No-one had, but despite this, the comedian - the self-proclaimed love child of Harry Potter character Ron Weasley and rock star Dave Grohl - was performing to a packed out Inch Bar theatre.
A reason for the big audience was Stellingwerf's decision to perform his show Matt Stellingwerf in Bachelor of Arts for donations.
‘‘I'd rather have 50 people there and have a few people put money in rather than performing to two people who had bought tickets.''
It appears the comedian's gamble paid off, with the audience giving more than $200 for his performance on Wednesday.
He opted to perform for donations because he had been a working as a comedian for nearly three years and was still building his reputation.
Comedians were ‘‘on a hiding to nothing'' financially when performing in smaller fringe festivals, he said.
A comedian expected to take a financial hit to find an audience and create a following, he said.
‘‘It slowly builds up over time, and I'll do Dunedin Fringe again and get more followers and then I can be a Urzila Carlson or Dai Henwood and retire, but in the meantime you have to build it up.''
An audience was more invested in a comedian if they had seen them performing for donations, he said.
He also opted for donation because he was workshopping the show and some of the material was experimental.
‘‘It seems fair to let people pay what they want - I've paid for my flights and accommodation so if I can get enough in the hat at the gig to buy lunch the next day, then I'll be happy.''
After Dunedin, he will perform the show at the Christchurch Comedy Carnival, then in Palmerston North for a week before taking it to the New Zealand International Comedy Festival in Wellington and Auckland in April and May.
●The comedy Matt Stellingwerf in Bachelor of Arts is on tonight and tomorrow at the Inch Bar.
