Farmstrong Comedy Night Shows: Q and A with Nick Rado

Award-winning comedian Nick Rado headlines an all-star line-up - including Courtney Dawson, Kajun Brooking and Wilson Dixon - who are travelling to Hawke's Bay for a pair of Farmstrong Comedy Night Shows.

Farmstrong is a nationwide wellbeing programme that helps the rural community cope with the ups and downs of farming and growing. ACC is a strategic partner of Farmstrong, joining rural insurer FMG and the Mental Health Foundation.

"After an incredibly challenging year, this is a great opportunity for rural communities to get off the farm and enjoy a good night out with friends, work mates and family," project lead Gerard Vaughan says.

We caught up with Nick Rado, who stars on local comedy panel show '7 Days', to talk about the Farmstrong Comedy Night Shows, which are designed to get farmers off the farm to have fun and connect.

What's it like heading down to the Hawke's Bay as an Aucklander, trying to connect with farmers and make them laugh?

It's awesome, we felt very welcomed down there last year. It was a great response and that's why we're coming back. Lots has changed since we were last there.

I was recently doing some separate comedy shows, some fundraisers for Cyclone Gabrielle. We were chatting about it - just because the Hawke's Bay isn't in the news anymore, it feels like it's been forgotten about a little bit. We wanted to make sure that wasn't the case.

I've got some family members who live down there and were affected by what happened with Cyclone Gabrielle. We said, 'Listen, whenever you guys are ready to laugh about it, we can come help you out and put some shows on for a community that's been doing it tough'.

It's a fun night but it's something we wanted to say to the people of Hawke's Bay, that you're not forgotten about, and we don't know how tough it's been for you guys.

This is literally the least we can do. We haven't got any calluses on our hands, but we can write some jokes for you. And at least give you one night off rather than thinking about the doom and gloom, which has been the last year.

It's been a challenging year for many farmers, so how important is it to get people off the farm and having fun?

Everyone wanted to help straight away, but sometimes it can be detrimental because there are stages where things need to happen. And I feel like now is the 'Let's have a laugh and a night out' stage - that was not the case even up to a couple of months ago. So the timing of this is great.

Also, we had such a fun time last time and the audience was so great. And the comics were so well received that we thought we'd get back down and have another great show.

What did you learn from last time about connecting with farmers and rural people?

I was MC for the event and I thought people were going to be very reserved. But, no, they're very forthcoming with information and giving me stuff to play with. They also didn't hesitate with throwing people under the bus with regards to inside information.

So part of my role is to make sure everyone is having a good time and the room is warmed up before the comics come on. But last time, right from the get-go, it was a great night out, and people were just ready for it. Sometimes when you go to a community in areas where they maybe haven't had comedy before, you think 'Oh, I wonder how it's going to go'. But everyone had a great time.

And because we're going out to some of the venues that have almost been forgotten about over time, it's just great to see the community all congregating back at those places, like they used to do. So it's like dusting the cobwebs off some of the old community venues and rolling your sleeves up for a good night.

What advice would you give farmers who are thinking they have too much on at the moment, how important is it to have a night out?

It's a great night and we've got world-class comics coming down. What we're finding, especially with these gigs, is that people are coming out and they're intermingling, networking and just chatting with people who have gone through the same thing. And that's what the Farmstrong charity is all about.

It's a reason for people to get out - we have a good laugh and a good time. But the most important thing is we're all chatting about things that are going on. So people can know they're not the only ones out there struggling or can say, 'Well, I haven't had it as bad as that'.

The biggest feedback we've had is that it's just nice to get out with other like-minded people who have gone through the same thing, laughing about things we have in common but, equally, knowing that for the next two or three hours, nothing else matters. We can just relax, have a good time and take our minds off whatever trials and tribulations are going on at the farm.

For once, we'll be doing the work and the clean-up afterwards. That's a big takeaway message from these comedy nights - just to come on down, have a couple of drinks, a laugh with your mates and a fun night out. Boy, if anyone deserves it, it's the people of Hawke's Bay.

Farmstrong Comedy Night Shows

• Thursday 23 November - Puketitiri Golf Club, Hutchinson Domain. Doors open 6pm for 7pm start, $20 (includes food)
• Friday 24 November - The Cabana, Napier. Doors open 7pm for 7.30pm start, $20 (includes food)

Tickets can be booked online.

Tickets for Puketitiri
Tickets for Napier

For more on Farmstrong visit the website.

Farmstrong - Live Well Farm Well