Justine Smith

Justine Smith is a New Zealand comedian, writer, and actress. She was born in Auckland and adopted by and raised in a self-described "conservative" family in Wainoni in Christchurch, New Zealand. Her grandfather, Bill Ramsay, had been a comedian. She attended Avonside Girls' High School until she was sixteen, when she moved to Auckland to attend art school. Smith has a degree in film and photography, and after graduating she worked in hospitality.

Smith started her career in comedy after doing a stand-up gig in 1997. She went on to win the Billy T Award in 2003 for her show The Justine Smith Hour, and briefly quit comedy in 2014. She is the first female head writer and a regular panelist on 7 Days, and has appeared on The Project. In 2022, she appeared on the third series of Taskmaster NZ, and has also been on Pulp Comedy and Have You Been Paying Attention?, and hosted the New Zealand International Comedy Festival Comedy Gala in 2021. She also won the NZ Comedy Guild's Best Female Comedian award three times, in 2008, 2015, and 2017.

Shows performed by Smith include Actually I'm a Cat Person, The Justine Smith Hour (2003), Return of the Jussi (2008), and Jussi Town (2010). She and Irene Pink have performed two shows together, I'm Sorry I Said That and The Pitch. She has cited Bill Bailey as an inspiration, as well as Lucille Ball, Carol Burnett, Bette Midler, and Betty White. Smith married her husband Dan Crozier in 2015, and they live in Te Atatu Peninsula with their two cats.