Happy New Year! Wherever you are, I hope you had a restful break and are looking forward to what 2026 will bring.
The project I’m most excited about this month might be right up your alley:
Doomsday Comedy is coming to Aotearoa – and some incredible local comedians are joining the first New Zealand tour. Spot them on the poster!
Goat farmer and former Jehovah’s Witness Jonas Skogstroll from Norway arrives in Auckland soon – a funny man on a serious mission. Cult Chat interviewed him last month, and the Sunday Star-Times just ran a full-page feature on the stand-up comedian. I was quoted as a supporter, and Smurfs get a mention too.
EX-JW PROTEST AT EDEN PARK
This coming weekend, Jonas will join other cult survivors in a peaceful protest outside the International Jehovah’s Witness Convention at Eden Park. The annual mass indoctrination event draws around 20,000 attendees, most of them born into the high-control church. The Christian fundamentalists practice shunning and face allegations of sexual, emotional and physical child abuse.
If you’re in Tāmaki Makaurau this weekend, we’d love you to stand alongside former JWs and help raise their voices about human rights in coercive groups. All details are on the Facebook event page.
STAND-UP SHOWS WITH LOCAL TALENT
After the protest, Jonas and Christchurch producer Mark Darbyshire will take Doomsday Comedy on the road for a month – kicking off this Sunday at Whammy Bar in Auckland with Tim Batt as MC. Tim is a Billy T nominated comedian who featured on TV, has performed worldwide and co-hosts New Zealand’s most successful comedy podcast. This exciting premiere will be followed by shows in Hamilton, Wellington and Christchurch with MC Snap and other performers who left fundamentalist groups, from Destiny Church to Mormonism.
The stand-up gig was a big hit in Europe, so don’t miss this uniquely culty comedy with a local flavour when it comes to a city near you soon.
If you can help the team with booking more events in-between (or want to join them on stage), contact Mark: [email protected].
CAN YOU SUPPORT JONAS’ TRIP?
Creative expression that transforms religious trauma into humour takes courage – and it comes with real personal cost. Jonas cleans windows for a living when he’s not on stage. The young father from Scandinavia just won an appeal against the mighty Watchtower organisation after years of legal battle. If you’d like to support his NZ visit and activism, you could shout him a beer, offer a couch to crash on, or simply help spread the word about his events.
Cult deconstruction can start with a good laugh. It’s one powerful way to face the past and kick off 2026.
See you at Doomsday Comedy soon!
Anke