PAUL HORAN |
Raised in Palmerston North, Paul was a member of the late 80’s comedy troupe Facial DBX which included fellow Palmerston North Creative Giants Jon Bridges and Jeremy Corbett. Facial DBX toured nationally before landing in Auckland to kick-start the fledgling stand-up comedy scene at Kitty O’Brien’s. Paul went on to set up the Classic Comedy Club - New Zealand’s only venue dedicated solely to comedy - in 1998. Paul was also the co-founder of the New Zealand Comedy Festival (in 1992).
He became deeply involved with emerging theatre scene, sitting on the board of the Watershed and co- founding the Basement and Silo theatres.
During this time, Paul also developed a parallel career in comedy producing and writing. He wrote for the television series Topp Twins III, The live milenium spectical This is It for Inside Out and appears as himself in the 2009 Topp Twins: Untouchable Girls documentary. He has an ongoing relationship with Radio New Zealand, writing and voicing travelogues including Garibaldi Did Not Sleep Here. He also continues to work as a libbrettist with composer Gareth Farr including on their NZSO commission Terra Incognita.
As a producer, Paul won awards with radio shows such as The Caffine Comedy Hour. He worked in television, including on A Bit after Ten. Shifting to Australia in 2000, he was hired to set up the writer’s room for Rove. He has since become a senior producer and script consultant for show such as Hamish and Andy’s Real Stories and The Mansion. He helped create The 7PM Project and most recently the ground-breaking comedy Problems for the ABC. He continues to work in New Zealand as a consultant to comedies such as Super City.
Paul lives in Melbourne with his partner Greg; he comes back to New Zealand often.
“Provincials, in any country, have a more unique point of view that they give themselves credit for. It’s the experience of life, not of work, that informs good art. It took me a while to realise this, but everyday I make money out of what Palmy gave me.”
