'Wellington, you’re so weird': Huge crowd gathers to watch a man fold a fitted sheet
About 700 people squashed together on Cuba Street, some stood on bins, to catch a glimpse of Dan Boerman's linen skills.
Comedian Dan Boerman arrived in Wellington jetlagged and delirious, but he had a plan. On Monday afternoon, in front of a raucous crowd on Cuba Street, he would perform his ability to fold a fitted sheet to all.
“It was so trippy, you could feel so much excitement, everyone was so hyped and then as soon as I walked out with a sheet on my head, the place just erupted.
“The first thing I said was like, ‘Wellington, you’re so weird, why are you here? I know this is my thing but like, why did you show up?’”
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The stunt was part of a wider marketing plan to promote Boerman’s upcoming show in the New Zealand International Comedy Festival, aptly titled ‘Dan Boerman Folds A Fitted Sheet On His Own.
“I’m ballparking about 700 people showed up, and from the videos, there were people standing on bins to try and see. It was like a Fred Again concert.”
Boerman is a Wellingtonian now based in Edinburgh doing comedy full time. He arrived in the capital on Saturday with just 36 hours to spare – a short stint ahead of his shows in Melbourne and Wellington.
“Mum didn’t even know I was showing up on Saturday. I just went into her work to surprise her dressed in a disguise; it was super funny.”
Ivan Fadjukoff
Boerman says the show is “a spicy love-letter to our better halves – and a nod to how useless we are as men when we’re kind of on our own.” He wrote it about six months ago after a relationship breakup.
“There’s too many shows already of dudes going up on stage, they’ve broken up, they’re chatting about being on [dating apps] Hinge, Tinder and all of that, so this is a refreshing take on the recently single millennial man story.
“It’s more of an acknowledgement of chicks and how we’re useless without them. They kind of keep us sane but also make us insane sometimes. It’s a balancing act.”
"People felt real good coming together and chanting on a stranger: 'Fold that sheet!'
Ivan Fadjukoff
The fitted sheet skit in Wellington was six months in the making. Boerman had his show title, poster and marketing plan ready to go. And on Monday, it was time to execute.
“I’ve always got shenanigans in the pipeline, and it was quite a long time in the works. I wanted to be able to promote the show remotely.
“I’m not living around the corner from Cuba Street anymore, so I thought what I’d do is just a guerilla marketing event, something that can spread organically, something people will talk about themselves.”
Boerman started with one big poster in town advertising the event, which “ended up” on Reddit.
“I’ll be honest, it was me that posted it under an anonymous account, I was like, ‘Woah, who did this, so crazy’.”
Boerman estimates the fitted sheet stunt drew a crowd of 700 people in Wellington.
Ivan Fadjukoff
The post got some traction and eventually led to stickers being posted around Cuba Street with a QR code linking to a dedicated Instagram page – also anonymously run by Boerman.
The night before the event, he posted a reel to gauge how many people might attend the event. The post received 50,000 views and some 1500 likes.
“I was like, 'Oh okay, this is gonna be way bigger than I thought'. When I showed up yesterday, there were already people queuing up. I was like, this is so out of hand, I’ve bit off more than I can chew and I’m only in the country for 36 hours at this point.
“I’m jetlagged, I’m delirious, and about ten minutes to, my buddy had to go up with a mic and say, ‘Hey everyone, you have to move in, there’s not enough space.’”
Boerman estimates 90 percent of the crowd were students 21 and under - free on a Monday afternoon and absolutely loving it.
"As soon as I walked out with a sheet on my head, the place just erupted."
Ivan Fadjukoff
“They were so stoked on the idea and it was such a fun, nonsense event. I don’t think anything like that has happened in Wellington in a long time.
“When I was growing up, there were like, flash mobs all the time, people were planking, stuff was real wacky and the world wasn’t that serious. Since Covid, everyone’s indoors and on their phones and we’re not chatting to each other.
“Loads of people were saying to me afterwards, ‘This is so silly, this is what we needed in Wellington’ and it was kind of profound in a sense. I was just being silly and putting together something nonsense but people felt real good coming together and chanting on a stranger: ‘Fold that sheet!’
"No other city in the world would respond like that.”
