Angella Dravid

Angella Dravid is a writer, actor and comedian known for her wide-eyed deadpan delivery and dark humour. She describes herself as “terrified and anxious and nervous”, which she attributes to her childhood and the time she spent in prison, experiences which have made her feel “you don’t exactly know what’s etiquette”.

Born in Oman, Dravid moved to Aotearoa when she was 2 years old, living here until she was 16, at which point she moved with her dad to Naracoorte in rural South Australia, Dravid describes feeling isolated there as “the only Indian girl in the whole town”. As a teenage violin student, she met a man in his late forties in a classical music chat room and fell in love. He lived in the UK, and when she was 17, she ran away from home to be with him.

In 2017, Dravid was awarded the Billy T Award for her debut show, Down the Rabbit Hole, an autobiographical retelling of the abusive marriage that developed. The marriage culminated in her spending two months in prison and three years in a UK bail hostel before being deported back to Aotearoa when she was 22 years old. In an interview with Alex Casey from The Spinoff, Dravid says she “only started doing stand-up because I wanted to do something with the story… I never got into comedy because I wanted to be a comedian.” Dravid has since adapted the work into a nine-episode podcast — Love, Rock Bottom & Other Triumphs — for Amazon’s Audible platform, and has been developing it into a film with Taika Waititi’s production company, Piki Films.

Dravid has worked extensively across comedy television in Aotearoa, including featuring on Funny Girls, Jono and Ben, Taskmaster NZ and Guy Montgomery's Guy Mont-Spelling Bee — “I think I provide the car crash element to Jono and Ben,” — as well as being cast in shows like Golden Boy and Creamerie and films like The Breaker Upperers (2018) and Baby Done (2020).

Interview with Alex Casey on The Spinoff

Angella tries to tell a joke to her mother, Hazel, and her brother, Sean

Billy T Jams set (2017)

Angella Dravid performs at the Best Foods Comedy Gala 2021

Angella Dravid invades the 25th Anniversary Shortland Street party for Jono and Ben

RNZ interview (2018)

Angella Dravid features on Two Sketches with Toby Morris

Angella Dravid on IMDB

As writer and performer:

2021 — Love, Rock Bottom & Other Triumphs
2017 — Down the Rabbit Hole

As an actor:

2023 — Under the Vines
2021 — Creamerie
2020 — Baby Done
2019–2020 — Golden Boy
2018 — The Breaker-Upperers
2018 — Funny Girls

2020 — Taskmaster NZ: Winner

2017 — New Zealand Comedy Trust: Billy T Award

2015 — NZ Comedy Guild: Best Newcomer