RETURN TO CHANNEL

Search Captions & Ask AI

Rhys Darby on how to keep mental health in good shape || Runners Only! Podcast with Dom Harvey

October 25, 2022 / 01:14:54

This episode features Rhys Darby discussing his journey from a challenging upbringing in New Zealand to becoming a successful comedian and actor. Key topics include his military background, running, and his work with Taika Waititi.

Rhys shares insights about his childhood in Auckland, where he was raised by a single mother on benefits. He reflects on his dreams and aspirations, emphasizing that anyone can achieve their goals regardless of their background.

The conversation touches on Rhys's transition from the military to comedy, highlighting his early influences and experiences in the comedy scene. He recounts his time with Flight of the Conchords and his various acting roles, including his recent work in the Netflix series Our Flag Means Death.

Rhys discusses his fitness routine, including running and using a Peloton, and shares a humorous anecdote about jogging with Prince Harry. He also addresses the importance of mental health, family, and maintaining a positive outlook.

The episode concludes with Rhys reflecting on his career, the challenges he faced, and the importance of pursuing multiple interests to maintain balance and happiness.

TL;DR

Rhys Darby discusses his journey from a tough upbringing to comedy success, touching on fitness, mental health, and his work with Taika Waititi.

Episode

1:14:54

00:00:00

hello and welcome to Runners only with

00:00:02

dom Harvey that's me on this episode

00:00:04

Rhys Darby why should it happen to him

00:00:06

and I don't have the answers for that I

00:00:08

came from nothing you know I was brought

00:00:10

up by mum who was on the benefit and we

00:00:12

lived in a two-bedroom flat uh she had a

00:00:15

room I had a room she didn't have a job

00:00:18

and I didn't have anything and so I just

00:00:20

had dreams and so why can't a kid who uh

00:00:24

didn't come from anything make it

00:00:26

through his uh manifestation of what he

00:00:30

believed he wanted out of life Rhys

00:00:32

really is a New Zealander that needs no

00:00:34

introduction but I will jog your memory

00:00:36

with a Slither of his work since leaving

00:00:39

the Army and making one of the most

00:00:40

bizarre career transitions ever and

00:00:43

becoming a comedian he pretty much

00:00:45

became the unofficial third member of

00:00:47

Flight of the Conchords along with

00:00:48

Britain Jermain and since having a crack

00:00:50

at acting he's been in films like yes

00:00:52

men with Jim Carrey Jumanji with Dwayne

00:00:54

Johnson love birds the boat that rocked

00:00:57

hunt for the Wilder people the list goes

00:00:58

on and on his most recent work at the

00:01:00

time of recording this was the Netflix

00:01:02

series our flag means death with us mate

00:01:04

taika waititi I honestly reckon I've

00:01:07

interviewed Rhys maybe a dozen times 15

00:01:09

times on the radio over the years but

00:01:11

this is the first time I've ever gone

00:01:13

below the surface level with him and I

00:01:15

loved it and I hope you do too all right

00:01:17

let's get into it restarting

00:01:19

[Music]

00:01:27

run fast peace

00:01:30

[Music]

