Sexy Ghost Boy Goes To Australia

After splitting the sides of audiences across Aotearoa for nearly ten years, Sexy Ghost Boy is ready to cross the ditch for an unforgettable (series of) evening(s) of theatre with Australians during the 2026 Adelaide Fringe Festival. We know there's a massive audience abroad who would cherish getting to know Sexy Ghost Boy, and showcasing it at the largest arts festival in the Southern Hemisphere is the best way to meet that audience, and hopefully connect with international producers and tour managers that can bring it even further afield.

Costs to transport pool noodles out of New Zealand are high, and shaving cream won’t buy itself, so we’re looking for support to bring one of Aotearoa’s weirdest clown/burlesque shows on to the world stage.

George Fenn (he/she/they) is a genre bending comedy theatre maker based in New Zealand who specializes in audience interaction. They studied Theatre at Victoria University and while getting their degree immersed themselves in the Improvisation and Alternative Theatre Scene, performing in Wellington, frequenting the NZ Fringe with a series of unique comedy shows.

Notable examples of their work include an Router Sidewalker, an Improvised Street Tour; Bo Vi Jon, an Hour Long Performance speaking only in Bon Jovi lyrics and How to Apology, a meta theatric takedown of the commodification of Guilt, How to Apology was spun off by Hot Shame Productions in Auckland at Basement for a 4 hour durational performance.

George is best known for the Sexy Ghost Boy Trilogy, which now includes a Christmas Spin off. The Sexy Ghost shows share the same form; through Clown and Burlesque building a performance with an audience. 

Anne Cunliffe (She/Her) is a comedy nerd, long time lover of weird performing arts, and brand spanking new producer. During the 2025 Pōneke Fringe Season she saw (experienced?) Sexy Ghost Boy and was so blown away she contacted George to put on a private show for her friends. The partnership went so well that she began producing their national tours. In her day job she is a specialist in supporting senior leaders, including Deputy Chief Executives and multiple Cabinet Ministers. Those roles honed her strategic forward planning, relationship management, and project management prowess. She’s been thrilled that these skills have easily translated to this work and is so excited to be able to have a closer connection with the comedy scene.

While we’ve been lucky enough to receive funding from the Adelaide Fringe Festival to cover our travel costs, there are a lot of other pricey components to putting the show together. This fundraiser for $2134.8 is to cover: 

• $395: Adelaide Fringe Registration
• $78.90: Gillette Sensitive Shave Foam 333g (x10)
• $1650: Venue Hire (Duke of York Upstairs)
• $10.90: Fresh Fruit Royal Gala Apples (x10) 

The funding will be used to support a two week, 10 day run of Sexy Ghost Boy at the Duke of York Hotel from the 11th to the 22nd of March. 

Sexy Ghost Boy is an hour long wordless comedy that dissects the rituals and micro-neurosis we have around Sex and the presentation of ourselves as sexual agents. Using Clown and Burlesque it inspires the audience to rebel against insecurity. The concept stems from two frustrations:

• The artist’s experience as a young actor, where their appearance and sex appeal was commodified by others and they lost agency. For them, the performance is about reclaiming power and enjoying feeling sexy again.
• Traditional comedic audience interaction, which leverage peer pressure to coerce a response. Their style is deliberately different, flipping the standard power dynamic so the audience engages with a sense of heroism.

The show is started by the Audience, who are given a list of instructions on how to Summon The Sexy Ghost Boy. At the start time someone calls for silence and the music stops. The audience must interpret together the strange and deliberately confusing instructions.They scream and he arrives slowly meeting the eyes of the seance participants, and kicking off the evening. 

During the festival we will be aggressively focussed on professional development and networking with international producers and tour managers to support George to undertake further international touring and for Anne to upskill and make connections.

To expose Sexy Ghost Boy to an international audience. We know there’s a massive market abroad that will cherish the work, and showcasing it at the largest arts festival in the Southern Hemisphere is the best way to connect George with international producers and tour managers to make it happen on a wider scale.