“I congratulated him, and he said, ‘Same to you, that’s a big milestone’.”
As part of the festival, Double Up performed two shows in the cellar at Auckland’s Q West Theatre, with both doing 30-minute sets.
Faavesi said he got a fright when he first walked on stage in Auckland, as an older Pākehā couple and some businessmen were there to greet him in the front row.
“I just thought ‘Oh s***’, but at the same time, they were there to see something,” he said.
“They had seen the poster and read the bio, so they knew what they were in for.
“When we got into it, they were in fits of laughter.”
The festival ran in Wellington and Auckland from May 2 to May 25.
Other nominees for Best Debut were Criss Grueber, Evie Orpe, Geoff Rissole and Charlotte Hansen.
While Double Up’s show was “brown humour”, it appealed to all New Zealanders, Faavesi said.
“Everyone can relate because they’ve heard it before, whether it be in a rugby club, at a barbecue, in the smoko room at work or at school.
“They’ve grown up with Māori and [Pacific] Islanders.”
Faavesi will be part of the Hello Comedy Gala at the Royal Whanganui Opera House on June 14, alongside Josh Thomson, Ben Hurley and Kajun Brooking.
Brooking was also at the NZ International Comedy Festival, performing his show Kajun Brooking Escapes The Hood.
“I looked at the [gala] poster with all the other comedians on it and it felt a bit lonely without any credentials,” Faavesi said.
“Now, it feels like I deserve to be up there.”
He said he was usually at Porridge Watson on Wednesdays for the bar’s open mic night.
“I’m hosting or getting new comedians into the flow of things.
“I’ve met a lot of funny dudes who don’t know where to channel it, or they’re too shy.
“They just need to give it a go.”
Mike Tweed is a multimedia journalist at the Whanganui Chronicle. Since starting in March 2020, he has dabbled in everything from sport to music. At present his focus is local government, primarily the Whanganui District Council.