00:01:49

Runners only with dom Harvey and Rhys

00:01:52

Darby yes in my house and my podcast

00:01:56

Studio thank you very much for coming

00:01:57

over mate I really appreciate it no

00:01:59

worries lovely Place very cozy thank you

00:02:01

very much thank you very much now a lot

00:02:03

of people will be wondering and I'm

00:02:04

wondering as well what what are you

00:02:06

doing on a running themed podcast

00:02:08

well I was thinking about that and of

00:02:11

course I do run uh it's a good way to

00:02:13

keep fit so I think I do fit in yeah you

00:02:16

do you do run yeah do run yep always

00:02:18

been a runner hence the massive calf

00:02:20

muscles look at those they they are

00:02:22

actually

00:02:24

um oh [ __ ] they are sizable they um you

00:02:26

you are looking buff at the moment ah

00:02:28

come on you no I mean do you work out

00:02:30

you go to the gym I I don't go to the

00:02:33

gym but I do I do work out I have a

00:02:35

Peloton uh you know the Bible uh big in

00:02:38

America I don't even know if you can get

00:02:40

them here but it's basically an exercise

00:02:42

bike uh with with live video feeds to uh

00:02:46

hilarious people teaching you and uh

00:02:49

glasses and whatnot I generally just use

00:02:52

the uh the other system which is where

00:02:54

you've just you know you're on a on a

00:02:56

video Road and you can be in these

00:02:58

different places and on the globe and I

00:02:59

listen to my own music and really it's

00:03:01

just like escapism for 45 minutes or

00:03:04

whatever I do on it um so that's fun and

00:03:06

that just keeps me

00:03:08

in shape and then I also uh run as well

00:03:11

I enjoy jogging so I'll do that once or

00:03:13

twice a week as well if I can yeah

00:03:15

because you're you're in New Zealand a

00:03:16

bit but you're also in in La so you just

00:03:18

run do you run in the um the the hills

00:03:20

around L.A or just from home I do I have

00:03:23

a little home circuit around the

00:03:25

neighborhood but also I do uh a track up

00:03:28

into the hills which is awesome yeah

00:03:33

I have a couple of links um between you

00:03:34

and running that I found first of all um

00:03:36

uh you're in a video recently with

00:03:38

Prince Harry oh you you share with him a

00:03:40

fun fact about running which which is

00:03:42

true Roger Tui I have him in my sights

00:03:45

and by my sights I mean my eyesights oh

00:03:47

okay it is fast I'm going in over out

00:03:51

uh hi you're okay yeah I'd I haven't run

00:03:56

in a while

00:03:57

you know we actually invented jogging

00:03:59

the Australians no aotearoa New Zealand

00:04:02

oh sorry sorry I know you guys hate that

00:04:05

kyota I thought that was odd I love that

00:04:08

fact and it doesn't make any sense but

00:04:10

uh

00:04:12

so did you when you read the script did

00:04:14

you think it was a joke well no because

00:04:16

it's my script I wrote it thank you

00:04:22

uh no I bet it was one of the few

00:04:25

occasions that I did I did uh I did

00:04:27

write that one and yeah I've always

00:04:29

liked that little uh that little gem of

00:04:31

a nugget which is that you know New

00:04:33

Zealand invented jogging which does seem

00:04:36

weird because it's like a country

00:04:38

claiming they invented walking exactly

00:04:40

yeah well there was running and then

00:04:42

there was walking and but no one knew

00:04:44

the in in the middle bit until they saw

00:04:46

some kiwi like struggling along hey what

00:04:49

do you call that face yeah

00:04:53

um so how did that come about the um

00:04:55

yeah the Prince Harry thing yeah uh well

00:04:58

um my friend Leon who works for Augusto

00:05:01

uh here in New Zealand uh they had the

00:05:04

contract to uh create this uh piece of

00:05:07

media with uh Harry and uh so I got the

00:05:12

call Obviously good mate hey hey could

00:05:14

you jump in on this bandwagon uh get to

00:05:17

meet Harry absolutely you know and of

00:05:19

course I looked into what was all about

00:05:21

and it was sustainability and uh you

00:05:25

know which is very important tourists uh

00:05:29

getting rated themselves rather than the

00:05:31

place that they're touring which I think

00:05:32

is a great idea because it it uh the

00:05:35

onus is on us to be good people and

00:05:38

that's the number one thing I think in

00:05:39

the world that's going to take us

00:05:40

through into a better future if anyone

00:05:43

that hasn't seen it it's um it's no

00:05:45

doubt on YouTube where it'll live

00:05:46

forever but yeah in a nutshell

00:05:48

um how is our jogging and you're

00:05:50

basically stalking him hiding in the

00:05:52

bush and you you hit him up with a fruit

00:05:54

burst rapper that he left on a beach in

00:05:56

New Zealand many years earlier that's

00:05:57

right it's a great it's a great concept

00:05:59

I love it thank you and then yeah so we

00:06:01

we kind of did that

00:06:03

um and

00:06:04

no idea how his uh his movement has has

00:06:07

progressed from that point but um I was

00:06:10

just happy to do a creative piece of art

00:06:12

with the guy and uh that promotes

00:06:14

something that I think uh yeah is

00:06:17

important and how does something like

00:06:19

that work like how much how much time do

00:06:21

you do you have with him uh does it does

00:06:23

he just turn up and do the thing and you

00:06:25

know what I mean is there much damn time

00:06:27

it was a special event for sure we were

00:06:29

we filmed at a uh non-disclosed location

00:06:33

uh but you can disclose it now no

00:06:36

I had to sign a uh India why is it we

00:06:40

where he exercises pretty much right

00:06:43

yeah that's a special place and uh and

00:06:46

then of course the scripts had to go

00:06:47

back and forth and he had to be happy

00:06:48

with what was going on he was happy to

00:06:50

work with me that was one of the big

00:06:52

draw cards another reason I think I got

00:06:54

the job was because you know he he was a

00:06:57

fan of my comedy hopefully still is now

00:07:00

that he's part of it and uh and so uh so

00:07:04

that came into fruition uh it took a

00:07:06

while actually

00:07:07

um and then

00:07:08

yeah we had to have a very small unit of

00:07:11

people that were allowed on this

00:07:12

particular property and yeah it was is

00:07:16

one of those events that I say yes to

00:07:19

because

00:07:21

you know it's

00:07:22

um once in a lifetime opportunity

00:07:24

perhaps absolutely absolutely a couple

00:07:28

of couple of Gingers together doing that

00:07:29

actually you're are you belonged now

00:07:31

have you died now yeah my Ginger days

00:07:33

are done because I'm sick of that

00:07:35

nickname

00:07:37

luscious locks as my new one uh LL Cool

00:07:42

Guy have you heard the phrase glow up

00:07:45

yes I have everyone talks about you

00:07:47

being like a glow up like a the epitome

00:07:49

of a glow up that's weird you do you

00:07:51

feel you are getting better looking as

00:07:53

you age I mean I don't understand the

00:07:55

glow up like for me it sounds like yeah

00:07:58

and I think you know Hollywood has come

00:08:00

in and there's been some money spent so

00:08:02

that whether it's a tanning thing or a

00:08:04

hair coloring yada yada yada teeth

00:08:06

whiten Etc I haven't really done half of

00:08:10

those things uh but because of the show

00:08:12

I was on you know my here was changed

00:08:15

and I I do have good hair so that's

00:08:17

that's a big thing in terms of getting

00:08:19

better looking as you get older that's

00:08:21

certainly a bit of a man thing for sure

00:08:23

and I'm happy with it when I was younger

00:08:26

I was definitely very dorky looking and

00:08:29

I had a lot of confidence but nowhere to

00:08:31

take it too and certainly no no one to

00:08:34

take it to with there's another link

00:08:36

with you and running um we're recording

00:08:38

this in July 2022 and this club recently

00:08:40

um had the internet a Vanity Fair clip

00:08:43

with you and our taika waititi you you

00:08:45

talk about your running style compared

00:08:46

to Tom Cruise's

00:08:48

um would you say you're a better Runner

00:08:49

than him that man uh I mean you know

00:08:52

he's got a famous run it's full-on and

00:08:55

choose your words carefully here mate

00:08:56

he's an incredible Runner yeah I mean no

00:08:59

I'm not a department yeah you're right

00:09:00

I'm not as good as him oh yeah yeah and

00:09:04

I think he has such a uh his movie

00:09:06

running style doesn't yeah I mean what

00:09:09

is it can you explain well it's like

00:09:10

it's a Sprint isn't it it's a manic

00:09:12

Sprint it's a manic Sprint that seems to

00:09:14

go on forever faster than Usain Bolt

00:09:16

yeah it's incredible yeah and I think

00:09:19

that and you know dare I say it he's

00:09:21

obviously a lovely man but it's it's

00:09:23

pretty much out there that he is you

00:09:25

know on the shorter side and I think if

00:09:27

you're short if you've got little limbs

00:09:29

you know you're moving them faster right

00:09:31

yeah you know you're a tall man I myself

00:09:34

I'm I'm lengthy in the in the limbs and

00:09:37

so I can't move them that quick so when

00:09:39

you're like when you're doing that thing

00:09:41

you know it's like that's what he would

00:09:42

be doing but for me I'm more of a I see

00:09:45

more a like a more of a gazelle in me

00:09:47

like a or even a um

00:09:49

you know a large sort of ostrich right

00:09:53

stretching out no no no arms required

00:09:56

yeah okay so let's let's go um let's go

00:09:59

all the way all the way back there's so

00:10:00

much about you that we do know like

00:10:01

career-wise um but there's so much that

00:10:03

we that we don't know so first of all

00:10:05

like where were you born and raised how

00:10:06

many siblings oh geez uh hey man just

00:10:09

check my files yeah so I was born in

00:10:13

Auckland middlemore Hospital

00:10:16

one of five but uh the the baby

00:10:20

after a nine-year gap so definitely a

00:10:23

mistake uh the other the other four uh

00:10:27

yeah were my my brother is nine years

00:10:29

older than me and then the other three

00:10:30

Beyond there I've got three sisters

00:10:32

older than him and there's like a

00:10:34

two-year one-year Gap sort of between

00:10:36

between those guys so then there's me so

00:10:39

very much uh when I when I arrived it

00:10:42

was just uh it was mum and dad split up

00:10:44

at that point as well so I was raised by

00:10:46

my mother uh on her own uh my brother

00:10:49

was there for me for a little bit but

00:10:51

then he took off when he came of age and

00:10:52

so I really most of my childhood was

00:10:55

just me and Mum and also my nana who

00:10:57

lived down the road

00:10:59

um and

00:11:00

yeah so

00:11:03

that's uh that's me in a nutshell is um

00:11:06

sort of very sort of um feminine uh

00:11:09

energy upbringing and energy which is

00:11:11

really good I think but I did lack

00:11:14

because I lacked the masculinity

00:11:17

um I've found myself either well

00:11:19

obviously I ended up joining the Army

00:11:20

and even before then from the age of 12

00:11:22

I was wearing uniform in the ear

00:11:24

training Corps then the Army Cadets and

00:11:27

I felt like structure and a bit of um a

00:11:30

bit of man discipline if you will

00:11:31

something that maybe I felt like I

00:11:34

needed certainly mum thought it would be

00:11:35

good she was worried about me being a

00:11:37

teenager falling on the wrong sides of

00:11:39

the tracks like one of my uh other

00:11:41

sisters slightly did and uh so she in

00:11:44

what way oh just you know probably

00:11:46

during the parents divorce and all that

00:11:48

kind of stuff right she's acting out a

00:11:49

little acting out you know getting

00:11:51

involved in um a bit of uh you know uh

00:11:55

nefarious Behavior I don't know what

00:11:57

does that word mean I don't know it just

00:11:59

came with me I don't even know

00:12:02

like oh you shouldn't be doing that well

00:12:04

like drugs alcohol yeah exactly or did

00:12:06

you see yeah and you know did you steal

00:12:08

that what did you you better take that

00:12:10

right that's kind of that kind of thing

00:12:12

you know like uh also so it wasn't a

00:12:14

motorbike gang for a little bit okay

00:12:16

yeah Trail bikers though nothing nothing

00:12:18

untoward

00:12:21

like comment heroes or yeah Mongrel mob

00:12:25

no no no no they were dirt bike gang all

00:12:27

right so uh but they had very loud

00:12:29

motorbikes like Honda 250s uh and then

00:12:32

my brother was part of it as well and

00:12:34

they used to they used to kind of it was

00:12:36

kind of cool really looking back but I

00:12:38

must have been about five or six

00:12:39

watching watching this sort of happen

00:12:43

um but yeah so anyway turns out there

00:12:45

was no way I was going to be uh the

00:12:48

wrong side of the tracks guy uh very

00:12:50

much a little geek a little you know not

00:12:52

I was gonna say nerd but no I'm not

00:12:54

smart enough for that definitely a weird

00:12:56

kid

00:12:56

[Laughter]

