James Nokise is a stand-up comedian based out of Wellington. He won Best Male Comedian at the NZ Comedy Guild Awards in 2013, the Reilly Comedy Award at the Variety Artist Club Awards in 2014, and Best Theatre Solo at the NZ Fringe Awards in 2015. Nokise's also a guest columnist for several publications, a social commentator on radio (RNZ, Niu FM) and TV (TVNZ), a marionette puppeteer (Puppet Fiction), a political playwright (Wellington's PSA series), an occasional theatre performer (The Minister's Son, Rukahu), and an even less occasional performance poet (Poetry Can F**k Off). Diversifying has led to a lot of strange gigs in strange places (Guam, New York, Owaka). He founded the No Fefe Collective and is a member of the Kava Collective.