Abby Howells is an award-winning comedian and writer. In 2014, she competed her Masters in Creative Writing at Victoria University’s International Institute of Modern Letters and won the Brad McGann Award for the screenplay she created that year, Standing Up. Abby was a founding member of the female comedy collective Discharge and served as the troupe’s head writer, creating the shows What is this? Women’s Hour?, Benedict Cumberbatch Must Die and the musical 28 Days: A Period Piece. Abby’s first solo show Glocknid: Dwarf Warrior won her the Best Newcomer Award at the 2015 Wellington International Comedy Festival. More recently, Abby has been touring the UK performing with Trick of the Light Theatre and their show Beards Beards Beards, and her latest play Attila the Hun was produced as part of the 2017 Young and Hungry Festival. Abby is currently completing a PhD at the University of Otago.