Rachel Rouge Photo: Gareth Bradley
The comedy business is a competitive one - and in the end the final judge of whether a comedian is any good or not is the audience.
But to get to that audience is the trick. And for many comics, you have to start in competitions like the Wellington Raw Comedy Quest. There are heats, there are semi-finals and finals, and the top two finalists head up to Auckland to compete for the National Title and a cash prize.
So who are the judges, and what are they looking for? A regular one in Wellington is Rachel Rouge, veteran performer and creative director of the famous Menagerie Variety Show. And Rachel's our guest on the Laugh Track.
Rachel's picks include Emma Wollum, Jerome Chandrahasan, Laura Bruce and Opeti Vaka. And unusually, this week's Laugh Track is available for listening to on our web-page.
