Celebrities judge Kiwi kids joke competition

Auckland junior jokesters will be testing people’s funny bones in a competition which will see the talents of one lucky winner splashed across a major Auckland events centre.

The Kiwi Kids Just Kidding Around joke competition has been developed in conjunction with the Auckland Council’s community engagement programme HeART of the Nation. The council’s event team in the south and Auckland Libraries are driving the programme.

The HeART of the Nation is part of the larger REAL New Zealand Festival 2011, which coincides with the Rugby World Cup 2011. The programme will see numerous activities throughout September and October and organisers want Auckland kids to be part of the action.

Winners of the joke competition will be announced at a prize giving in Manukau on Wednesday, 29 June at the Manukau Library and Research Centre.

The supreme winner will have their joke projected onto the TelstraClear Pacific Events Centre. Some entrants could see their jokes printed on T-shirts or notepads.

The competition was designed for children from across Auckland to have fun while making up some new kiwi jokes. Children were asked to develop original jokes that have a kiwiana, cultural or rugby flavour.

The competition is split into two categories, five to eight years and nine to 14.

Two celebrity artists Ross Kinnaird and Vela Manusaute are judging the competition.

Writer, director and comedy crusader Vela Manusaute hosts TV2’s talent search show Hustle it Fresh. An award winning comedian he formed the Kila Kokonut Krew, a leading New Zealand Pacific Island theatre company, producing comedy shows such as Playaz Night, Once Were Samoans and Strictly Brown.

Ross Kinnaird is a director and illustrator and won the 2003 New Zealand Post Children’s Choice Award for his work on Dawn McMillan’s Why do Dogs Sniff Bottoms? In 2007 he was nominated as a New Zealand Post Award finalist for his collaboration with Sharon Holt on It’s True! You Can Make Your Own Jokes.

Other prizes include BMX bikes and helmets supplied by the Bike Barn, Harley Davidson rides through the Hog Club and McDonalds vouchers.


What: Kiwi Kids Just Kidding Around prize giving
When: Wednesday, 29 June 2011 at 4:30pm
Where: Manukau Library and Research Centre
3 Osterley Way
Manukau

For more information about the HeART of the Nation go to this link.