 He got the role of bodyguard JoJoe and was the lead understudy.Later that year, Smith joined Christchurch's Court Theatre and performed on stage for the next three years in a variety of roles including Don Pedro in Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing" and Stanley Kowalski in Tennessee Williams' "A Streetcar Named Desire".In 1989, Smith co-founded a Christchurch theatresports group, Scared Scriptless, performing live comedy.