellington winner and runner up are flown to Auckland to compete in the National Raw Comedy Quest final at The Classic later in the year, on Saturday 25th October.
Wellington Raw Comedy Quest is sponsored by KiwiTicket Ltd and is supported by the Wellington City Council.
WELLINGTON RAW COMEDY QUEST
First Heat
Thursday 3 July, Fringe Bar
MCd by Lesa Macleod-Whiting
Heats
Thursday 10, 17, 24, 31 July & 7 August, Fringe Bar
Semifinals
Wednesday 13 & 20 August, Fringe Bar
Final
Friday 29 August, Hannah Playhouse
