KIWI COMEDY QUEENS THE PAIN BEHIND THE LAUGHS

Besties Jess and Sandra reveal the real-life heartaches behind their upcoming show

- Debbie Harrison

It was a simple night watching TV at home on Valentine's Day 2023 that changed actress and comedian Jess Loudon's life forever. "I'm perennially and pathetically single, so I was watching something trashy to make me feel better about my appalling dating life," recalls the Brokenwood Mysteries actress.

During an ad break, Jess, 44, reached to pick something up and when she stood up, her head collided hard with an overhead shelf. She felt immediate searing pain, followed by three hours of vomiting. In hindsight, she should've gone to A&E, but instead she went to bed, swallowing some Nurofen in the morning to help her through a day of teaching drama to children.

It took an after-work trip to the supermarket with a friend to realise something was seriously wrong. Jess' pal was suspicious when she started staring at the ceiling in a trance, then began looking for pasta in the freezer section. A visit to the doctor confirmed a brain injury due to concussion.

"It was scary," recalls Aussieborn, Auckland-based Jess.

"I didn't get out of bed for six days. I'd slur my words. I was dribbling like Homer Simpson.

I couldn't get my hand to open a jar. I had brain glitches, where I just shorted out. It was like when you're driving a manual car and you get stuck between gears." Terrifyingly, there was a possibility she wouldn't recover enough to act or teach again.