Melanie Bracewell
Melanie Bracewell | |
|---|---|
| Born | Beach Haven, Auckland, New Zealand |
| Employer | MediaWorks New Zealand |
| Comedy career | |
| Medium |
|
| Years active | 2014–present |
| Website | melaniebracewell |
Melanie Bracewell is a New Zealand comedian, actress and scriptwriter.[1][2] In 2018, Bracewell won New Zealand's Billy T Award.[3]
Life and career
Bracewell grew up in Beach Haven in Auckland's North Shore, and is a niece of Test cricketers John Bracewell and Brendon Bracewell.[4] Bracewell attended Birkenhead College,[5] serving as Deputy Head Girl,[6] then studied Communication and Media Studies at the University of Auckland.[7][self-published source?] Bracewell became interested in comedy as a child and, as a teenager, wrote a comedic blog, later moving into stand-up comedy.[3][8] Bracewell also worked as producer of the breakfast show on Radio Hauraki and appeared as a contestant on the Australian TV quiz show Have You Been Paying Attention?.[8][9] She co-hosts the Australian comedy television show The Cheap Seats alongside Tim McDonald.
In 2019, Bracewell began writing for the TV show The Project in New Zealand.[8] She has also written for the series Wellington Paranormal.[10]
In 2020, Bracewell received international coverage when videos and photos of her impersonating Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern went viral. Ardern responded with: "You do my makeup better than I do."[11] Bracewell and Ardern later met and posted a TikTok video while Bracewell was dressed as Ardern.[12][13]
In 2023, Melanie Bracewell & Ray O'Leary briefly hosted the podcast "Bananapod" before it went into hiatus. [14]
Recognition
In 2014, Bracewell won 7 Days Comedy Apprentice; the following year she won the Raw Comedy Quest and in 2016 won Best Auckland Newcomer at the New Zealand International Comedy Festival.[2]
In 2018, Bracewell received the Billy T Award for the country's best emerging comedian.[15] The same year she won Breakthrough Comedian of the Year at the NZ Comedy Guild Awards.[16] In 2019, she was short-listed for the Kevin Smith Memorial Cup for Outstanding Artist Achievement, Best Female Comedian and Bizarre Moment of the Year at the New Zealand Comedy Guild Awards.[1]
Acting
In 2020, Bracewell starred as Karen in The Eggplant,[17][18] a New Zealand teen drama crime-comedy series released to TVNZ OnDemand and YouTube.[19][20]
Controversy
In 2019, Bracewell shared a screenshot on her Twitter account of a sexually explicit message which she said had come unprompted from someone in the Reddit cricketing community. A Reddit user later found a post from Bracewell in a subreddit soliciting sexual messages. A moderator from the Reddit cricketing community then contacted Bracewell asking her for details of who sent her the private message. She subsequently apologised and admitted her post was a joke. After her apology she received criticism on social media, with some accusing her of lying about sexual harassment and stereotyping Indians.[21][22]
References
- ^ a b "2019 NZ Comedy Guild Awards handed out | Scoop News". www.scoop.co.nz. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ a b "Comedian Melanie Bracewell produces uncanny impression of Jacinda Ardern". NZ Herald. 31 March 2020. ISSN 1170-0777. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
- ^ a b "Melanie Bracewell named New Zealand's top comedian with Billy T Award for 2018". Stuff. 21 May 2018. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
- ^ Poor Uncle John, Melanie Bracewell, Twitter, 7 April 2020
- ^ "Coming-of-age comedy show from North Shore's Melanie Bracewell". Stuff. 28 April 2017.
- ^ "Melanie's a crack-up". www.northsidelive.co.nz.
- ^ "Melanie Bracewell". LinkedIn.
- ^ a b c Dann, Jennifer (28 January 2019). "Melanie Bracewell on comedy: 'You keep dying over and over again'". NZ Herald. ISSN 1170-0777. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
- ^ "Melanie Bracewell – Melodrama". Theatrepeople. 8 April 2019. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
- ^ "Melanie Bracewell on cracking the Aussies and getting paranormal". Stuff. 10 July 2018. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
- ^ "New Zealand comedian spends lockdown impersonating Jacinda Ardern". the Guardian. 15 April 2020.
- ^ "Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern meets her impersonator". Stuff. 17 July 2020.
- ^ Rizzo-Smith, Julian (20 July 2020). "TikTok's Jacinda Ardern Impersonator Just Met Her Biggest Fan".
- ^ shows.acast.com/bananapod
- ^ "Billy T Award". NZ Comedy Festival. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
- ^ "2018 Guild Awards". New Zealand Comedy Guild. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
- ^ "A comedic investigation highlights online harms in web series The Eggplant". www.flicks.co.nz.
- ^ "The Eggplant – A Kiwi teen-drama comedy series". Unite.
- ^ "The Eggplant – A drama-crime-comedy online web series". www.dia.govt.nz. Retrieved 20 January 2021.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "The Eggplant : Keep It Real Online". www.keepitrealonline.govt.nz.
- ^ Palmer, Scott (13 July 2019). "Comedian Melanie Bracewell's fake erotica admission outrages cricket fans". Newshub. Retrieved 22 February 2021.
- ^ Howie, Cherie (13 July 2019). "Comedian Melanie Bracewell angers Reddit over erotic cricket tale". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 22 February 2021.