Tegan Marie Higginbotham (born 1987 or 1988) is an Australian comedian, writer, and actress.

Tegan Higginbotham
Birth nameTegan Marie Higginbotham
Born1987 or 1988 (age 36–37)
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
MediumWriter, actor
EducationDandenong High School
Years active2005-present
SpousePaul Verhoeven
Notable works and rolesWhovians

Early life and education

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Tegan Marie Higginbotham[citation needed] was born in 1987 or 1988[1] in Dandenong, Victoria. She attended Dandenong Primary School and Dandenong High School (since merged with Cleeland Secondary College).[2]

Her first love was acting, until she discovered comedy in her late teens,[3] and performed her first comedy gig at the age of 17.[4]

Career

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Live performance

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Higginbotham has performed at every Melbourne International Comedy Festival since becoming a National Finalist at the festival's Class Clowns comedy competition in 2005.[5]

She began her comedy career performing wild fast-paced sketch shows with fellow comedians Rob Lloyd and Adam McKenzie as the trio 'The Hounds', which later morphed into 'Watson', without Lloyd.[4]

At the age of 21, Higginbotham began performing solo[4] with her debut comedy show Million Dollar Tegan – nominated for the Best Newcomer Award at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival in 2012.[6]

TV and radio

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In 2016, Higginbotham was a regular cast member for the Australian version of Whose Line Is It Anyway?.[7][8]

Higginbotham co-hosted the controversial[why?] ABC2 pre-game, half-time and post-game coverages of the Liverpool F.C versus Sydney FC match with Julian Schiller and Steen Raskopoulos on 24 May 2017.[9][10]

She joined Nicole Livingstone and Amberley Lobo as co-host and regular panellist on the one-hour live entertainment and sports comedy panel show called Sideliners which premiered on ABC TV on 30 June 2017.[11][12][13]

In March 2024, Higginbotham joined Triple M's Marty Sheargold Show as executive producer, replacing Matt Thomson.[citation needed]

Writing

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Higginbotham contributes regularly as a sports columnist for The Age and writes a blog.[citation needed]

Awards

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Year Work Award Category Result
2012 Million Dollar Tegan Melbourne International Comedy Festival Best Newcomer Nominated[14]
2012 Shakespeare Fight Club Melbourne International Comedy Festival Golden Gibbo Award (with ensemble 'Watson') Nominated[14]
2014 This is Littleton AWGIE Awards Best Comedy: Sketch or Light Entertainment (shared with ensemble of writers) Nominated[15]
2014 Who's Afraid of the Dark? Melbourne International Comedy Festival Best Comedy Award (with ensemble 'Watson') Won [citation needed]
2015 Who's Afraid of the Dark? Melbourne International Comedy Festival Golden Gibbo Award (with ensemble 'Watson') Nominated[14][16]

Community and charity work

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Higginbotham performed at the Heart of St Kilda concert in 2014 with comedians Julia Morris, Charlie Pickering, musical comedy trio Tripod, ventriloquist Dean Atkinson, Greg Champion of the Coodabeens, and comedy character Elliot Goblet,[17] to raise funds for Sacred Heart Mission, which assists hundreds of people who are homeless or living in poverty to find shelter, food, care and support every day of the year.[18]

Personal life

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Higginbotham loves sports and sci-fi. and describes herself as "a big nerd at heart, whose favourite things ever are Star Wars and Harry Potter."[1]

She married Paul Verhoeven in a civil ceremony in Paris in July 2019.[19]

Live comedy shows

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Solo comedy shows

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  • 2012: Million Dollar Tegan
  • 2013: Touched By Fev
  • 2014: Game Changer
  • 2016: The City of Love

Collaborative comedy shows

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  • 2006–2007: The Hound of the Baskervilles
  • 2007: Every Film Ever Made
  • 2008–2009: The Last Bucket of Water
  • 2010: Robot V's World
  • 2010: Jabba's Comedy Hutt
  • 2011: The Terminativity
  • 2011: Super Secret Awesome Show
  • 2012: Shakespeare Fight Club
  • 2014: The Wrestling
  • 2015: Who's Afraid of the Dark?
  • 2016: The Life Education Van for Adults!
  • 2017: Go to Hell
  • 2018: Watson World Tour

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes
2009 Perspective Darcy Short film
2013 Adoption Tilly Short film
2014 Dinner for Three Cass Short film
2014 The Heckler Laura Feature film
2015 Sweatshop Ashlee Simmons Short TV movie
2015 Holding the Man Gina Feature film
2015 Oddball Zoe Feature film
2015 A Night of Horror: Volume 1 Maggie Anthology film
2018 For Your Sins Lucy Short film
2020 The Divorce Lawyer Short film
2023 Jones Family Christmas McKenzie TV movie

