Hersch hits out at NZ comedy festival

Musical comic Rainer Hersch has hit out at the New Zealand Comedy Festival, after losing thousands of pounds on his trip there.

The Brit is advising other international acts to stay away from the event, after the disappointment playing to just 27 people in a 360-seat venue.

On his website he claimed that such low numbers ‘wouldn't happen in Edinburgh’ and had cost him a small fortune.

’Of the fifty plus festivals I have performed at around the world I can say with confidence that it is the most expensive and the weakest event I have ever attended,’ he said.

Hersch said he had lost more than £5,000 just traveling to the festival and was staggered by the cost of hiring equipment and instruments, accommodation and his venue.

’He said the venue, The Edge at Auckland Town Hall, ‘had the temerity’ to ask for NZ$300 (£160) to send out an email plugging his show, saying: ‘Never before - and I include the major concert halls of the world whose boards I have been permitted to tread - have I been asked for money to press the return button on a computer keyboard’

He also criticised the ‘disaster’ of a website selling tickets, and the ‘disgrace’ of a NZ$5 (£2.70) booking fee.

Kylie Sealy, managing director of the trust which runs the festival, told the New Zealand Herald: ‘It's unfortunate Rainer Hersch has not had the season he was hoping for in New Zealand, as it's a world-class show that audiences who have attended enjoyed. Overall ticket sales are tracking above 2012.’

Most Edinburgh shows operate at loss, with figures of around £8,000 not uncommon for lesser-known comics who shell out on a publicist, advertising, and accommodation.

But Hersch said: ‘At Edinburgh Festival, also expensive, one takes on the costs and risks because the industry is up there too.  Do a good, well reviewed show and you can be pretty sure that something will come of it – a tour, other paid appearances, maybe even some TV.  But at the New Zealand International Comedy Festival - no... there is no significant entertainment industry here.’

Published: 15 May 2013