00:12:59

um but yeah you know so pakuranga is

00:13:02

where I spend most of my childhood yeah

00:13:05

you're how old now and how old is your

00:13:07

your elder sister the oldest in the

00:13:08

family yeah so I'm 48 now uh dare I say

00:13:12

it uh and so my sister Shelley I mean I

00:13:15

don't even know how old they are but she

00:13:16

had her 60th a few years ago but they're

00:13:19

all over 50 now yeah she must be nearly

00:13:22

60 year old they're all we're all

00:13:23

getting too old it's it's not nice to

00:13:25

think about are you quite a close family

00:13:27

or not really

00:13:28

um we're a big family yeah and yeah we

00:13:30

get together

00:13:31

um you know once a year uh the ones that

00:13:34

live here I think they see each other

00:13:35

more often but we have a like a um

00:13:39

a a text group

00:13:42

um but yeah we're kind of spread out but

00:13:45

um

00:13:46

not as close as some families but I

00:13:48

don't I think

00:13:49

being too close can actually be a

00:13:51

hindrance to everyone's happiness in

00:13:53

some ways yeah I think I think we're

00:13:55

pretty much a classic kind of New

00:13:56

Zealand

00:13:57

um pakiha family in that regard that we

00:14:00

um we know each other but we know when

00:14:01

to not bother with each other so if if

00:14:04

your siblings are going to La would they

00:14:06

would they hit you up for accommodation

00:14:08

or uh were they

00:14:11

yeah but I don't think they would go no

00:14:14

they can't afford to get over there

00:14:15

that's not happening yeah this is a

00:14:18

little bit like my family uh

00:14:19

no the the skill I'm seeing at the

00:14:21

moment her family is super super tight

00:14:23

and the parents are still together and I

00:14:25

I feel kind of envious in a way yeah

00:14:27

it's not very common for the parents

00:14:30

especially from you know our generation

00:14:31

for the parents to still be together and

00:14:33

things like that which they should be

00:14:35

proud of that yeah and you and I are

00:14:37

about the same age and I suppose we were

00:14:39

raised watching the same sort of TV

00:14:40

shows which were American sitcoms where

00:14:43

the families are still together and

00:14:44

what's your relationship like with you

00:14:45

with your dad now

00:14:47

both passed away unfortunately I'm sorry

00:14:50

but yeah my dad and I we're not close

00:14:54

um but we share you know similar aspects

00:14:59

definitely so when I am with when I was

00:15:01

with him I could see uh myself and him

00:15:04

for sure but

00:15:06

um yeah sense of humor was was something

00:15:08

that I definitely got from him but other

00:15:10

than that or maybe some dancing skills

00:15:12

and these amazing legs

00:15:15

okay so so why the Army first of all

00:15:18

were you were funny at school like we

00:15:19

yeah I was the class clown and I um I

00:15:24

disrupted class on occasion with

00:15:26

ridiculous answers that you know I said

00:15:29

only because they would get a laugh and

00:15:31

I was the weird kid and I would do a lot

00:15:33

of drawings and I sometimes I couldn't

00:15:36

really

00:15:37

um take in what the teacher was going on

00:15:38

about so I would just draw and other

00:15:42

kids

00:15:43

um loved my little comic drawings and

00:15:45

they would just come to class and go

00:15:47

okay get stuck into your drawing you

00:15:49

know we need this week's comic so I

00:15:51

would I wouldn't be like listening to

00:15:52

class I'd be doing what are you doing

00:15:54

race I'm doing my comic I'm going to get

00:15:56

through this I've got three boys lined

00:15:57

up here so I didn't want to prepare you

00:15:59

for the um the the book writing yeah

00:16:02

exactly so which I enjoyed and that was

00:16:04

kind of later on in in in high school

00:16:06

I've had Mike King on the podcast and we

00:16:08

talked about his introduction to Comedy

00:16:10

and he had almost a similar route to you

00:16:12

in that he was in the Navy right um and

00:16:15

I said well what if you were funny why

00:16:16

didn't you just gravitate like straight

00:16:18

towards comedy and he said there was no

00:16:19

sort of path there it was nothing then

00:16:21

was that the same sort of thing around

00:16:23

yeah yeah I mean you know they were the

00:16:25

comedians we knew of were the ones from

00:16:27

TV obviously all the icons uh and they

00:16:30

were sort of a different thing there

00:16:31

wasn't any comedy clubs there wasn't a

00:16:33

burgeoning scene for youngsters to go

00:16:36

and grab a microphone and

00:16:41

something's scratching underneath me

00:16:43

folks

00:16:46

um

00:16:48

okay I know what it is so I'm okay with

00:16:49

it now

00:16:50

stop it stop scratching you can't go to

00:16:54

another man's house until his daughter

00:16:56

oh yeah I'm still learning about dogs

00:16:58

sorry uh keep going lovely that feels

00:17:01

nice it's just new carpet yeah so there

00:17:03

wasn't so I for me and I I was obsessed

00:17:06

with uh sketch comedy British stuff in

00:17:09

particular obviously Monty Python and uh

00:17:12

you know anything Rowan Atkinson was

00:17:14

involved in

00:17:16

um so

00:17:17

I wondered about how to get there and

00:17:21

would that be something I could get into

00:17:23

but being young and being 17 uh because

00:17:28

there was no door open for that

00:17:30

especially at that time I went down the

00:17:32

the route of the military because that

00:17:36

was my other uh passion I liked

00:17:39

um

00:17:40

uh uh everything about uh the military

00:17:44

for some reason and I think looking back

00:17:46

it's because maybe I'm uh in those days

00:17:50

there was no ADHD kind of diagnosis type

00:17:52

thing or anything like that but I'm

00:17:54

thinking to myself I like structure and

00:17:55

I like

00:17:56

uh you know since since then have been

00:17:59

looking I haven't still have not got

00:18:01

myself diagnosed about anything uh

00:18:03

because I'm confident with who I am and

00:18:05

and how I can operate but I like

00:18:08

um lists of things and I like order very

00:18:11

much so and structure and it's nothing

00:18:13

more structurally ordered than than

00:18:15

military and so once I got involved in

00:18:18

that and um

00:18:20

kind of even the ranking system really

00:18:23

uh impressed me and how to you know get

00:18:26

to the next Rank and um and then all the

00:18:30

the training and all that kind of stuff

00:18:32

I don't know for some reason I was into

00:18:34

it and

00:18:36

um and then I got into war history as

00:18:37

well and so that was a for me it was

00:18:39

like uh it was that and then there was

00:18:41

animals I used to classify all animals I

00:18:44

used to be able to name what do you mean

00:18:46

you classify them well well I CLA I had

00:18:49

what my size or alphabetical order uh by

00:18:52

where they were from what continents

00:18:55

God what continents they were from the

00:18:58

speed of land animals their lifespan

00:19:00

that kind of stuff yeah I was just into

00:19:03

that kind of stuff so it was yeah it was

00:19:06

weird wow you're a weird dude yeah and

00:19:09

uh and then

00:19:10

um once I got into the military and I I

00:19:13

was good at certain things in there sort

00:19:16

of like marching uh very good at the

00:19:18

discipline doing what I was told uh but

00:19:21

uh and also you know um so this is the

00:19:24

actual military now not just the cadets

00:19:27

um the physical aspects of it I was very

00:19:30

good at as well I was I was fit and I

00:19:32

could carry the 25 kg pack and I could

00:19:35

dig the holes

00:19:37

um but

00:19:40

here's here's what happened to me

00:19:41

maturity hit so I was very late to

00:19:43

mature so I didn't even have any sexual

00:19:47

urges till I was about 19 or 18. right

00:19:49

what do you mean no sexual urges well

00:19:52

like you know fancying someone right

00:19:54

really yeah like I wasn't really

00:19:56

interested I was still playing with my

00:19:57

toys and skateboarding and things right

00:19:59

up until my late teens and so then when

00:20:02

I started thinking were you worried

00:20:04

about that I was a like you're a late

00:20:06

developer as well and I remember one of

00:20:08

the one of the saddest moments ever was

00:20:10

um maybe my 13th birthday me and my best

00:20:12

friend Aaron we went to McDonald's for

00:20:14

my birthday dinner and I wanted to play

00:20:16

on the the play park and he was just

00:20:18

like too old or too cool for it and it

00:20:21

was it was a heartbreaking moment it was

00:20:22

like we were going in different

00:20:23

directions he reached puberty and I

00:20:25

didn't but all

00:20:27

your friends peeling off taking interest

00:20:30

in girls getting girlfriends or whatever

00:20:32

were you not like [ __ ] what's wrong with

00:20:33

me uh no because my three friends none

00:20:37

of them peeled off to go and get with a

00:20:38

girl

00:20:39

[Laughter]

