A fitting return for local comic

In 2012, Dan Boerman signed up for his first open mic in a Wellington bar. “It took me until 2021 to actually have the courage to show up and do six minutes on stage”. The intervening nine years may have been a slow gestation for his comedy, but the steady rise since then has impressed many. He now works the London comedy circuit full-time and recently packed out a 45-show run in Edinburgh. He returns to Wellington in May for his solo show ‘Dan Boerman Thinks He Could Land A Plane’.  

Dan describes his brand of comedy as high-energy chaos. “It’s silly, it’s observational, it’s self-deprecating, and there’s always a story in there”. He attributes his sense of humour to being the outcast for his formative years. “I’m grateful that I was unpopular, weird, and weird-looking for much of my life. When your career is based on finding the humour in yourself and using comedy to win over a group of strangers, childhood adversity is the best teacher you can have”.

Born in Upper Hutt and raised in Martinborough, it was inevitable that Dan would migrate south to Wellington as an adult. “As a teenager, I’d catch the train into Wellington on weekends. In 2010, Manners Mall was still a paved mall (RIP). I’d get a crepe for lunch, people-watch the punks outside of Timezone, then play the drums at the Manners Street Rockshop”. It was in Wellington that he met one of his comedy idols, Dai Henwood, outside Midnight Espresso on Cuba Street. “I could never have imagined that I’d be performing alongside him at The Opera House a decade later”. 

Wellingtonians may recognise Dan from his 2025 Cuba Mall stunt, ‘Dan Boerman folds a fitted sheet’. It attracted a huge crowd in person and online. For him, its success underlined a universal struggle that many men have “Dudes can be useless without a better half to do life with. I’m also fascinated by the unspoken, but widely understood Gen-Z and millennial rule, that people will celebrate something mundane, ironically”. 

Dan considers himself a Wellingtonian and is planning on revisiting a few favourite haunts when back in the city for the NZICF. Raglan Roast is the top priority. “I’ll order an Americano and wrestle with the contrast between the barista’s deep disdain for me, while drinking a coffee so perfect it could only come from a place of love”. He’ll then head to Oriental Parade to find a sea-facing bench and drink in the view (and the coffee). Also on the list is a visit to t Leaf T in Dukes Arcade and a trip to Te Papa to pay his respects to the giant squid. 

And how’s the preparation going for his NZICF show ‘Dan Boerman Thinks He Could Land A Plane’? “I’ll say this much — If I can execute it right, and get the timing, and PR in the right spot — it could go really well. If not, I’ll probably have to find a job in housekeeping. Folding a sheet is easier than it looks.