Rado (34) premiered his show How Did We Survive the 90s at Ombrellos on Thursday.
The festival was the perfect ''launch pad'' for a new show because Dunedin audiences gave candid reactions and the show could quickly evolve with jokes by dropping jokes and creating jokes from audience banter.
''I trust Dunedin audiences to know what's good - they're honest. If they like something they'll laugh, if they don't, there's nothing and that's good.''
The fine-tuning would enable the show to be ready for the beginning of the New Zealand International Comedy Festival in Wellington and Auckland in April and May.
''Here, it's like boot camp, a pre-season training.''
The Dunedin Fringe show The funniest joke in the world he premiered last year was nominated for the Fred Award, which recognises the outstanding work of an established professional comedian at the international comedy festival.
''If I didn't come to Dunedin, I wouldn't have been nominated for the award.''
At the premiere on Thursday, he criticised Ombrellos as a comedy venue and highlighted its many distractions - such as bright light streaming in the windows and the beams obscuring the audience - to create a bond with the audience.
An audience in a theatre needed about three minutes of warm-up; an audience in a restaurant needed much more.
But performing among the distractions of Ombrellos made your performances at other Fringes easier, he said.
''I like doing it with all the distractions because if it works here then when you go to an actual theatre or comedy venue, you know that it is going to really, really rock.''
He had performed at the Dunedin festival four times. It had evolved every year and would be bigger again next year.
The festival attracted bigger audiences and comedians were enjoying themselves more and getting what they needed from the event.
The six solo comedy shows at the festival this year provided twice the performances of last year, and more comedians would perform at the festival next year, he said.
''It's going to triple, I know, because everyone I've talked to said they are going to come down. Dunedin is an awesome festival and it's only going to get bigger.''
Today
Daily: Tracing Time, Dunedin Public Library.
Daily: An Open-Ended Beginning, Blue Oyster Art Project Space.
9am-5pm: Fringe Fishbowl, ODT Festival Hub, Community Gallery.
9am-noon: Reels on Wheels, Dunedin Railway Station.
10am-6pm: Never & Forever, Festival Hub, Community Gallery.
Noon-5pm: Drawl 2, Bellamys Gallery.
6pm: Velcro City, The Playhouse Theatre.
7pm: Nick Rado, How Did We Survive the 90's, Ombrellos.
7pm: Finding Hephzibah, Fortune Theatre Studio.
7.30pm: Carousel and Clothesline, King's and Queen's Performing Arts Centre.
7.30pm: COLT, Allen Hall Theatre.
7.45pm: Melody Moore, The Playhouse Theatre.
8pm: In Flagrante, Mayfair Theatre.
8pm: Cherie Jacobson: The Diary of a Young Cynic, Playhouse Theatre.
8pm: Welcome to Erection Capital, Globe Theatre.
8pm: MilkMilkLemonade, St Paul's Cathedral, Crypt.
8pm: The Exploding Saxophone, King George Hall.
8.30pm: Let's Talk About the Golliwogs, Ombrellos.
8.30pm: The Way We Fall, Festival Hub, Community Gallery.
8.31pm: Circle in Box, The Anteroom.
9pm: Take Back the Hood, Fortune Theatre Studio.
9.30pm: The Ruby Lady's Harem: A Boylesque Showcase, The Playhouse Theatre.
9.30pm: Festival Club, Carousel.10pm: Frickin Dangerous Bro, Ombrellos.
Tomorrow
Daily: Tracing Time, Dunedin Public Library.
Daily: An Open-Ended Beginning, Blue Oyster Art Project Space.
9am-5pm: Fringe Fishbowl, ODT Festival Hub, Community Gallery.
10am-6pm: Never & Forever, Festival Hub, Community Gallery.
12am-5pm: Drawl 2, Bellamys Gallery.
2.30pm: MilkMilkLemonade, St Paul's Cathedral, Crypt.
7pm: Festival Awards Night, Porters' Lounge, Dunedin Railway Station.
8pm: Cherie Jacobson: The Diary of a Young Cynic, Playhouse Theatre.
9.30pm: The Ruby Lady's Harem: A Boylesque Showcase, The Playhouse Theatre.