00:20:44

the dangerous intelligence Commandos we

00:20:47

doesn't have girlfriends okay right

00:20:51

um I said going back to something you

00:20:52

said before

00:20:53

um another another parallel I I reckon

00:20:55

on my ADHD as well or definitely on the

00:20:57

Spectrum somewhere but uh being a

00:20:59

similar age nothing was ever diagnosed

00:21:00

do you think having a label on anything

00:21:03

would change anything or help anything

00:21:04

no I I don't think that I think that's

00:21:06

why I haven't bothered with it I've just

00:21:08

I pretty sure I definitely expect from

00:21:11

me but so are some of my friends and we

00:21:14

now our children yes we would get them

00:21:16

diagnosed or we would so you can know

00:21:19

how to operate with them and uh but even

00:21:22

then

00:21:23

um you know I don't think it's something

00:21:25

you necessarily have to do unless the

00:21:27

kid is clearly quite far on the Spectrum

00:21:29

and then you obviously you can you know

00:21:31

you do need to deal with it but like I

00:21:33

think I can float I'm I'm a floater you

00:21:35

know and I'm not someone that you go oh

00:21:36

I think he needs to have a bit of um

00:21:39

special help the sky although some would

00:21:42

argue

00:21:44

but yeah you're quite good with um

00:21:46

staying focused on a task and being

00:21:48

organized or do you like rely quite

00:21:50

heavily on your wife for that now she's

00:21:52

your manager I she does everything for

00:21:55

me yeah and so for me uh anything to do

00:21:59

with filling out forms or

00:22:01

um you know

00:22:02

swatting you know uh studying yeah I

00:22:06

think I think New Zealand we say

00:22:08

swatting I don't know whether we still

00:22:09

do

00:22:10

um we also SWAT flies uh but anyway

00:22:13

studying uh what are you just swatting

00:22:16

flies okay you've got a paper coming out

00:22:18

yeah yeah I'm hard at it

00:22:22

uh so anything like that I find yeah I I

00:22:26

it's it's struggle and also just reading

00:22:28

like reading a book I've got it'll take

00:22:31

me a month you know where it'll take my

00:22:33

wife you know three or four days right

00:22:35

because your mind wonders when you're

00:22:37

reading or no I'm just I um maybe I'm

00:22:40

just flower at it well as I'm reading it

00:22:42

I'm really I take in every word and she

00:22:44

just likes skim reads right you know I

00:22:46

don't know what you're like but like

00:22:47

she'll just I don't understand how she

00:22:50

says oh yeah I'm just going to read this

00:22:51

page

00:22:52

okay all right wait did you what about

00:22:54

the detail you know what you know and so

00:22:57

I'm a very detail-orientated and so I I

00:23:00

would re I'll read each word and then

00:23:01

like imagine it as it's happening and

00:23:04

going oh wow and then he went over there

00:23:05

and said hello hello

00:23:07

it takes me a month to get through that

00:23:10

I'm the same when I was writing my books

00:23:12

dealing with book publishers they'll be

00:23:13

like oh yeah you should read this book I

00:23:15

read it yesterday afternoon it's amazing

00:23:16

I'm like you read a book in an afternoon

00:23:18

Yeah well yeah it's too much I can't see

00:23:21

how people can do that yeah yeah so back

00:23:23

to the military thing so with your mind

00:23:25

the way it works you so you were like a

00:23:27

morse code guy right you're a morse code

00:23:28

expert

00:23:30

weren't you thinking this is a waste of

00:23:32

time like what am I going to need this

00:23:33

information for when am I ever going to

00:23:35

use Morse code no because I was in the

00:23:38

military I was a Communications

00:23:39

Electronics operator I was proud of my

00:23:42

job I was on the signals Corps Royal New

00:23:44

Zealand signals and uh and this was my

00:23:47

job and so I was just tapping away on

00:23:49

this Morse code thing and I was

00:23:51

imagining that pretty soon we're going

00:23:52

to go to some conflict I'm going to be

00:23:54

in a tent and I'm going to be the

00:23:56

messages are going to be coming in

00:23:59

[Music]

