Munfred Bernstein

The show was lucky enough to receive development funding through the New Zealand Comedy Trust and their Creative Comedy Initiative. The grant was given to shows and ideas that were a little bit different from your usual standup affair and after 12 years of performing, creating this show sits as one of the things I'm most proud of. It was nominated for Best Local Show during the 2011 NZ International Comedy Festival Awards and was also nominated for Best Show at the 2011 NZ Comedy Guild Awards, where it won the award for Best Show Concept.

The show is about a Munfred - a Victorian Vagabond Troubadour Raconteur. Munfred has travelled around the globe collecting curios and oddities as he goes. These are kept in his Cabinet of Wonder and during the show, Munfred will retell some of the stories behind his beloved objects. There's his awareness of the impending doom of Bananas. His father's 'Beard of Insanity'. German toilet paper. Preserved animals. Bottled souls. Terrible recordings of awful Off-Broadway productions. Munfred's tales are loose and wild and sometimes he'll sing his stories while playing tiny instruments that sound like they should be put out of their misery. The show mixes character comedy, vaudeville, traveling medicine show and music-hall to create an hour of madness and laughs that has played in both Auckland and Wellington, as well as a season of 30 shows during the Adelaide Fringe Festival in the prestigious Garden of Unearthly Delights.

Now, Rhys Darby and his wife Rosie want to help me take the show to the 2012 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. They came and saw it last year and loved it (stoked). Rhys and Rosie know the ins and outs of the Festival after years of slogging it out there. Between the two of them and their company Awesomeness International, we're excited to be taking this show to the biggest performing arts trade fair in the world. The show might not sell-out, but it's an amazing opportunity to be rocking it alongside some of the worlds greatest performing artists and you just never know who's in the crowd watching or at the bar drinking. It's one of the best places to network and expand your career options. 

Edinburgh is one of the most expensive festivals a New Zealander could do. So far I've paid for my flights, extra luggage and freight (there's a lot to take over), accommodation and travel insurance. This has come to roughly $7000 and I haven't begun to pay for venue rental, publicity, festival registration and all the other costs involved with staging a show in Edinburgh which are all coming out of my pocket - somehow... It's cost $2000 just to register the show in the festival and list the show in the Fringe Guide. So, what I'm hoping to do is raise enough money to help me pay for this cost - $2000 for registration and show listing. It's a small amount in comparison to the debt I'm about to take on once the festival is done, but it would be a huge support to know I'm chipping away at the costs involved with the help of my friends, family and general good sorts. If worse comes to worst, I've still got two kidneys. For now, anyway...