Adelaide Fringe Foundation brings queer interactive burlesque comedy innovator, George Fenn over from New Zealand for International Debut
Award winning New Zealand based Comedian George Fenn has received support from Adelaide Fringe Foundation to bring their innovative interactive burlesque show, SEXY GHOST BOY to Adelaide Fringe in 2026. This season is the performer’s first foray out of Aotearoa New Zealand and is a long time coming for creator and performer, who has received critical acclaim and a cult following across New Zealand Fringe Festivals for their unforgettable, if hard to explain work. Audiences have tried - at various times calling it “Mr Bean, but Sexy” and “Marina Abramović, but Funny.”
#AdelaideFringe #Clown #Burlesque #Comedy #interactive #SexyGhostBoy #NewZealand #Aotearoa
@adelaidefringe @kickbackbrewing @dukeofyorkhotel
Venue: Kick Back Brewing & Duke of York Hotel
Date: 7/3/2026, 11/03/2026-15/03/2026, 18/03/2026-22/03/2026
Time: 6:30pm, 9:45pm
Ticket: $18-25
Buy / Ticket: https://adelaidefringe.com.au/fringetix/sexy-ghost-boy-af2026
Web: https://linktr.ee/georgefennfanclub
: https://www.facebook.com/GeorgeFennFanClub/
: https://www.instagram.com/georgefennfanclub
EMail: AnneCCunliffe@gmail.com
Call: +64211496318
Date: 7/3/2026, 11/03/2026-15/03/2026, 18/03/2026-22/03/2026
Time: 6:30pm, 9:45pm
Ticket: $18-25
Buy / Ticket: https://adelaidefringe.com.au/fringetix/sexy-ghost-boy-af2026
Web: https://linktr.ee/georgefennfanclub
: https://www.facebook.com/GeorgeFennFanClub/
: https://www.instagram.com/georgefennfanclub
EMail: AnneCCunliffe@gmail.com
Call: +64211496318
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Request Image Contact: AnneCCunliffe@gmail.com
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. He offers to spritz them, celebrating members who decline and shushing people who try to pressure others. This sets the contract for a show where the performer is stripped, dressed, styled, clothes pegged, sketched, and shaved.
About the opportunity George says, “New Zealand has a great art scene, but in trying to push the boundaries further I found myself with few peers, specifically in the field of interactive comedy. To be authentically melodramatic, I am artistically lonely and the support from the Adelaide Fringe Foundation gives me a chance to find similar creatives at the next Fringe and share ideas.”
The show has toured the country to rave reviews, winning several awards at the NZ Fringe Festivals including, Organised Chaos Award, Bizarre and Charming Award, Spirit of the Fringe, and Outstanding Performer (nominated.)
The show’s content comes from the Artist’s experience as a young actor, where they felt their appearance and sex appeal was being commodified by others and they had lost agency. For them, the performance is about reclaiming power and enjoying feeling sexy again.
The show’s style stems from the performer’s frustration with traditional comedic audience interaction, which leverage peer pressure to coerce a response from an audience.
George’s style is deliberately different, as it flips the standard power dynamic so the audience engages with a sense of heroism.
Audiences describe a change from the start of the show, their feelings of “Thank god, not me!” being replaced with “Why aren’t I being picked?”
Anne Cunliffe (she/her) is a brand spanking new producer. During the 2025 Wellington Fringe Season she saw Sexy Ghost Boy and was so blown away she contacted them to put on a private show for her friends. The partnership went so well that she is now producing George’s public shows, using the skills learned in her 10 year career as a public servant.
They scream and he arrives, slowly meeting the eyes of the seance participants. He offers to spritz them, celebrating members who decline and shushing people who try to pressure others. This sets the contract for a show where the performer is stripped, dressed, styled, clothes pegged, sketched, and shaved.
About the opportunity George says, “New Zealand has a great art scene, but in trying to push the boundaries further I found myself with few peers, specifically in the field of interactive comedy. To be authentically melodramatic, I am artistically lonely and the support from the Adelaide Fringe Foundation gives me a chance to find similar creatives at the next Fringe and share ideas.”
The show has toured the country to rave reviews, winning several awards at the NZ Fringe Festivals including, Organised Chaos Award, Bizarre and Charming Award, Spirit of the Fringe, and Outstanding Performer (nominated.)
The show’s content comes from the Artist’s experience as a young actor, where they felt their appearance and sex appeal was being commodified by others and they had lost agency. For them, the performance is about reclaiming power and enjoying feeling sexy again.
The show’s style stems from the performer’s frustration with traditional comedic audience interaction, which leverage peer pressure to coerce a response from an audience.
George’s style is deliberately different, as it flips the standard power dynamic so the audience engages with a sense of heroism.
Audiences describe a change from the start of the show, their feelings of “Thank god, not me!” being replaced with “Why aren’t I being picked?”
About the creative team:
George Fenn (he/she/they) is a genre bending comedy theatre maker based in Ōtautahi Christchurch who specializes in audience interaction. Their passion is inspired in opposition to the coercive trends of Comedic Interaction, and prioritises negotiating audience’s boundaries and building experiences where power is exchanged and humor is shared.Anne Cunliffe (she/her) is a brand spanking new producer. During the 2025 Wellington Fringe Season she saw Sexy Ghost Boy and was so blown away she contacted them to put on a private show for her friends. The partnership went so well that she is now producing George’s public shows, using the skills learned in her 10 year career as a public servant.