00:24:01

and I'm writing them down and then the

00:24:03

officer will come in what what's the

00:24:04

message

00:24:05

oh there you go sir now they're on their

00:24:07

way the packages are on their way

00:24:10

so a lot of my life is filled with the

00:24:13

imagination of what I'm doing and then

00:24:15

if I was to snap out of it and go hang

00:24:17

on nobody uses Morse code anymore

00:24:20

what if you know it and it's a universal

00:24:22

language then the enemy will know it as

00:24:24

well so they'll yeah exactly right

00:24:27

the enemy doesn't use it anymore that's

00:24:30

why it's really useful New Zealand you

00:24:33

know they clocked onto that like oh no

00:24:34

one else is using this anymore so we'll

00:24:37

see how does it go from the military to

00:24:38

to Comedy was there is there an overlap

00:24:40

where you're still earning money

00:24:43

in in school funny in the Army as well

00:24:45

and got told off more in the Army

00:24:47

obviously for being funny uh like well

00:24:50

because it's stricter yeah and it's like

00:24:51

there's no need for that like you know

00:24:53

there's a big difference though because

00:24:55

there's a lot of there's a lot of class

00:24:56

clowns in life and there's a lot of

00:24:58

funny people in life but there's there's

00:24:59

a big difference between someone that

00:25:01

can do that and someone that can engage

00:25:03

an entire Auditorium yeah I think this

00:25:05

class clown is is a dangerous territory

00:25:08

for for military because that's as you

00:25:13

can imagine with live ammunition and

00:25:15

whatnot but someone who's like you know

00:25:18

we're heading into a battle some

00:25:20

scenario and someone's got their vest on

00:25:22

backwards and go and you know starts

00:25:24

walking backwards going help me my vest

00:25:26

is weird

00:25:27

Derby can you please and when we used to

00:25:30

march sometimes I'd hold hands with the

00:25:31

person in the middle because they

00:25:33

couldn't see us things like that so just

00:25:37

because I don't know I can't help it

00:25:39

um so there was a point where I started

00:25:41

to realize and they brought me into the

00:25:43

office and said you know I don't know if

00:25:45

if you need to stay in this career I

00:25:49

think this is this officer who helped me

00:25:51

see my see the light and he said I

00:25:54

should go to university and you know um

00:25:56

be creative and things like that and uh

00:25:59

so I thought he gave me a couple of

00:26:01

pamphlets for Canterbury University and

00:26:03

I said oh I get time off for this sir

00:26:05

and he said oh no you you'll get a lot

00:26:07

of time off for this leave your Beret

00:26:09

here and off you go uh so that was it I

00:26:12

was kind of gone after that and I wasn't

00:26:13

the only one who left there was a few

00:26:15

others that left with me my friends uh

00:26:17

that also had just got to a point where

00:26:19

they felt like they wanted to move on

00:26:21

and for me it was something I felt like

00:26:24

I needed I needed the discipline it gave

00:26:26

me self-discipline it gave me um the not

00:26:30

so much the family I never had but

00:26:31

certainly the comadre of of really good

00:26:34

friends and the community the community

00:26:36

is something that I I think I craved and

00:26:39

and got from that of like-minded people

00:26:41

in some regard who uh were into listing

00:26:43

you know where animals are from

00:26:46

there's been some fun debates

00:26:55

right so okay so you're at University

00:26:57

and is this where you meet you make

00:27:00

Grant yes well no I meet him outside of

00:27:03

University right but I'm at University

00:27:05

uh I go there I'm very pretty much on my

00:27:09

own there

00:27:10

um because my friend who I left the army

00:27:12

with Luke uh he didn't go to university

00:27:14

he went straight into a job working in a

00:27:17

bar

00:27:18

um a great great step up uh but he

00:27:22

nothing against Hospitality of course

00:27:24

always required especially these days

00:27:26

love you guys but the damage is done

00:27:30

every time

00:27:32

not you Darby all right how many people

00:27:35

have listened to that running podcast

00:27:37

he's not that popular yes he is around

00:27:40

These Bars

00:27:42

um so yeah I kind of like uh I I felt

00:27:45

that

00:27:46

um I I met some new friends at

00:27:48

University but the biggest part there

00:27:49

was was getting involved in the club and

00:27:52

Society situation which I didn't even

00:27:54

know was going to be a thing but there

00:27:56

was a day which I think is still a thing

00:27:58

where they have clubs and societies and

00:28:01

one club with it basically that was uh

00:28:04

introduced to me was the comedy club and

00:28:06

uh so guy Roberts was sitting behind the

00:28:08

desk he saw me walking

00:28:10

um across the courtyard and yelled out

00:28:13

hey you and then he pointed to the

00:28:15

comedy sign I don't know maybe it was my

00:28:17

walk or just my general demeanor I came

00:28:20

over and I signed up straight away

00:28:22

because I thought well there's one thing

00:28:23

I know I'm good at and uh so I joined

00:28:25

this Comedy Club then I had my new

00:28:27

community and we we met once a week we

00:28:30

were out sketches we put on a show

00:28:32

and then when I worked outside of

00:28:35

University like my part-time job uh

00:28:38

that's why I met Grant because that was

00:28:40

at the excalibur's theater restaurant so

00:28:43

I was a theater restaurant uh waiter so

00:28:48

you were in the hospitality now you're

00:28:50

shutting off

00:28:54

the first time on on stage on your own

00:28:56

yeah for sure I think uh well first time

00:28:59

doing stand-up the one that that comes

00:29:01

to mind is actually when talking about

00:29:03

Mike King earlier when he came down I

00:29:06

think with um uh Andy clay and it was a

00:29:10

stand-up tour those two and they they

00:29:13

would go to

00:29:15

um this was way before the classic was

00:29:17

even a thing they would they went on

00:29:19

this little tour

00:29:21

um of of of New Zealand and every little

00:29:25

city they went to they put on a night

00:29:28

whereby local people could get up on

00:29:31

stage and do an open mic slot right and

00:29:33

that was advertised and I remember

00:29:34

seeing that in the paper Comics required

00:29:37

uh or whatever like you know try hards

00:29:41

give it a give it a whirl I don't know

00:29:42

what it said but uh I I put my name down

00:29:44

for it and I because you know it was a

00:29:47

thing that I was and so I I that was my

00:29:49

first five minutes and I remember doing

00:29:51

it it went okay I had a bit about

00:29:54

fishing uh and I remember I did some

00:29:57

definitely did some Frank Spencer

00:29:59

Impressions you know so you're right so

00:30:02

this was like 25 years ago oh yeah for

00:30:04

sure yeah even even further back then

00:30:06

okay before I really started audits

00:30:08

right but um because I was definitely a

00:30:10

late coming to comedy because you know I

00:30:12

did all those other cool things these

00:30:13

days kids are getting into it when

00:30:15

they're 14. yeah which is which is great

00:30:17

but you're supposed because there's that

00:30:20

do you know about the uh the Malcolm

00:30:21

Gladwell 10 000 hour theory yes yes it's

00:30:25

like 10 000 hours to reach um sort of

00:30:27

expert level and he took the example

00:30:28

gives us the Beatles like they went to

00:30:30

Hamburg and we're doing like three shows

00:30:32

a night and then when they got back to

00:30:34

Liverpool they had had so much

00:30:35

experience so I suppose because you were

00:30:37

starting so late you were so much older

00:30:40

when you reached that ten thousand hours

00:30:41

agree because I I I I let's let's say

00:30:45

that I was putting in my 10 000 hours

00:30:47

from the age of six or seven and at

00:30:49

school as a Class Clown and in the Army

00:30:52

I was still doing it I was still amazing

00:30:53

yeah

00:30:55

yeah you know as often as I could and

00:30:58

then also once I got into this scene uh

00:31:00

you know proper and and here in New

00:31:02

Zealand uh with with Grant and then and

00:31:05

then again after that solo uh up here in

00:31:08

Auckland I was doing three gigs a week

00:31:11

which was more than anyone Terry Frisbee

00:31:13

and I and uh Brendan lovegrove were sort

00:31:15

of the the main ones and there was a few

00:31:17

others that were gigging that often but

00:31:19

I I really was was just thanks to

00:31:22

Brendan for the most part just doing any

00:31:24

gig he he threw my way

00:31:27

um with him and then

00:31:29

um I pretty much

00:31:30

um got scooped up uh after that and and

00:31:33

sent to England

00:31:35

not by the government like all right

00:31:38

here's our greatest comic

00:31:40

11 again raise me please get a

00:31:42

universally yeah

00:31:43

you just go to the UK you'll have a lot

00:31:45

of time over in the UK so you're being

00:31:47

picked out of the country now leave your

00:31:49

Beret off you go

00:31:51

uh so I went over there and then uh I

00:31:54

was just just really dove into the scene

00:31:56

I I was Edinburgh Fringe Festival first

00:31:59

and then um and then when I eventually

00:32:02

got to London and and got a comedy agent

00:32:04

you know I was at the height of my uh my

00:32:07

early stand-up internationally was doing

00:32:10

five gigs a week and sometimes three a

00:32:12

night you know and I was taking away

00:32:13

like a thousand pounds in an envelope a

00:32:17

cash hard cold pounds cash so that was

00:32:20

amazing you know and that and treading

00:32:22

the boards that often was not only

00:32:24

confusing because you did your same 20

