Beyond funny JO'S BRAVE ROUTINE

The cancer survivor's stand-up comedy turns her fears into laughter

- Rebekah Hebenton

By day, Joanna Prendergast is a psychiatrist working to help her clients improve their well-being. But by night, she transforms into her alter-ego Jo Ghastly and takes to the stage to perform comedy for audiences across the country.

It’s an unusual combination, but for the 54-year-old, it’s the life she has always dreamed of. When Joanna was a teenager deciding her future, she was torn between studying acting or medicine. With a gentle nudge from her parents, she went to medical school, but she never left her dreams of stardom behind. While she built her career as a psychiatrist in Christchurch, the mum-of-two regularly appeared in plays and short films, as well as a few small TV roles. While she was shooting a TV pilot in 2017, one of the producers saw how much she made the crew laugh in their downtime and suggested she take her act to the stage.

“I said, ‘No way!’ she recalls. “Then a few weeks later, I was doing a stand-up comedy set at a first-timer’s night and it was a lot of fun.”