In Memoriam: Carolyn ‘CJ’ Le Mon     

(6/11/1973 – 27/02/2025)

CJ said she started improvising because she thought she couldn’t, and kept going to see what would happen.

She did the Covert’s training improv courses and joined the Covert Theatre in 2011. She went on to perform in shows consistently since then and some of her personal improv performance highlights included:

  • Playing in multiple New Zealand International Comedy Festivals

  • Performing at the 2018 Hawaiian Improvaganza Festival

  • Spinning Shakespearean verse in ‘A Bard’s Tale’ at the Pop-Up Globe

  • Belting out tunes in Instant Broadway

  • Performing for our youngest improv fans in the Covert’s family show Sunday Giggles.

She was a part of the Covert Theatre for 14 years and became a member of NZ’s most successful improvised comedy act The Improv Bandits in 2018. Although she was a wonderful, bold and brave performer, it was as a teacher that she was at her inspirational best. She was consistently rated by our 101 and 201 students as one of, if not, the best teacher. Two of the teams she taught in the Office Comedy Clash, our inter-office improv competition, won the title and she was an expert in getting people who had never experienced improv before, to feel immediately comfortable. CJ would say she loved to shepherd new improvisers through their first steps into the art form. As the head of performing arts at an Auckland high school put it, under CJ’s skilful eye,

“It was brilliant watching a bunch of nervous kids turn into fun-loving improvisers.”

 

CJ held a number of roles during her time at the Covert and was constantly working behind the scenes putting her fierce intellect to work to improve the theatre’s systems and processes. She was a champion and role model for women in the Covert and wider improv community and always up for new things. She produced her own improv show called Mixed Tape at the Tiny Theatre in the Covert’s new show season in 2018 and was the Associate Producer of Instant Broadway, our unscripted musical show that she absolutely loved. CJ was an invaluable member of the Covert’s Artistic Collective, the team who help develop and deliver the Covert’s artistic plan, and in her final year became our Community Liaison, communicating with our members, onboarding new ones and being the #1 trouble shooter. CJ was also my improv confidant, my go to person and someone I relied on as a sounding board to make sure what we were doing at the Covert and the decisions being made were the best ones.    

 
 

Diagnosed in August 2023 with stage 4 pancreatic cancer she lived for another 18 months in which she channelled her energy into the Covert, for our community’s benefit. She was an inspiration not just to me but to many people in how she lived her life and she was very sure to, as she put it, “live in the now-now.” Losing CJ is a huge loss to the theatre and the wider community but her impact is such that it’s imbued in the Covert’s DNA and she will have a positive ripple effect for many years to come. For that we are eternally grateful.    

 
 

CJ provided a lot of the heart to the Covert’s heart and soul. A hugely empathic person, she brought her amazing positivity and joy to all aspects of her life and everyone who interacted with CJ benefited from that. She was the embodiment of the spirit of improv; positive, generous, supportive, empathic, creative, joyous and delightful. At the Covert, CJ was a performer, a teacher and most of all, she was our friend.   

Rest In Play CJ.                                                       

Written by Wade Jackson    5 March 2025