Boy Mestizo Stand-Up Comedy Special

JOIN US IN SPREADING AN IMPORTANT MESSAGE WORLDWIDE THROUGH COMEDY

With your help, we can make a slick, polished and well-crafted stand-up comedy special that not only has to help an artist achieve his dreams, but also contributes to an urgent conversation about the traumatic effects of colonisation. Boy Mestizo is a multimedia stand-up comedy show about identity, self-love and Filipino pride. The show takes you on a journey of culture clashes, self discovery, and brutally honest reflections, as told by one of Aotearoa New Zealand’s top comedians. 

THE STORY

After living in Aotearoa for 20 years and not feeling “Filipino enough”, James Roque finally visits his homeland for the first time.When he arrives, he meets new family members and sings ALL the karaoke. But things take a turn when he is faced with the ghosts of colonisation that have haunted Filipinos for centuries. From the nation’s obsession with skin whitening, to parents wanting their babies' noses to be pointier like white people, James digs deep and uses comedy to answer the question - how do you heal pain that has been passed down for generations?

THE SHOW

A cross between the silliness of Jo Koy, the political bite of Hasan Minhaj and the emotional vulnerability of Hannah Gadsby, Boy Mestizo is a show about learning to love yourself in the face of the generational trauma you never knew you inherited. This message of self-love is one that James wants to spread to the Filipino diaspora all over the world and in order to do that, we are filming the show on May 19 at Q Theatre as a stand-up comedy special to release online and to try and sell to a streaming service.

THE FILM

We have chosen to film Boy Mestizo as a comedy special as the internet is the best way to reach as many Filipino people as we can. After successful runs of the show in Melbourne, Sydney, Auckland, Wellington and Bali, we are confident that the show’s themes will resonate with audiences worldwide - Filipino or not. This project also holds a special place in James’ heart as it has always been his dream to have his own stand-up comedy special.

THE CROWDFUNDING CAMPAIGN

The money we are asking for will help us polish the show by elevating it’s production value. We firmly believe that the best way to get people to engage with this conversation is by producing a high-quality show that looks and feels like it belongs on your favourite streaming service like Netflix. We have also started to contact these services and there has been some interest - all we need now is the filmed show! We have self-funded the majority of the special but we are looking to raise $6,000 or more, which will help cover:

- Paying for the film crew for the shoot - this includes our camera operators, sound personnel and other production crew. As freelancers ourselves, we know how important it is to make sure the team is paid for their work

- Some equipment hire - you can’t make things look slick without good gear

- Convincing James’ parents that stand-up comedy is a real job 

Thank you for your time!

Anything you can contribute, big or small, we would appreciate as it would go towards James realising his dream of having a stand-up special and spreading love to all Filipinos worldwide.