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Cal Wilson is being remembered for her enormous generosity, sheer talent and the immense impact she had on the lives of all those she met.
The Melbourne-based New Zealand comedian died suddenly at the age of 53, from a short illness.
She was born in 1970 in Christchurch, New Zealand, where she grew up with her mum, Barbara, dad, Graeme, and two older brothers.
“In an era when there was lots of sexism, dad was a champion of the women who worked for him,” she told the Sydney Morning Herald during an interview earlier this year.
“I was never expected to be any less because I was a girl.
“Dad and mum had the same expectations for me: that I’d get an education, go to uni and be what I wanted.”
She developed a love for drama in high school and won the World Theatresports title in Los Angeles in 1994 after joining an improv team.
What followed was countless improv nights and stand-up gigs before she decided to try comedy full time.
Shortly after in 2003, Wilson moved to Melbourne.
“She’d already embarked on the comedy scene in New Zealand but she was a baby starting out,” Susan Provan, director of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival told ABC’s Trevor Chappell.
Not long after that she met her husband Chris at a bar in the northern suburb of Northcote.
“I was getting over a bad relationship at the time and we met at a mutual friend’s gig,” she said during an interview with the Daily Telegraph.
“I overheard Chris say he was heading overseas in five weeks and I thought, ‘he could be a great fling’. Twenty years later we are still together with a 14-year-old son.”
The couple were married in 2008.
A generous mentor
When Wilson entered the comedy scene she was one of just a handful of women.
“Early on I did think about walking away because it was a boys’ club, it was hard, and there’s no HR department in comedy,” she told the Daily Telegraph in an earlier interview.
It was a tough scene to break into, but as Wilson rose in popularity she was determined to change that.
“As her career grew, she became an incredible mentor,” Ms Provan said.
“There are so many, particularly young women, comedians who will speak about how generous she was with her time, with helping people who needed a hand, helping with material, helping people to get better at what they do.
“It can be a very tough and lonely profession and can be very scary out there on your own doing open mic nights and then working up and Cal was always an ear that people could rely on … She was incredibly generous.”
Close friend Damian Callinan joined other family and friends at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney, where they said their goodbyes to the 53-year-old.
Reflecting on that moment, he told ABC’s Ali Moore of the profound impact she had on each person in the ICU room where Wilson laid.
“Most friends, you don’t really remember, you just became friends. But every single person in that room could remember exactly where they met Cal Wilson, because she made such an indelible impression straightaway,” he said.
Wilson’s authenticity on and off the stage
Wilson stepped into the Australian television scene in the 2000s appearing on several household favourites including Whose Line Is It Anyway?, Rove Live, Spicks and Specks and Thank God You’re Here.
She also made appearances on I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here, Dancing With The Stars and more recently hosted The Great Australian Bake Off.
She’s tried her hand at radio hosting, podcasting and even wrote two children’s books.
In true Aussie fashion, Wilson was adopted and claimed as one of our own, something she openly embraced.
“I think that we grow up in New Zealand feeling like Australia took a lot of the good people that were ours. If someone gets well known they’re suddenly Australian,” she said during an interview with the SBS in July.
“But that is happening to me now.”
There’s barely a comedy festival she hasn’t performed at, or a part of the world she hasn’t stepped foot on.
Filling hundreds of thousands of people with laughter and joy along the way.
“She was so infectious. Her stand up was joyous. She’s one of the best improvisers I’ve ever seen,” Mr Callinan said.
“In the same way that she made individuals feel wonderful when she met them, she made whole audiences feel like that.”
He said she was just as authentically her self on stage as she was off stage.
“It was never superficial, it was fun, so much fun but there was a great depth to her,” Mr Callinan said.
“She was like a mobile hairdresser… She just drew things out of you and everyone who came into orbit was made to feel special.”
“She was a great story teller too,” Ms Provan said.
“She was just such a joyful, positive, optimistic person, such a complete dag.
“Everyone loved her and she was just a great person to have around. She made venues and made gigs more fun.
“She had so many strings to her bow.”
The strong connection she created along her journey
She didn’t just demonstrate talent on the stage but had a knack for arts and craft.
Mr Callinan said Wilson loved craft so much that she even made the centre pieces at her wedding, personalising each one to every guests tastes and interests.
“The craft industry will go into recession,” he joked.
During the COVID-19 lockdowns when comedians were essentially out of a job, Wilson turned to the internet, connecting with thousands online by creating elaborate headdresses.
“She went nuts with making the ridiculous hats,” Ms Provan said.
“We all loved, and still do love, all of her hat content and cat content.”
Her social media presence had a profound impact on Cairns artist Andrea Huelin, who immortalised Wilson in an Archibald prize winning portrait where she is wearing a headdress made of doll parts and Christmas Baubles.
The beloved comedian leaves a gaping hole in the industry but will forever be remember by those around her for the work that she created.
“For me, comedy is about connection. That’s all we really want as people, to be connected, and to feel accepted,” she once said to the Daily Telegraph.
And it’s evident through the tributes that have been flowing in for the comedian, that she achieved exactly that, connecting people all over the world through laughter.
