Dai Henwood (1978–2026)

A few hours ago I found out that Kiwi comedian Dai Henwood passed away. I've been working on a big Taskmaster-related post and NZ4 is one of my favourite series, so I've had him in my mind quite a bit lately and the news have hit me kind of hard, so I wanted to write a small tribute to him.

I first learned about him from Taskmaster NZ about 5 months ago, so not that long, but — like I said earlier — his series is one of my favourites, and he was definitely a big part of why. He had an incredible energy, gelled super well with all the other contestants, and his team with Karen O'Leary and Bubbah is easily one of my favourites ever. Since then I've watched a few more shows he was in and I've loved him in all of those too, from his hilarious run in Guy Mont Spelling Bee, to his regular appearances in 7 Days, and I've even stumbled upon some clips of his specials.

I learned about his struggles with cancer shortly after finishing his Taskmaster series, and it was definitely tough to hear, but I do really appreciate his message of laughter being healing. I'm sure that applied to him directly, but I also think it applies to us viewers, being able to still laugh and enjoy things during hard times, and in the specific case of someone's death, being able to celebrate the time they were here. Similar reason as to why I've always liked Dia de los Muertos so much despite it not really being a thing in my bit of Latinamerica, I've always found that message extremely meaningful and positive.

Dai really made me laugh whenever I saw him in stuff, and I'm sure he meant a lot more to a lot of people. I'll miss him, but I'll make sure to still enjoy all the things I see him in, and celebrate what he left behind.