00:32:26

minutes three times a night uh but also

00:32:29

you really got your skills up and so I

00:32:31

quit at that time which was about six

00:32:33

years worth of doing that headlining

00:32:36

clubs eventually not straight away but

00:32:37

getting there uh to being and then

00:32:40

returning and doing the shows that you

00:32:42

would have seen here was because of the

00:32:44

skills I I had from from those audiences

00:32:46

when did you realize that you um you

00:32:49

were quite good

00:32:50

oh I mean I'd love to say day one uh you

00:32:53

know that it was cheap but it was it was

00:32:56

day one disastrous or like five five out

00:32:58

of ten six out of ten it was for me uh I

00:33:01

was definitely like my own my own

00:33:02

personal go at it uh it was definitely a

00:33:05

six out of ten right were you terrified

00:33:07

wrong sex no because I've been making

00:33:09

people laugh all the time right and uh

00:33:11

it was natural to me yeah I think

00:33:13

there's a difference between like making

00:33:14

people laugh in a environment when

00:33:16

they're not expecting it to a a New

00:33:19

Zealand audience with us sitting there

00:33:20

going all right then make us laugh yeah

00:33:22

it's a little bit of that but

00:33:24

um we because of thanks to University

00:33:27

and just like-minded people and that and

00:33:30

that world back in Christchurch uh when

00:33:33

you know I should talk about meeting

00:33:34

Rosie and then her she set up this uh

00:33:38

this club called The Green Room uh with

00:33:40

her two friends the three of them from

00:33:42

University they co-owned this this great

00:33:45

performance place

00:33:47

um and they also advertised for

00:33:49

performers and this is when men Grant

00:33:51

had only just started as a Duo recently

00:33:54

granted was our was our stage yeah and

00:33:57

so we ended up performing there and so

00:34:01

the audience was also basically a

00:34:05

like-minded people from University and

00:34:07

all other performers okay and that's the

00:34:09

greatest thing about those kind of uh

00:34:12

those cafes those beatnik style artist

00:34:14

areas because everyone else is the same

00:34:17

oh yes that's a friendly order it's a

00:34:18

friendly audience and so our weirdness

00:34:20

was kind of celebrated and then when we

00:34:23

the next thing we did was hit the comedy

00:34:25

festivals and our first show was a half

00:34:27

hour show and we went to Wellington we

00:34:30

went across on the ferry and it was a

00:34:31

big trip and um and I found that

00:34:34

Wellington was kind of it was a sort of

00:34:36

a theater-based city as well and they

00:34:39

went the people that came to shows in

00:34:40

the festival were people that were going

00:34:42

to want comedy and to expect a laugh

00:34:45

they'd paid some money and so they were

00:34:47

they were lovely as well and and our

00:34:49

weirdness was good there so so when it

00:34:51

got to the point of Auckland was a

00:34:54

slightly different matter you've got

00:34:55

different people up here less theatrical

00:34:58

and more kind of like an area mate what

00:34:59

do you got you know and so there was

00:35:02

definitely a difference there

00:35:04

um but

00:35:06

yeah I think there's something about the

00:35:07

fact that our comedy and then further

00:35:11

into my solo stuff was it was it was

00:35:14

weird and so it was escapism it wasn't

00:35:16

poking fun at any uh religion or uh

00:35:20

political

00:35:22

um ideas it was it was purely sort of

00:35:25

Fantastical stuff so really you couldn't

00:35:27

really Heckle that stuff you kind of you

00:35:29

know if I was doing a helicopter

00:35:31

impression and then doing uh showing uh

00:35:33

doing a story about having sex with a

00:35:35

mermaid you know people aren't going to

00:35:37

go oh that wouldn't happen

00:35:40

you know what I mean so um so recently

00:35:44

granted what was that was it did you do

00:35:46

songs yeah so he had a bass guitar okay

00:35:48

and uh so I went around to his place and

00:35:52

he knew about two chords and they

00:35:54

sounded cool to me he had an amp and he

00:35:56

was doing

00:35:57

and I just said I chucked down some

00:36:00

lyrics about jandals and then we wrote

00:36:02

the song about about jandals and that

00:36:04

became our kind of anthem

00:36:07

objective

00:36:13

still like the fact that let the air in

00:36:16

he'd come around to my place and you can

00:36:18

guess what he was wearing his jackets

00:36:20

and then from there we we wrote other

00:36:22

songs uh a love affair with Mrs whippy

00:36:25

my my obsession with being a mall guy

00:36:28

hanging out and shopping malls and

00:36:30

various other silly songs like that and

00:36:32

then we also we

00:36:34

um intersected or interspersed those

00:36:36

with uh with little sketches that were

00:36:38

quite surreal like the two of us um uh

00:36:42

doing impressions of frigate Birds

00:36:44

during mating season or

00:36:47

um there was one where he uh smoking

00:36:49

Olympics where he would he would smoke a

00:36:51

cigarette on stage and I'll do the

00:36:52

commentary as he's doing these weird

00:36:54

moves you know calculator boxing

00:36:57

remember that that game yeah we would do

00:36:59

that live on stage including all the

00:37:01

sound effects would be the two boxes

00:37:02

doing the exact moves of that so there

00:37:05

was some nostalgic things there it was

00:37:08

just odd so was it kind of um

00:37:11

Flight of the Concord fish I don't think

00:37:13

so I think it's really it's very it was

00:37:16

for a start it was before them and then

00:37:19

the songs weren't good enough to be

00:37:21

anything like this uh and then we were

00:37:24

more surreal right yeah you were a big

00:37:26

state here in New Zealand I remember

00:37:27

seeing you on the comedy Gallery every

00:37:29

year and you do your sound effects and

00:37:30

stuff was was the big breakthrough for

00:37:32

you sort of being um Brian Nisbet and

00:37:35

the uh in the BBC Radio version of

00:37:38

Flight of the Conchords hello Brian

00:37:39

Nesbitt

00:37:41

oh Rosie hello how are you it's Brian's

00:37:44

wife Rosie calling from New Zealand

00:37:55

well exactly so there's a mess

00:37:57

everywhere and they've taken off so here

00:38:00

I am cleaning up after them

00:38:02

have you what's happened there's trouble

00:38:04

Brewing back home in taranaki oh you're

00:38:07

joking me

00:38:08

was it was that when things sort of no

00:38:10

that's a good question that's a good I

00:38:11

think I think probably because other

00:38:14

than that up until that point you know

00:38:16

the comedy duo then my solo efforts and

00:38:19

then heading over to Edinburgh doing my

00:38:22

my solo show there

00:38:24

um and that's pretty much when that

00:38:26

happened as well I think 2003 I'm

00:38:29

guessing I think it was uh the Concords

00:38:31

were there as well and uh Jermaine asked

00:38:35

me to to do the voice of the manager too

00:38:38

he told me what the idea was and so you

00:38:41

know I just um helped them sort of

00:38:43

create that idea of a man who had no

00:38:46

idea what he was doing and uh I did a

00:38:48

roll call you know just uh straight off

00:38:51

the bat because I thought that was the

00:38:53

first thing we should do is just like

00:38:54

let's see who's here and I don't think

00:38:56

that's going going back to my military

00:38:58

career I used to do that there as well

00:39:00

that always uh when we when we're we've

00:39:02

got a gaggle of soldiers and I think

00:39:04

that's the correct term

00:39:06

um

00:39:08

the the sergeant major would go through

00:39:10

and do the names mainly because he

00:39:12

wanted to figure out where Derby was you

00:39:14

know it's quite off I'd be behind him

00:39:15

doing an impression of him but uh Darby

00:39:18

get out from behind me

00:39:20

so it's legal in there get out around

00:39:21

there come on now

00:39:24

um so yeah so a lot of that um Flight of

00:39:27

the Concord stuff in the um and the the

00:39:29

radio this is the radio series we're

00:39:30

talking about which is before the TV

00:39:32

series was a lot of that sort of

00:39:33

ad-libbed oh yeah for sure the whole

00:39:34

thing yeah it's funny because then we

00:39:36

haven't got to this yet in any great

00:39:37

depth but that um clip that I referenced

00:39:39

before the Vanity Fair one with you and

00:39:41

taika um he calls you I think the

00:39:43

greatest dad Liber that he's ever worked

00:39:44

with oh yeah I think something like that

00:39:46

I mean that's a massive compliment it is

00:39:50

Chris Darby

00:39:52

is

00:39:53

in my opinion and the one of the

00:39:56

greatest advisors I've ever known

00:39:57

awesome that's me you are telling the

00:40:00

truth oh thank God when it comes to my

00:40:02

friends oh

00:40:05

well it's very lovely to say I think it

00:40:07

is something that I I do feel proud

00:40:10

about because put me in any scene and I

00:40:13

immediately feel that it's real and I

00:40:15

know where I can go with it

00:40:17

um so I don't have to struggle with

00:40:19

coming up with words or gags they just

00:40:21

come to me I don't know how I can't

00:40:24

explain it but

00:40:26

um

00:40:27

I could use the old army adage again of

00:40:29

having to be adaptable in any situation

00:40:32

but really it doesn't work because in

00:40:34

the military you had to just be quiet

00:40:37

and you know only only speak when you're

00:40:39

spoken to so maybe it was years of that

00:40:41

and then finally me being released being

00:40:44

able to just like I've got so many

00:40:45

things to say like I feel like a fizzed

00:40:47

up candy yeah exactly I don't know if

00:40:49

you spend much time reflecting or

