Christopher Parker (born September 25, 1990) is a

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

actor, comedian, writer, TV personality, and podcaster. Parker has written for and appeared in many local comedy shows such as ''

Jono and Ben ''Jono and Ben'', previously titled ''Jono and Ben at Ten'', was a satire, satirical news and entertainment show hosted by Jono Pryor and Ben Boyce in New Zealand. The show aired on Three (New Zealand), Three on Thursday nights at 7:30pm, and ...

'', '' 7 Days'', ''Taskmaster NZ'', and '' Have You Been Paying Attention''. He has also acted in films like ''

Baby Done ''Baby Done'' is a 2020 New Zealand comedy film directed by Curtis Vowell, and executive produced by Taika Waititi, written by Sophie Henderson, and starring Rose Matafeo and Matthew Lewis. Plot Zoe is a young woman who discovers she's pregn ...

'', ''The Breaker Uppers'', and ''

Nude Tuesday ''Nude Tuesday'' (stylised as ''Nûde Tuęsdäy'') is a 2022 comedy film that was written by Armağan Ballantyne and Jackie van Beek, and directed by Ballantyne. Set on a fictional island in the Pacific Ocean, the film follows Laura and Bruno ...

''.

Early life and education

Parker grew up in

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

wanting to be a dancer while he was growing up. He spent ten years at the Christchurch-based Original Scripts Theatre School with teachers Wendy Steeds and Sonia Chappell. He studied at the New Zealand national drama school,

Toi Whakaari Toi Whakaari: NZ Drama School is New Zealand's national drama school. It was established in 1970 and is located in Wellington, New Zealand, in the Te Whaea: National Dance & Drama Centre. Toi Whakaari offers training in acting, costume constru ...

in Wellington, graduating in 2011 with a Bachelor of Performing Arts in Acting.

Career

After moving to Auckland, he joined improv group Snort, which led to being cast as David Halls in the hit stage play '' Hudson and Halls Live''. In 2016, he won Actor of the Year at the Wellington Theatre Awards for this role. Other stage acting credits include ''Shortland Street: The Musical'', ''Gays in Space'', and ''Another Dead Fag'' by Sam Brooks. Parker has also written and performed extensively with Tom Sainsbury on live shows such as ''The Opening Night Before Christmas'', ''Camping'', ''D.O.C.ing'', ''Giggly Gerties,'' and ''Hauraki Horror''. He also created and performed several sketch comedy shows with

Hayley Sproull Hayley Jayne Sproull (born 1989) is a New Zealand comedian, actor, scriptwriter, television show host and radio show co-host. She is the host of '' The Great Kiwi Bake Off'' and the New Zealand edition of '' Have You Been Paying Attention?'' Bi ...

, including ''Tighty Whiteys'', ''The Outsiders' Guide'', and ''Milky Bits''. In 2016, Parker began hosting ''The Male Gayz Podcast'' with fellow comic Eli Matthewson. Parker won the Fred Award, an honour awarded to the best show written and performed by a NZ comedian at the

New Zealand International Comedy Festival The New Zealand International Comedy Festival (NZICF; sometimes the NZ Intl Comedy Fest) is a comedy festival in both Auckland and Wellington, New Zealand. The festival is run by the New Zealand Comedy Trust, and is held across three weeks duri ...

, in 2018 for his solo comedy show ''Camp Binch''. He had previously won the Best Newcomer Award in Auckland in 2015 for his first solo show, ''No More Dancing in the Good Room.'' In October 2018, Parker released his debut novel ''Here for a Good Time: Organised Thoughts From a Disorganized Mind''. In 2020 and 2021, Parker performed his show ''How I Felt,'' based on his experiences during the COVID-19 lockdown, where he gained prominence for his attempts to

felt Felt is a textile that is produced by matting, condensing, and pressing fibers together. Felt can be made of natural fibers such as wool or animal fur, or from synthetic fibers such as petroleum-based acrylic fiber, acrylic or acrylonitrile or ...

on Instagram Live. The felting videos were so popular that, in 2020, a hat that Parker created was added to the collection at Auckland Museum, and a photo of him wearing the hat was bought by the

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa is New Zealand's national museum and is located in Wellington. Usually known as Te Papa ( Māori for ' the treasure box'), it opened in 1998 after the merging of the National Museum of New Zealand ...

