Filmed at the Basement Theatre in Auckland, New Zealand, comedian James Roque enjoys an intimate night of laughter with some of his closest fans as part of his latest comedy special entitled Badong.
His entire life, James’ family have referred to him by his traditional baby nickname – Badong. Now that Badong has turned 30, he’s asking – is it finally time to retire the name? This is a show about embracing adulthood and learning to love your inner grown up, as seen through the eyes of a Filipino migrant who grew up in New Zealand.
In 2023 James was handpicked to be part of the New Faces International Showcase at the prestigious Just For Laughs Montreal comedy festival.
James’ New Zealand television credits include being a core guessing panelist on The Masked Singer NZ, as well as being featured on TVNZ’s Have You Been Paying Attention? NZ, 7 Days, Jono and Ben, Funny Girls and the New Zealand Comedy Gala. James has opened for some of the most popular comedians in the world including Ronny Chieng, Nick Kroll, Demetri Martin, and Ron Funches.
Through his comedy, he has amassed a following of over 100,000 people across Tiktok and Instagram combined. In 2023, he moved to Toronto, Canada with an eye on the future.
As well as a solo career, James is also one third of the sketch group Frickin Dangerous Bro, alongside Pax Assadi and Jamaine Ross. The trio debuted their TV show Frickin Dangerous Bro: On The Road in 2021. He is part of cult-hit improv troupe SNORT which continues to sellout it’s weekly show at Auckland’s Basement Theatre.
Outside of comedy, James has also been involved in theatre. He is a co-founder of Proudly Asian Theatre, a theatre company dedicated to showcasing more Asian-NZ stories onstage and and has played the lead role of Sidu in Indian Ink Theatre Company’s Kiss the Fish, which has toured New Zealand and USA.
