Cal Wilson (born 5 October 1970) is a

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is the ...

stand-up comedian, author, radio and television presenter.

Early life

After attending high school in

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon Rive ...

, New Zealand, Wilson completed a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

at the

University of Canterbury The University of Canterbury ( mi, Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha; postnominal abbreviation ''Cantuar.'' or ''Cant.'' for ''Cantuariensis'', the Latin name for Canterbury) is a public research university based in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was ...

Comedy career

She co-founded the Court Jesters

improv Improv may refer to: *Improvisation, an act of spontaneous invention ** Improvisational theatre (includes improvisational comedy) **Musical improvisation Musical improvisation (also known as musical extemporization) is the creative activity of i ...

group in 1990 and was part of the New Zealand team that won the World Theatresports title in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

in 1994. She moved to

stand-up comedy Stand-up comedy is a comedic performance to a live audience in which the performer addresses the audience directly from the stage. The performer is known as a comedian, a comic or a stand-up. Stand-up comedy consists of one-liners, stories, ...

full-time and in 1997 was the inaugural winner (with

Ewen Gilmour David Ewen Gilmour (22 January 1963 – 3 October 2014), commonly known as Ewen Gilmour, was a New Zealand comedian and television presenter. Usually sporting long brown hair with a goatee and wearing a jacket and jeans, he was a self-describ ...

) of New Zealand's most prestigious comedy award, the Billy T. She also regularly appeared on

TV3 Channel 3 or TV 3 may refer to: Television *Canal 3 (Burkina Faso), a commercial television channel in Burkina Faso *Canal 3 (Guatemala), a commercial television channel in Guatemala *Channel 3 (Algeria), a public Algerian TV channel owned by EPTV ...

's ''Pulp Comedy''. In recent years she has been working from

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a me ...

, Australia. In 2001, Wilson won the ''Best Newcomer'' Award at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. She has appeared to critical acclaim at the

Edinburgh Festival Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...

. Her 2006 show ''Up There, Cal Wilson'' sold out at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival.

Television

Wilson has appeared on the Australian comedy shows '' SkitHOUSE'', '' Rove Live'', '' Thank God You're Here'', '' Good News Week'', '' Spicks and Specks'', '' The Project'', ''

Celebrity Name Game ''Celebrity Name Game'' is an American syndicated game show that premiered on September 22, 2014. Based on the board game ''Identity Crisis'' (created by Laura Robinson and Richard Gerrits), the series was developed by Courteney Cox and David ...

'', ''

Show Me the Movie! ''Show Me the Movie!'' was a weekly Australian television comedy panel show, which premiered on Network 10 on 22 March 2018 and ran until 28 March 2019. The program was hosted by Rove McManus who, with team captains Joel Creasey, Jane Harber ...

'', '' Would I Lie to You? Australia'', '' Have You Been Paying Attention?'' and ''

Hughesy, We Have a Problem ''Hughesy, We Have a Problem'' was an Australian comedy panel television series which premiered on Network 10 on 30 January 2018. The program was hosted by Dave Hughes, who along with a panel of comedians, attempted to solve problems of viewers ...

'' and the New Zealand TV show '' 7 days''. In 2002, she helped write the screenplay for the New Zealand sitcom '' Willy Nilly''. In 2007, she was part of the ensemble cast of the Australian sketch comedy TV show, ''

The Wedge A wedge is a triangular-shaped simple machine. Wedge, The Wedge, or Wedges may also refer to: Common meanings * Wedge (footwear), a type of shoe * Wedge (golf), a type of golf club Culture Fictional characters * Wedge (''Transformers''), an ...

''. In 2008, Wilson appeared in the eighth series of the Australian version of '' Dancing with the Stars.'' Paired with series 7 winner Craig Monley, she was the 3rd eliminated contestant. In 2010, she became host of the program '' Sleuth 101'' and also took part in the Melbourne International Comedy Festival Great Debate. In 2012, she appeared as a guest on the UK comedy quiz show ''

QI (J series) '' QI'' (short for ''Quite Interesting'') is a BBC comedy panel game television show that began in 2003. It was created by John Lloyd, and was hosted by Stephen Fry until the end of Series 13 after which Sandi Toksvig took over, and features pe ...

'' (Episodes 3 - Journeys, and 6 - Joints), and in 2013 was captain of "Team Cal" in the Australian light entertainment television series ''

Slide Show A slide show (slideshow) is a presentation of a series of still images ( slides) on a projection screen or electronic display device, typically in a prearranged sequence. The changes may be automatic and at regular intervals or they may be man ...

''. In 2018, Wilson voiced Petal and Thorn in the kids' TV series '' Kitty Is Not a Cat''. In 2019, she recorded
Netflix Original Comedy Special
title
Comedians of the World
representing

. She is currently touring a new stand-up show,
Gifted Underachiever
. In 2022, Wilson participated in the eighth season of the Australian version of '' I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!''. In August 2022, it was revealed that Wilson would host the seventh season of The Great Australian Bake Off alongside Natalie Tran and new judges

Darren Purchese Darren Purchese (born 3 February 1975) is a British pastry chef, author and television personality. He is the creator of the popular cake and dessert business, Burch & Purchese Sweet Studio, in Melbourne, Australia. Darren is a regular guest che ...

and Rachel Khoo.

Radio

In 2007, Wilson co-hosted, with Akmal Saleh, the drive time radio show The ''Akmal Show with Cal Wilson'' (later called ''The Wrong Way Home with Akmal, Cal and Ed''), which aired on Nova FM Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide & Perth. Prior to that role, she was a regular guest on the Triple M program '' Get This''. In 2009, Wilson co-hosted Mornings on Nova 100 (Melbourne) with Dylan Lewis. She resigned from Nova 100 in November, 2009.

Personal life

Wilson married Chris Woods in January 2008. They have a son, Digby and live in Sunshine in Victoria. They have two cats.

References

Elinks

Official Website
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Cal 1970 births Living people New Zealand comedians New Zealand women comedians New Zealand expatriates in Australia New Zealand stand-up comedians University of Canterbury alumni Place of birth missing (living people) 21st-century Australian comedians Australian women comedians 20th-century comedians I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! (Australian TV series) participants People from Christchurch