Michelle Hyslop
On stage, comic Justine Smith has made a name for herself thanks to her quick wit and impressive use of a few of the more colourful words in the dictionary. But behind the biting remarks and punchy one-liners, the stand-up comic is a big kid at heart.
Never is that more evident than when she starts talking about her love of all things Disney. While people often get a bad rap for being “Disney adults”, it’s a label Justine and her husband Dan Crozier, 46, wholeheartedly embrace.
It all started in 2015, after two years together, when Dan and Justine set off on a trip around the US. Justine had begun dropping some not-so-subtle hints that she wanted Dan to propose.
He planned to pop the question at the end of their holiday in New York, a city they both love. But as the trip neared, Dan’s nerves got the better of him and he realised he wouldn’t be able to hold on to such a big secret for so long.
“He was so nervous and he thought, ‘This is going to destroy the trip,'” recalls Justine with a smile. “So the first night we were at Disneyland, we were so jet-lagged, but he was like, ‘I just have to do it.’
“We were on the teacups under the lanterns and it was so beautiful. Then he pulled out a ring that was his great-grandmother’s and asked me to marry him.
Fun, laughter and a mouse in the house – what’s not to love?!
Even though I’d had a feeling it might be coming on the trip, I was so surprised that I didn’t say anything. He eventually had to say, ‘You have to say something.’ And I said ‘Yes!’ It set up the rest of the trip to be super-gorgeous and romantic.”
From there, Disney became a special part of their relationship. When they were married a year later, they had a Disney-themed candy bar and on every holiday since have made sure to include a stop at
a Disney park.
“We don’t have kids, so that’s what we spend our money on. For my 50th, we finished off the ones we hadn’t been to, so we visited Paris, Hong Kong and Shanghai. It has become an obsession and we love it.”
While she waves her Disney flag proudly, Justine is also quick to point out that she’s discerning with her collectibles. Every piece of memorabilia that lines the walls of her West Auckland home has a special memory attached to it. “I’m not just heading down to Kmart,” she laughs.
7 Days star and Dan have tatts to match.
When Justine and Dan, who works in mental health, met more than a decade ago, she was still struggling to make ends meet in comedy. Now, the 54-year-old is a regular co-host on Three’s The Project and can often be found touring the country with the 7 Days live show.
As she has become a household name, Justine says it’s all the more special having Dan by her side. “When I’m doing something I’m scared of, which is quite often, it really helps knowing that at the end of it, I’ll be back at home with Dan and my cats. He is so supportive of everything I do.”
This year marks 20 years since Justine won the coveted Billy T James award for up-and-coming comics. So it is fitting that she’s making her return to the New Zealand Comedy Festival with her first new hour-long solo show in eight years.
As she reflects on her career, sometimes Justine is surprised she’s still doing it after all this time. While she has loved comedy from the moment she first stepped on the stage, she admits it was a boys’ club for a long time, and she has had to endure a lot of derogatory comments and sleazy men during her 30 years in the limelight.
Now Justine is fighting to make sure that the next generation of female comics can go to work in a safe environment.
“I always feel like I wasn’t bullied, but I was. I certainly don’t feel like I could have gone to bat for anybody, otherwise I would be gone. It was much to my shame, but I was trapped. Now I am like a mama bear for these young girls.
“People used to ask me why more women don’t do comedy and I never really had an answer. With time, I’ve realised it’s because it was an extremely hostile and unsafe environment for women. But we’ve taken huge steps in New Zealand to change that.”
Justine is performing Actually, I’m a Cat Person from May 9-13 at The Classic in Auckland. Visit comedyfestival.co.nz for tickets.
