Melanie Rita Bracewell[1] (born 19 July 1995) is a New Zealand comedian, actress and scriptwriter.[2][3] In 2018, Bracewell won New Zealand's Billy T Award.[4] She currently co-hosts The Cheap Seats and was a contestant on the fourth series of Taskmaster NZ.
Melanie Bracewell | |
|---|---|
| Born | 19 July 1995 Beach Haven, Auckland, New Zealand |
| Employer | MediaWorks New Zealand |
| Awards | Billy T Award (2018) |
| Comedy career | |
| Medium |
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| Years active | 2014–present |
| Relative(s) |
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| Notable works and roles | The Cheap Seats |
| Website | melaniebracewell |
Life and career
Melanie Bracewell was born on 19 July 1995.[5] She grew up in Beach Haven in Auckland's North Shore, and is a niece of Test cricketers John Bracewell and Brendon Bracewell.[6] Bracewell attended Birkenhead College,[7] serving as Deputy Head Girl,[8] then studied Communication and Media Studies at the University of Auckland.[9][self-published source?]
Bracewell became interested in comedy as a child and, as a teenager, wrote a comedic blog, later moving into stand-up comedy.[4][10] Bracewell also worked as producer of the breakfast show on Radio Hauraki and appeared as a contestant on the Australian TV quiz show Have You Been Paying Attention?.[10][11] She co-hosts the Australian comedy television show The Cheap Seats alongside Tim McDonald.
In 2019, Bracewell began writing for the TV show The Project in New Zealand.[10] She has also written for the series Wellington Paranormal.[12]
In 2020, Bracewell received international coverage when videos and photos of her impersonating Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern went viral. Ardern responded with: "You do my makeup better than I do."[13] Bracewell and Ardern later met and posted a TikTok video while Bracewell was dressed as Ardern.[14][15]
In 2020, Bracewell starred as Karen in The Eggplant,[16][17] a New Zealand teen drama crime-comedy series released to TVNZ OnDemand and YouTube.[18][19]
Bracewell appeared on the panel show Patriot Brains in 2021.
In 2023, Bracewell and Ray O'Leary hosted one episode of the podcast Bananapod before it went into hiatus.[20] O'Leary later revealed that the podcast was a task for Taskmaster NZ, which is why no further podcasts were released.[21]
Recognition
In 2014, Bracewell won 7 Days Comedy Apprentice; the following year she won the Raw Comedy Quest and in 2016 won Best Auckland Newcomer at the New Zealand International Comedy Festival.[3]
In 2018, Bracewell received the Billy T Award for the country's best emerging comedian.[22] The same year she won Breakthrough Comedian of the Year at the NZ Comedy Guild Awards.[23] In 2019, she was short-listed for the Kevin Smith Memorial Cup for Outstanding Artist Achievement, Best Female Comedian and Bizarre Moment of the Year at the New Zealand Comedy Guild Awards.[2]
Controversy
In 2019, Bracewell shared a screenshot on her Twitter account of a sexually explicit message which she said had come unprompted from someone in the Reddit cricketing community. A Reddit user later found a post from Bracewell in a subreddit soliciting sexual messages. A moderator from the Reddit cricketing community then contacted Bracewell asking her for details of who sent her the private message. She subsequently apologised and admitted her post was a joke. After her apology, she received criticism on social media with some accusing her of lying about sexual harassment and stereotyping Indians.[24][25]