Comedian Guy Williams, of Auckland, answered questions from the audience at the Fortune Theatre on Saturday, as part of the New Zealand Young Writers Festival.
''This is a good opportunity for me to share my wisdom,'' he told the audience of 30 people.
He shared stories about life at TV3 after John Campbell's departure.
''It had made a lot of people at the company really nervous about their jobs - which I guess is good because it keeps you on your toes.''
Dunedin Fringe Arts Trust co chairman Aaron Hawkins asked him if the pranks on television show Jono and Ben were real.
''I can't remember a fake prank we've ever done.''
He likened writing that television show to someone trying to write a serious novel and it being regarded as a children's book.
''We aimed to make a late night sophisticated show and we created something that really resonates with 15 year olds.''
He talked about how he used Twitter to test jokes before he told them on Jono and Ben.
He could repeat the jokes because the show had a much bigger following than the Twitter feed, he said.
Mr Hawkins said, overall, the festival had been a success.
''It was about establishing the event,'' he said.
''We want to see this develop as an annual event, and we've done a lot of great groundwork to make that happen.''
In future years, Mr Hawkins hoped the festival would ''build a community for young writers and the people who enjoy reading their work''.
He was most excited about the parts of the festival you could not plan, such as ''the chatter that goes on between events''.
''That's where the magical stuff happens,'' he said.
