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GREENSBORO — I was back in Harvey’s kitchen the other day. This time, I asked the questions.

I had been there before. The last time, Harvey Robinson stood behind his camera, parked me by his sink and asked about all things Greensboro for “Harvey’s Kitchen,” his online video show on www.monkeywhale.com.

The whole experience got me thinking. For months afterward, I’d watch the short episodes of “Harvey’s Kitchen” and wonder about the whole new world of communication blooming around us.

Robinson and photographer Carolyn de Berry, his partner and girlfriend, produce “Harvey’s Kitchen” between their commercial jobs. And since October 2008 when they started, they’ve shot 100 episodes, interviewing artists, writers and musicians.

Total profit? Just $3.33. Really, they’ve lost money.

But Monkeywhale has worked. In their second-floor apartment in Greensboro’s Aycock Historic District, Robinson and de Berry have figured out on the fly how to create and deliver content online.

And that is our future.

The idea for Monkeywhale sprouted from a barroom conversation between Robinson and de Berry about a humpback whale named Tusk, a whale de Berry sponsored when she was 11.

And today, 16 steps up, Monkeywhale is headquartered near a squalling tea kettle.

That’s the spot of “Harvey’s Kitchen,” a video show that has attracted viewers from around the world, helped bands find an audience, and given a popular online platform to the talent of North Carolina.

But really. What is a monkeywhale anyway?

“A monkey is irresistible,” Robinson says. “It has big eyes, it’s cute and hairy, and a whale is this wise beast. And when you put them together, you have something that is wise and adorable.

“But really, I don’t know, man. I have no idea.”

For the past three months, Robinson and de Berry have worked on putting together a three-night festival that brings together bands and musicians featured on “Harvey’s Kitchen.”

The festival starts tonight, with musicians and bands coming from Greensboro, Concord, Asheville and Chapel Hill.

They’ll play for no money to help Robinson and de Berry raise the money necessary to archive online all the episodes of “Harvey’s Kitchen” shot in the past year.

And in the process of three nights, they’ll help build a scene — something Robinson wants for his hometown.

“We like to live here,” he says, “and I want to live in an interesting town.”

Listen to Robinson talk, and you hear the accent of England. But he’s all Greensboro. He came here at age 17, graduated from Page High and later took on a litany of jobs that showed him the quirky and creative side of our city.

He’s been a video store clerk, an actor and a bartender. He never finished Appalachian State or the UNC School of the Arts. But his passion for filmmaking — something he found at age 14 — never waned.

Today, at age 37, he runs his own production company and uses “Harvey’s Kitchen” as a laboratory to hone his skills and work toward his dream of making a feature film.

This weekend, he and de Berry will celebrate their first year in “Harvey’s Kitchen” with a festival, a festival they’ve named Save the Monkeywhale.

The name, to them, says everything.

“We live in a vibrant, creative community,” Robinson says, “and if we can help project that idea of a creative community, well, that is saving the Monkeywhale.”

Contact Jeri Rowe at 373-7374 or jeri.rowe@news-record.com