Edd Rivera is the first Accidental Comic to talk to RNZ's Kadambari Raghukumar about how he ended up in New Zealand. Photo: RNZ
Through all the hoops we jump through making lives in a new country, finding the funny side of things really can be art or an accident.
In this four-part series Kadambari Raghukumar talks to folks with jokes and stories about their immigration.
Edd Rivera was born and raised in Tonala, Jalisco, in Mexico.
The signs were always there. Edd was always the funny guy, even his grandma spotted that in him as a child, he says.
She'd get him to narrate stories, tell jokes and at family gatherings. He'd get right into it.
Edd Rivera Photo: Andi Crown Photography
But career did not rhyme with comedy. Neither did call centres, construction and coaching English, but over the years he's worn all those different sombreros, going from job to job.
It was coming to New Zealand by somewhat of a geographical accident, fumbling around looking for ways to make a better life for him and his family, that really led him to comedy.
He thought New Zealand was in Europe, came on a one-way ticket from Mexico and eight years on he's still here - legally, he points out.
From being a rising TikTok and Instagram star, Edd Rivera's Spanish and English jokes these days take him on tour around New Zealand, while his face gets plenty of mileage through his wife Nancy's taco business - Tacos El Carnal.
However, life's been far from a joke for the couple. Find out more in this first of four conversations on Accidental Comics.
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
