Illumingāti debuts at Little Tairāwhiti Comedy Fest

One of the acts coming for the festival is Kajun Brooking of Ngāti Porou and Ngāti Kahungunu descent. Now based in Whanganui, he spent much of his time as a youngster in Tairāwhiti and he’s excited to be returning with his debut solo show Illumingāti. Picture supplied

The Little Tairāwhiti Comedy Fest is going to be the best little comedy festival as it arrives on Gisborne shores and premieres at Evolution Theatre this July.

There are seven shows over three nights, featuring some of the best up-and-coming comedic talent in regional New Zealand. Plus, there will be opportunities for locals to learn stand-up comedy and possibly jump on stage themselves.

Planning started last year according to DIY Comedy producer Ben Tito Caldwell.

He successfully applied for funding from the Gisborne District Creative Communities Scheme, with the aim to do the festival in March and April earlier this year. But following Cyclone Gabrielle, the decision was made to postpone.

Caldwell hopes that the shows bring some much-needed laughs to Tairāwhiti following the  cyclone  and other extreme weather events.

“We’ve always enjoyed coming to Evolution Theatre for shows. We started in 2019 and Gizzy audiences are among my favourites in the country. We know that the people of Tairāwhiti have been doing it tough these past few months, so hopefully we can provide everyone a good time and help take their minds off everything for a while,” says Caldwell.

One of the acts coming for the festival is Kajun Brooking of Ngāti Porou and Ngāti Kahungunu descent. Now based in Whanganui, he spent much of his time as a youngster in Tairāwhiti and he’s excited to be returning with his debut solo show Illumingāti.

“I first got to gig in Gisborne in 2021 and my Nan was there for the show. It was her first time at a comedy show, let alone coming to see me perform. It’s honestly one of the highlights of my career so far, and it’s going to be awesome to do my first solo show in Gizzy. I can’t wait,” says Brooking.

Other performers taking part in the festival include Caldwell himself, former Gisborne radio DJ Richard Dryden, Joanna Joy, Billy T nominee Patch Lambert and Auntie Lianne of TVNZ’s 60 Seconds fame.

The Creative Communities funding has allowed for ticket prices to be capped at $20, but there are a limited number of tickets available for $10 and $15 for all shows. Not only that, Caldwell is guaranteeing the performers a minimum fee for their shows.

“Having performed in festivals myself, they’re awesome experiences to be a part of, but more often than not you’re lucky to break even. We’re not saying that acts will make a huge amount of money from the festival, but we’ll at least cover their travel and accommodation costs,” says Caldwell.

The other aspect of the festival is that Caldwell and some of the other comedians will be running workshops for those who wish to learn stand-up comedy.

There’ll be three workshops from Thursday to Saturday at Evolution Theatre. People that would like to register for these workshops can do so by emailing contact@diycomedynz.com.

Tickets can be purchased from KiwiTicket, and some shows still have $10 and $15 tickets available.

Adopt-a-Show sponsorship packages are also available for $200, which entitles a sponsor to eight tickets per show, and social media promotion of their business via DIY Comedy and performer channels.

Warning: Shows may contain adult themes and coarse language.

■  Evolution Theatre. July 20-22 at 9pm.