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
2007 Neighbours Francis Taylor 1 episode
2008 Studio A Comedian 1 episode
2009 Whatever Happened to That Guy? Tegan Season 1, 4 episodes
2009 City Homicide Jana Mellor Season 3, episode 14: "Mission Statement"
2011 The Bazura Project Barmaid / Profane Shopper Season 4, 2 episodes
2012 Rant Reporter 1 episode
2012 Aunty Donna's Rumpus Room Tammy Season 1, episode 2: "Chapel Street/Cresps/A Bad Date"
2013 Twentysomething Applicant 1 Season 2, episode 2: "Tricks of the Trade"
2013–2015 Have You Been Paying Attention? Panelist 4 episodes
2014 Back Seat Drivers Driver 1 episode
2014 This is Littleton Various characters Season 1, 4 episodes
2014 Fancy Boy Addiction Counsellor Season 1, episode 1: "My Weird Addiction"
2014 It's a Date Abby Season 2, episode 4: "How Much Research Should You Do Before Dating?"
2014 Upper Middle Bogan Jess Season 2, episode 8: "Jules in the Crown"
2014 The 2014 Antenna Awards Host 1 episode
2014 Live on Bowen Comedian 1 episode
2014 Spicks and Specks Panelist 2 episodes
2015 Community Kitchen Herself 2 episodes
2015 Comedy Up Late Comedian 1 episode
2015 About Tonight Host 1 episode
2015 How to be Funny Herself 1 episode
2016 Molly Petra Miniseries, 2 episodes
2016 Bounce Herself 2 episodes
2016–2018 Nowhere Boys: Two Moons Rising Quinn Banda Seasons 3–4, 5 episodes
2016–2017 Whose Line is it Anyway? Australia Herself 4 episodes
2017 Whovians Presenter / Panellist 9 episodes
2017 Liverpool FC versus Sydney FC Host 1 episode
2017 Sideliners Co-host / Regular panellist 7 episodes
2017 The Ex-PM Floor Manager Season 2, episode 3: "Image"
2018 Show Me the Movie! Herself 2 episodes
2019 Help – The Series Lucie Miniseries
2021 Dish Island Host

As writer

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Year Title Role Notes
2014 This is Littleton Writer Season 1, 4 episodes
2014 The 2014 Antenna Awards Writer 1 episode
2014 Dinner for Three Co-writer / Associate Producer Short film
2015 Little Lunch Writer 1 episode
2015 Open Slather Writer 9 episodes
2023 Jones Family Christmas Writer TV movie

Podcast series

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Year Title Role Notes
2016 Night Terrace Jillemina 1 episode: "Situational Awareness"

References

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  1. ^ a b Black, Zona (8 May 2014). "Not your average comedian". The Examiner. Fairfax Media. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 7 October 2015.
  2. ^ Higginbotham, Tegan (7 April 2014). "Comedy class of her own". Dandenong Star Journal (Interview). Interviewed by Neill, Casey. Retrieved 12 September 2024.
  3. ^ Brookfield, Joanne (17 September 2015). "A comedian's life is not all fun and games". The Age. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 7 October 2015.
  4. ^ a b c Clark, Lisa (15 March 2013). "Interview with Tegan Higginbotham about being Touched By Fev and other things". Squirrel Comedy. Retrieved 7 October 2015.
  5. ^ "Tegan Higginbotham". Creative Representation. 7 March 2024. Retrieved 12 September 2024.
  6. ^ Clark, Lisa (9 October 2012). "Tegan Higginbotham in Million Dollar Tegan". Squirrel Comedy. Retrieved 7 October 2015.
  7. ^ "Rhys Darby surprise star in Whose Line Is It Anyway? Australia cast". Yahoo7. 20 July 2016. Retrieved 9 August 2016.
  8. ^ "Whose Line Is It Anyway? Australia Cast Announced". Multi Channel Network. 19 July 2016. Retrieved 9 August 2016.
  9. ^ "Liverpool Football Club vs Sydney FC - Live this week on ABC2". Decider TV. 23 May 2017. Retrieved 25 May 2017.
  10. ^ "ABC2's Liverpool FC vs Sydney FC match coverage slammed". The Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. 25 May 2017. Retrieved 25 May 2017.
  11. ^ Knox, David (18 July 2017). "Airdate: Sideliners". TV Tonight. Retrieved 19 August 2017.
  12. ^ Enker, Debi (17 August 2017). "Draw your own conclusions about ABC priorities from two recent shows". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 19 August 2017.
  13. ^ Perry, Kevin (19 July 2017). "ABC launches new live sport panel show this Friday night". Decider TV. Retrieved 19 August 2017.
  14. ^ a b c "Melbourne International Comedy Festival Awards Page". Melbourne International Comedy Festival. Retrieved 11 October 2015.
  15. ^ "AWG Announces the Nominees for the 47th Annual AWGIE Awards". Australian Writers' Guild. Retrieved 11 October 2015.
  16. ^ Ross, Annabel (15 April 2015). "Melbourne International Comedy Festival: 2015 Barry Award nominees announced". The Age. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 11 October 2015.
  17. ^ Bailey, John (25 June 2014). "Stage Whispers- Heart of St Kilda concert, F for funny and Bangarra dance". The Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 8 October 2015.
  18. ^ "Sacred Heart Mission-Home page". Sacred Heart Mission. Retrieved 8 October 2015.
  19. ^ "My Paris: Comedian & Writer Tegan Higginbotham". August 2019.
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