. Parker appeared as a contestant in the 2021 season of '' Celebrity Treasure Island'', a reality-competition television show in the style of ''Survivor''. He won the series on behalf of Rainbow Youth, a charity that provides education, information, support and advocacy for

queer ''Queer'' is an umbrella term for people who are non-heterosexual or non- cisgender. Originally meaning or , ''queer'' came to be used pejoratively against LGBTQ people in the late 19th century. From the late 1980s, queer activists began to ...

, gender diverse, takatāpui and

intersex Intersex people are those born with any of several sex characteristics, including chromosome patterns, gonads, or genitals that, according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, "do not fit typical binar ...

youth in New Zealand. In May 2022, Parker released a comedy

documentary A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

special, ''Back To School'', about all-boys schools in New Zealand. Later that year, ''Chris and Eli's Porn Revolution'' was released, featuring Parker and his ''Male Gayz'' podcast co-host Eli Matthewson. The show is a Spinoff series aiming to start a nationwide conversation about

pornography Pornography (colloquially called porn or porno) is Sexual suggestiveness, sexually suggestive material, such as a picture, video, text, or audio, intended for sexual arousal. Made for consumption by adults, pornographic depictions have evolv ...

. Also in 2022, Parker was a contestant on Series 3 of '' Taskmaster NZ'', placing second in the series overall. In 2023, Parker competed in an episode of ''

Guy Montgomery's Guy Mont-Spelling Bee ''Guy Montgomery's Guy Mont-Spelling Bee'' is a New Zealand television comedy panel show on Three, created and presented by Guy Montgomery and co-hosted by Sanjay Patel. The show is loosely based on a spelling bee: each episode, four comedian ...

''. In June 2023, ''Double Parked,'' a new

Three 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious and cultural significance in many societies ...

series which Parker co-created with

Alice Snedden Alice Snedden is a New Zealand stand-up comedian, television writer and actress. First working as a writer on New Zealand comedy shows such as '' Funny Girls'', ''Jono and Ben'' and '' 7 Days'', Snedden created the series ''Alice Snedden's Bad ...

, premiered.

Personal life

As a friend of

Paul Williams Paul Williams may refer to: Authors * Paul Williams (Crawdaddy) (1948–2013), American music and science fiction journalist; founder of ''Crawdaddy'' and the Philip K. Dick Society * Paul Williams (Irish journalist) (born 1964), Irish journalis ...

, Parker appeared in the fellow comedian's "Surf Music"

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

as a background dancer alongside Brynley Stent and

Rose Matafeo Rose Matafeo (; born 25 February 1992) is a New Zealand comedian, actress and TV presenter. She was a writer and performer on the New Zealand late-night comedy sketch show '' Funny Girls''. In 2018, she won the Edinburgh Comedy Award for Best S ...

. In October 2022, Parker married Micheal McCabe, an Auckland-based designer.

Stand-up comedy

* ''No More Dancing in the Good Room'' (2015) * ''Camp Binch'' (2018) * ''Iconique'' (2019) * ''The Best of Chris Parker'' (2022) * ''Lots of Love'' (2023)

Awards

* NZICF Best Newcomer Award (2015) * NZICF Fred Award, ''Camp Binch'' (2018) * Voted one of The Herald's Top 5 Entertainment Heroes (2020) and nominated for Television Personality of the Year (2021) * Topp Prize (2022) * Rielly Comedy Award,

Variety Artists Club of New Zealand The Variety Artists Club of New Zealand Inc (VAC) is a non-for-profit organisation and show business club. It was founded in 1966 and became an incorporated society in 1972. The VAC was formed to promote goodwill within the New Zealand enterta ...

(2024)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Parker, Chris 1990 births Living people New Zealand male comedians New Zealand actors Toi Whakaari alumni Gay comedians New Zealand LGBTQ comedians New Zealand sketch comedians 21st-century New Zealand comedians