Hardly anyone saw it, but Rainer Hersch's homage to the great Victor Borge was brilliant, writes Russell Baillie.

You can just imagine how many hours Sam Wills (The Boy With Tape On His Face) must spend in variety or emporium stores, looking at everyday objects and imagining a whole new life for them.

I'm not too sure what my 5-year-old Mia made of Dr Brown at first, an odd-looking man wearing white tennis shorts, a suit jacket, shirt and tie, woolly hat and safety goggles. He was a fruity fright.

They aren't in fact billed together, but Britain's young gun Chris Martin and American veteran Tom Rhodes create a great comedy face-off in their respective festival gigs.

What sort of voice should we read your answers in?

What sort of voice should we read your answers in?

What sort of voice should we read your answers in?

Comedian Brendon Green explains his deceptively personal songs and deep seated wish to possess Emma Stone's voice.

We ask the hard questions to comedy duo Hedluv + Passman. Who is your comedy hero? What does your mother think of what you do? Where are you when your jokes come to you?

Think of it as speed dating: A chance to see which comedians you might like to take it further with in the coming three weeks.

Dai Henwood talks about his mum, his comedy heroes and why the shower is the best place to write jokes.

My Cornish rappers have arrived, writes Rhys Darby. I'm really happy that I could start this week's column with that sentence.

The New Zealand International Comedy Festival begins this weekend bringing local and international comic heroes to our stages. Here, Janey Godley talks about her forthcoming shows.

Best known as band manager Murray from Flight of the Conchords, Rhys Darby is one of New Zealand's biggest comedic exports. The funny man popped in to the NZ Herald office for a chat about his new book, This Way to Spaceship, 'a handy autobiographical end-of-the-world companion'.