Comedian Samantha Hannah could be considered a psychic. But don’t go booking her to read your future – it only applies whenever the Wellington-based, Scottish-born star is writing a stand-up show. “I’m not really into manifesting, but when you focus on something, I guess you just move towards it more!” she laughs.
Samantha’s first show, How To Meet A Husband In A Year, came after a five-year break from comedy and dating.
She tells, “I was living in London and I got burnt out. I was in a relationship with a comedy producer who was in this toxic work environment. When I split with him, he’d been on a bender for days. When he finally came home, he was like, ‘I was just having such a nice time with Russell.’ He was talking about Russell Brand! I said, ‘Yeah, he’s known for being a beacon of honour. Get out of my house!’”
Then while all her friends were getting married and having babies, Samantha, 38, moved to New Zealand on a working visa.
“I was still floating through life, but I missed comedy,” she recalls. “I thought maybe it’d be fun to put a deadline on it – to find a husband in a year – so I set up a Tinder profile that said, ‘Do you wanna come to the show or be my husband?’ Then I swiped yes to everyone.
“When I got a match 12,000 miles [19,000km] away in the UK, I was staying at a backpackers in Wellington. This Kiwi guy Toby said he was thinking about moving back to Wellington and wanted to see what was out there.
“We started chatting and he said his parents owned a fish ’n’ chip shop in Napier, so I should go say hi while I was travelling around.
“In my head, it was this glamorous seafood restaurant on the waterfront, so I spent about an hour putting on full makeup, hair, heels, etc and set off dressed to the nines, but I got lost and I had to run to get there just before it was about to close. But finally I met his mum and then I was like, ‘I have to meet him now!’”
Samantha decided to fly back to London. She says, “We met at the airport and were like, ‘Let’s hang out!’ We’ve been together six years now.”
The pair now own a home together in Khandallah and share a two-year-old cat called Sushi. “Life comes at you fast!”
With her first comedy show a success both on stage and off, Samantha decided to write a sequel.
“It was called How To Find Happiness In A Year,” she says. “It was inspired by losing my brother, which was very much a mental-health thing. That was a pivotal moment of wanting to go out and live life to the full because he couldn’t. I gave up alcohol, started yoga and journalling. Annoyingly, it did actually improve my mental health!”
The final show of what turned out to be a trilogy was How To Win At Life. Samantha says, “I was like, ‘Wait, literally anything I write about in comedy comes true. I looked for happiness and I got happiness. I looked for a husband and I’ve pretty much found one – we just need to get married. What if I write about becoming a complete and utter success?’
“So I started forming this show, quit my full-time job and then, a week later, the pandemic hit. I couldn’t do the show and I had given up my job!”
How To Win At Life never made it to the stage, but the ever-positive Samantha forged on with another show, coming to the NZ International Comedy Festival next month.
“It’s called Female Lady Women Comedians and it’s a satire of a stand-up show,” she explains. “I play all these women trying stand-up for the first time. I really enjoy it!”
As for the future, Samantha smiles, “Life is good. Toby and I are very happy. We recently did the Tongariro Crossing and he didn’t take the opportunity to propose, which I retell on stage while he sits there with his head in his hands! But everything is sweet and we’re in a good place!”
Female Lady Women Comedians is on 17 May at Wellington’s The Fringe Bar and 21 to 25 May at Auckland’s Q Theatre. She’s also part of the Comedy Gala in Wellington on 4 May. For tickets to all shows, visit comedyfestival.co.nz.
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