Abby Howells is comedian and writer originally from Dunedin. In 2014 she completed her Master’s Degree in Scriptwriting at Victoria University, where she received the Brad McGann Award for Film Writing for her screenplay Standing Up. Abby's work as a playwright includes Benedict Cumberbatch Must Die, which won the Highly Commended Award in Playmarket’s b425 Competition in 2014, 28 Days: A Period Piece, Attila the Hun and WHITE MEN. Her ten minute play Crossbow Cat has been performed in Short and Sweet Festivals in Malaysia, the Philippines, Brisbane and Auckland., and won both People’s and Judges Choice in the Auckland Festival.
She has received writing commissions from a number of organisations including The New Zealand Science Festival, The Dunedin Arts Festival, Young and Hungry and Radio New Zealand. In 2021 she completed her PhD in Theatre Studies at the University of Otago, where she also lectured in playwriting, film and script analysis.
Abby’s solo comedy show HarleQueen premiered at the NZ Fringe Festival and has had subsequent seasons in the Dunedin Fringe, Adelaide Fringe, Little Andromeda, the NZ Comedy Festival and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Her second solo show La Soupco earned her the Billy T James Award in 2023, as well as ‘Best Live Show’ at the New Zealand Comedy Guild Awards.
Abby has performed on 7 Days, Guy Montgomery's Guy Mont-Spelling Bee, Comedians Giving Lectures, Shortland Street and season five of Taskmaster NZ.