00:40:51

anything but it's [ __ ] crazy to think

00:40:53

that there's like yourself taika Brent

00:40:56

and Jermaine uh you'll have four guys

00:40:58

four friends and the same sort of

00:41:00

circuit and you've all done like just

00:41:03

phenomenal things in your in your sphere

00:41:05

yeah I mean I I don't stop to think

00:41:08

about it much because I'm still trying

00:41:10

to push for the next thing I think if

00:41:11

you rest uh you know then yeah it's

00:41:14

lovely to think about and be nostalgic

00:41:17

and wonder how it happened but also I

00:41:20

feel like as we got older you've got to

00:41:23

keep going and you've got to keep coming

00:41:25

up with new ideas and I I think when you

00:41:28

look at someone like taika you know gone

00:41:30

from strength to strength and I think

00:41:33

um there's been no kind of slowdown

00:41:35

particularly on his part I mean myself

00:41:39

um

00:41:40

similar uh but

00:41:43

yeah I've I've really tried to change

00:41:47

Tech from from a stand-up into a into an

00:41:50

actor and that was my mission from

00:41:53

I guess halfway through the the stand-up

00:41:55

career because

00:41:58

although I find stand-up fun to do

00:42:02

um it's not much of a challenge it's

00:42:03

really quite you know well I don't want

00:42:06

to say it's easy for me but

00:42:08

it is because you've done you've done it

00:42:11

long enough that it's yeah did you not

00:42:13

give that a sort of adrenaline rush that

00:42:15

you should anymore

00:42:16

um I still do on stage which is why I

00:42:18

can't wait to do these live shows here

00:42:19

in New Zealand and especially with new

00:42:22

audiences because I just did a east

00:42:23

coast of the US tour and they'd never

00:42:26

seen me before and they were just very

00:42:29

excited just to see my face because

00:42:30

they'd seen it on on TV and this this

00:42:32

pirate show that I've been making

00:42:35

um which has a whole new audience so

00:42:37

that was a really cool

00:42:38

on Netflix yeah not just a pirate show

00:42:41

everyone knows what you it's a big show

00:42:42

it's a big show yeah you and taika are

00:42:45

both in it and you play like gay lovers

00:42:47

yeah that's the one yeah so it's kind of

00:42:49

like uh you know entertaining a new

00:42:52

audience that's a real lightning bolt up

00:42:55

my uh up my uh

00:42:58

oh

00:43:08

uh yeah my butt is a bit fully clenched

00:43:12

so there's no no way of entering there

00:43:14

but I think I think

00:43:17

um

00:43:18

you know I just love the challenge of

00:43:20

acting and particularly with this our

00:43:22

flag means death the show it was perfect

00:43:24

for me because I got to be the uh

00:43:27

buffoon I got to be

00:43:29

um the man out of his depth I got to do

00:43:32

physical comedy I used all my strengths

00:43:34

and then there was a couple that I

00:43:36

hadn't really used and that was the

00:43:37

dramatic side of it and uh reaching into

00:43:40

this character and uh feeling the trauma

00:43:44

that he'd gone through as a kid and my

00:43:46

son actually got to play the younger

00:43:48

version of me

00:43:49

um Theo and he was fantastic and it you

00:43:52

know he spent a day working with taika

00:43:54

uh in these scenes and it was all just

00:43:57

vomiting getting sticks thrown at him uh

00:44:01

and put out in a little dinghy and and

00:44:03

having uh Stones thrown at him I should

00:44:06

say there were no sticks he did run into

00:44:08

a tree I think that's where I got the

00:44:10

stick side here from so he had to do a

00:44:11

stunt you know it was like and at the

00:44:13

end of it he said that's I'm done with

00:44:15

acting if that's acting yeah offer only

00:44:18

from now on uh but he was he was lovely

00:44:21

and and so that but realizing uh as in

00:44:25

this middle-aged character that had a um

00:44:28

uh you know a breakaway from his normal

00:44:31

life to escape a midlife crisis

00:44:35

um I could really relate to to him

00:44:38

because he had this massive sense of

00:44:40

adventure and that's the same with me

00:44:42

growing up getting to a point where I

00:44:44

just want to go I'm going to leave it

00:44:45

all and go overseas and you know you

00:44:48

only live once we've got this whole

00:44:50

planet Earth to play on let's see what I

00:44:52

can do and um don't look back and so I

00:44:56

could really relate to this guy

00:44:58

and then I was acting with taika and

00:45:00

these dramatic Parts where we're really

00:45:03

close to each other he's his character's

00:45:05

gone through a lot of trauma he doesn't

00:45:06

feel loved I don't feel loved I have

00:45:10

affection for him because he's

00:45:11

Blackbeard and he's a hero in the pirate

00:45:15

world my guy has like read all the books

00:45:18

it's pretty much the only thing he's

00:45:19

good at is reading uh and so now he's

00:45:22

living the reality that he thought he

00:45:25

would go for it's kind of like me like

00:45:27

the Army thing I used to watch a lot of

00:45:30

war movies and I used to read a lot of

00:45:32

texts about

00:45:34

um military tactics for whatever reason

00:45:36

and then just imagined myself in it and

00:45:38

then I ended up like biting the bullet

00:45:40

so to speak and and actually doing it

00:45:42

and and then feeling out of my depth

00:45:45

once I was there same with Steed as a

00:45:47

pirate he's completely out of his depth

00:45:49

but it's too late he's there now

00:45:52

um so yeah I could really relate to this

00:45:54

guy yeah so like from a New Zealand

00:45:57

perspective it's just um it seems like a

00:45:59

success after success so we're like oh

00:46:01

[ __ ] uh Reese is doing a Nike commercial

00:46:03

with Roger Federer and then a year later

00:46:05

oh [ __ ] Reese is in a movie with uh Jim

00:46:07

Carrey and then you know so on and so

00:46:09

forth but I'm guessing from your

00:46:11

perspective for every one of these jobs

00:46:12

that comes through there's probably

00:46:13

another nine that slips through the

00:46:15

cracks or whatever so is it all success

00:46:19

success is it is easy and perfect as it

00:46:21

looks yeah or is it um have there been

00:46:24

some some Bleak times and some scary

00:46:25

times

00:46:26

the only Blake times uh really uh season

00:46:31

two of Concords

00:46:34

um when that had finished

00:46:36

um there was nothing else on the table

00:46:38

for me so I went back to uh went back to

00:46:42

London and to get back into the stand-up

00:46:44

scene and I kind of dropped out of it

00:46:47

um we had run out of money because the

00:46:49

uh

00:46:51

the the show didn't pay as much as what

00:46:53

people think it really did especially

00:46:55

the first season when you say we run out

00:46:56

of money you mean um

00:46:58

and uh because she had to give up her

00:47:01

job right so I'm guessing like Britain

00:47:04

Jermaine must have done well out of it

00:47:05

uh you were getting paid like an actors

00:47:07

fee or whatever yeah they didn't do it

00:47:09

as well as what people think either they

00:47:11

probably did a bit better than me but I

00:47:13

was yeah I was on a much more simple

00:47:15

simple fee for that because you imagine

00:47:17

um it's an HBO show you just assume it's

00:47:19

a big budget yeah and that's that's a

00:47:21

very uh kiwi mentality to think you know

00:47:23

okay big America thing you're gonna get

00:47:25

a lot of money but it doesn't really

00:47:27

happen that way and the money does go up

00:47:29

the more you stay in the game and uh

00:47:31

with contracts and everything you know

00:47:33

you get contracted into something and

00:47:35

then you know it depends how good your

00:47:37

lawyer is they can go okay the next year

00:47:39

of the contract he's going to get this

00:47:40

much more whatever but back in those

00:47:42

days we didn't have lawyers or anything

00:47:43

like that it's changed now now we have

00:47:45

like a full team of people that look

00:47:46

after us that's what America does to you

00:47:48

they kind of grab you and they go okay

00:47:50

you can be part of that but these people

00:47:52

are going to work for you and they're

00:47:53

going to give them 10 each

00:47:56

don't worry you're getting a million

00:47:57

bucks but you'll get 300 000 of that oh

00:48:00

okay love you man yeah you're the best

00:48:03

you're the best places yeah have a

00:48:05

Ferrari yeah yeah back on Tuesday how

00:48:08

long did it take you to sniff out the

00:48:10

[ __ ] I'm guessing it's fairly quick

00:48:11

you go to meetings you're gonna be a

00:48:13

star oh yeah no yeah definitely back in

00:48:16

the day we did the rounds of finding a

00:48:17

manager because I have a manager over

00:48:19

there had one for I've had one for

00:48:21

forever since I was over there but in

00:48:23

the early days you've got to find a

00:48:24

manager now with the agent I was lucky

00:48:27

enough to sign up to the same agency

00:48:29

that the Concords already had and so

00:48:31

because I went into doing that show

00:48:33

without that so I had uh I had

00:48:37

um I think I might have had an acting

00:48:39

agent here but it wasn't the one I

00:48:40

currently have

00:48:42

um in New Zealand it was like um a

00:48:44

little Ad Agency thing that you know it

00:48:46

was you know wouldn't have been helpful

00:48:47

at all and then England I I only had a

00:48:51

comedy agent uh just so basically um

00:48:53

helping me get my stamp and Up Kicks so

00:48:56

yeah I went into you know arguably one

00:48:59

of the the deepest pools of Brilliance

00:49:01

which is working on television

00:49:03

for HBO in America just a guy who'd done

00:49:06

nothing I mean I was my first acting job

00:49:09

so I just go over there like a you know

