She’s one of New Zealand’s brightest comedy stars, selling out shows around the world and winning awards. But for Abby Howells, who has autism, the greatest success story isn’t what happens on stage. It’s that she found the courage to return to it at all.
In her early twenties, Abby walked away from comedy after being sexually harassed by someone in the industry. For seven years, she didn’t go near a mic, but she never forgot the “magic” feeling she had on stage.
Eventually, the pull became impossible to ignore. And in 2019, she decided that she wasn’t going to let someone else’s actions dictate her future.
“I feel so proud,” the 34-year-old smiles.
“If stand-up comedy was not the path for me, I wanted to close the door myself. “I was so nervous to come back and do stand-up again that I didn’t eat for a week. But right before I went on stage, I felt this extreme peace and excitement, and I’d won from the second I walked on stage no matter how it went.”
It confirmed that nagging voice in her head that she was meant to be a performer and the regular 7 Days panellist has spent the intervening years making up for lost time. But she hasn’t forgotten what it felt like to be a young woman navigating the industry alone. Today, Abby is determined to be the support she wishes she’d had.
“I try to be a big advocate for female comics,” she says.
“If they want advice, I’m always there. There has been some progress, but I wouldn’t say things are perfect. There’s still work to be done.”
The dark side of going viral
One place where that reality is still painfully obvious, she says, is social media. After winning the prestigious Billy T Award in 2023, Abby experienced the darker side of public success. Alongside new opportunities came a wave of criticism from keyboard warriors.
“Every time I looked at my phone, it would be like, ‘Fifty people have commented on your video’, and in my mind, they were all negative,” she recalls.
“It was really bad. After that experience, I have big boundaries. I’m really good at not looking at anything because I’m like, ‘No good can come of this.’”
It is in those moments where Abby is grateful that her success has come a little later in life.
“Coming back in my thirties, I’m so much better equipped to deal with stuff like rejection and online comments. I feel like the timing was right.”
Escaping her comfort zone
While Abby has no trouble performing on stage, she admits when she was approached to be part of the new Three reality competition Celebrity Escape, she was hesitant about the prospect of
being herself on screen in the series that sees a group of Kiwi and Australian comedians, including Chris Parker and Hayley Sproull, solve a series of escape rooms.
Eventually, her love of the elaborate puzzles won out.
Abby reveals, “My mates and I used to do escape rooms all the time. I played down in the show how many I’d done because I didn’t want people to be threatened and vote me out!”
The experience has changed her opinion on reality TV so much, Abby says she’d even consider signing up for the bigger challenge of Celebrity Treasure Island one day.
“The reason I would want to do it is I could prove autistic people can do anything,” the NZ Spy star says.
“Then I would get out there and I can’t swim, I’ve got no hand-eye coordination and I’m not that great at puzzles! But never say never.”
Opening doors for others
From the moment Abby received her autism diagnosis at 31, she has proudly shared it with the world. She admits that after feeling like an outsider for most of her life, it is incredible to finally understand why.
“I wanted to shout it from the rooftops because it takes so much pressure off me,” she says.
“I feel like people are like, ‘Okay, I understand why she’s been talking for five minutes about the wives of Henry VIII.’”
However, for Abby, the best – and most unexpected part – has been the response from her community. By speaking openly about her diagnosis, she’s heard from countless people who saw themselves in her story – many for the first time.
“It is so nice and I can’t fully comprehend it,” she says.
“It’s the best possible scenario being in the public eye – I’ve kicked down a door to make it easier for people to come in after me.”
Watch Abby in Celebrity Escape streaming on ThreeNow.