00:49:11

a bright-eyed little Cherry uh excited

00:49:14

to even see the tall buildings you know

00:49:17

and I get to act as well with my buddies

00:49:19

okay and so you see that when you see

00:49:22

the show and you think you could think

00:49:23

about that especially when you see the

00:49:24

pilot which I think we did in 2006 and

00:49:26

I've got this big you know Ginger here

00:49:29

and I'm sitting at this little the whole

00:49:31

set is uh was very cheaply made at that

00:49:34

point and I think once we got the series

00:49:36

you know we

00:49:38

um redid it to make it look as as though

00:49:40

it was the same but actually it was a

00:49:42

proper building at that point

00:49:44

um but yeah and I've lost track of what

00:49:47

I was going to say have you heard about

00:49:49

the different animals in uh Madagascar

00:49:51

no yeah so from that I suppose it led to

00:49:55

everything else you know yeah anyway I

00:49:57

was bringing me back to like I had hard

00:49:59

times for a while there definitely

00:50:00

financially after the after believe it

00:50:03

or not after the after the Concords

00:50:05

because I didn't know I was not enough

00:50:07

of a name in America to get any

00:50:09

certainly get no stand-up work and even

00:50:12

if I did they don't pay anything over in

00:50:14

America unless you're a big name you've

00:50:15

got to do the college circuit or you you

00:50:18

you have to it takes time to become a

00:50:21

comic celebrity over there and that was

00:50:23

not going to happen for me um so I went

00:50:25

back to where I knew uh I could earn

00:50:28

money and that was back in England

00:50:31

um and yeah it was it was um

00:50:36

it was hard I uh we I I got the call I'm

00:50:39

gonna say I'm getting this a little bit

00:50:41

mixed up it was after season one that I

00:50:43

went back and we had literally had no

00:50:45

cash and we had

00:50:47

um a little toddler at that point we

00:50:48

ended up living in tooting and I started

00:50:51

getting back on the comedy scene there

00:50:53

and that's when um the show thankfully

00:50:56

blew up so it was it it my space was

00:50:59

happening there we put the pilot out on

00:51:01

MySpace it got many many views and then

00:51:04

after doing season one

00:51:07

um Peyton Reed was a big fan of the show

00:51:09

he's a director and he

00:51:12

um emailed me directly as directors do

00:51:15

it's the only way

00:51:18

and he asked me if I wanted to have a

00:51:21

role in this new movie which which Jim

00:51:24

Carrey was in so it was like get out of

00:51:26

town is this a joke you know so I I

00:51:28

landed that role is another thing where

00:51:30

it's [ __ ] pay but you know it's going to

00:51:32

be a fantastic opportunity uh no I mean

00:51:35

in terms of what I was doing and

00:51:37

certainly the pay was okay you know but

00:51:39

yeah it's the first movie role so it

00:51:40

wasn't you know uh huge but it was

00:51:43

enough to and really it's not the pay on

00:51:45

these things it's how they look after

00:51:46

you right so they fly us back their

00:51:49

first class they get us a limo from our

00:51:51

little uh little tiny town that we were

00:51:54

in

00:51:55

um and to the airport and then first

00:51:57

class travel and then

00:51:59

um they put us up uh in a place for two

00:52:02

months while the shooting was on uh just

00:52:04

down the road from where we're filming

00:52:06

and and really it's kind of like I'm in

00:52:10

then uh and but I'm still uh always

00:52:14

thinking okay so what happens when this

00:52:16

finishes you know I I'm now I'm stuck in

00:52:18

the US again do I go back and do

00:52:20

stand-up so

00:52:22

um thankfully it's just the universe

00:52:23

really comes down to my performances and

00:52:26

these things so the Concords performance

00:52:28

for me was was obviously big and they

00:52:31

called it um the summer of Murray on the

00:52:33

in the New York Times I was on the

00:52:35

newspaper and they had a picture of me

00:52:37

on there and I was this new thing that

00:52:40

found that they thought was really uh

00:52:42

really different and and people used to

00:52:44

think where does this voice where does

00:52:46

he come from

00:52:48

is he a real is that really how he

00:52:50

sounds you know and it turns out yeah it

00:52:52

is

00:52:53

and that's why I've been still making

00:52:55

money on this voice ever since then

00:52:57

because I'm not going to change it this

00:52:58

is my this is a money maker this is my

00:53:00

nugget yeah absolutely and so things

00:53:02

were heading off there the big you know

00:53:04

the director of um yes man wanted me and

00:53:07

then who else picked up on the on the uh

00:53:10

on the bandwagon and that was uh Sir

00:53:12

Richard Curtis and so he he saw my work

00:53:15

on Concords and wanted me for his uh the

00:53:18

boat that rocked movie

00:53:19

um which uh you know yeah exactly which

00:53:23

was my next big thing and so I landed

00:53:25

that went back to England it's been like

00:53:27

a real rock and roll ride and through

00:53:29

all this you know I I could I could just

00:53:32

like put the stand up aside and then

00:53:34

from that I I think um I may get the

00:53:37

order on this wrong but that's when I

00:53:39

started getting offers from like Nike

00:53:41

and then HP

00:53:44

um what's the HP thing so that's uh

00:53:46

Hewlett-Packard yeah

00:53:47

for computers right uh touch screen

00:53:51

um home computers another commercial

00:53:53

that was a big that was a big payer

00:53:57

um that stuff's probably on YouTube yeah

00:53:58

and so I got that and then I came back

00:54:00

to New Zealand and got two degrees as

00:54:03

well and so everyone on the giant logo

00:54:05

ones exactly yeah yeah it's memorable

00:54:07

yeah and so it's kind of like oh wow

00:54:10

this is all coming together I might be

00:54:11

able to buy a house yeah so so there was

00:54:14

never a point where where you you and

00:54:17

your wife Rosie who's your manager uh

00:54:19

you you've got a young kid or two young

00:54:20

kids that you thought [ __ ] we need to go

00:54:22

back home and forget about the stream no

00:54:25

never right so I suppose there was a way

00:54:27

you always had like a backstop like you

00:54:30

can go you can always go well I've

00:54:31

always got to stand up or I've always go

00:54:33

to New Zealand and I've got a fan base

00:54:34

there yeah I liken it to

00:54:37

um riding dragons in the ionosphere so

00:54:40

you're basically right up there and

00:54:42

you're on a dragon and you're actually

00:54:43

running alongside on the on the on the

00:54:46

on the top of it and you get closer to

00:54:49

the head of the dragon and you're right

00:54:50

up there and you're holding on to the

00:54:52

reins of this massive dragon and you

00:54:54

realize oh my gosh this dragon's gonna

00:54:55

fall out underneath me so you're looking

00:54:57

up and you're finding another Dragon

00:54:58

that's out there in the sky and you leap

00:55:01

over to it and sometimes it's a side

00:55:03

leap or sometimes it's a smaller Dragon

00:55:05

but you're still up there and and you're

00:55:07

just riding dragons until you until you

00:55:09

fall off wow I get what you're saying

00:55:13

it's a terrible analogy though

00:55:15

people are going to be quoting that for

00:55:17

years so through it through this um

00:55:19

how's your mental health been through

00:55:21

the years so always been always been

00:55:23

Rock Solid yeah pretty chipper nothing

00:55:25

nothing gets you down you don't

00:55:27

well you know looking at uh my under

00:55:31

undiagnosed issues with my spectrum of

00:55:34

course I'm very sensitive so anything uh

00:55:36

will get me down where people don't uh

00:55:39

jump on board what I'm thinking or don't

00:55:41

like me I don't like that that hurts as

00:55:44

it does every human but it can hurt

00:55:46

highly sensitive people way more so you

00:55:50

know there's moments that you know when

00:55:53

I hear or see things that can get me

00:55:55

down but over time you know you what do

00:55:58

you mean like in terms of comments

00:55:59

reviews

00:56:01

comments people saying things that you

00:56:04

overhear some people or someone tells

00:56:06

you oh bloody this guy hates you or

00:56:07

these people don't you know so all I've

00:56:09

ever heard about heard about you and you

00:56:11

sort of even referenced this yourself

00:56:12

just before the only criticism you'd

00:56:14

hear from haters if you want to call

00:56:16

them that in New Zealand is that you're

00:56:17

a one-trick pony right right yeah they

00:56:20

always just he just does the voice yeah

00:56:22

yeah yeah I've already described how

00:56:24

many tracks I have on this podcast I

00:56:26

think it's more than one I can ride

00:56:27

dragons but when you hear something like

00:56:29

that just does does that hurt or are you

00:56:31

like well [ __ ] you I've done very well

00:56:33

with no one trick pony doesn't doesn't

00:56:35

hurt at all because I'm not a one-trick

00:56:37

pony and if I am that Pony's pretty

00:56:39

amazing

00:56:40

it's a very well fit yeah

00:56:43

stuff like people like I don't deserve

00:56:45

it or whatever or like why should it

00:56:48

happen to him and look I don't have the

00:56:49

answers for that I came from nothing you

00:56:51

know I was brought up by mum who was on

00:56:53

the benefit and we lived in a

00:56:55

two-bedroom flat uh she had a room I had

00:56:58

a room uh she didn't have a job uh and I

00:57:02

didn't have anything and so I just had

00:57:04

dreams and so why can't a kid who uh

00:57:08

didn't come from anything make it

00:57:09

through his uh manifestation of of what

00:57:13

he believed he wanted out of life you

00:57:15

know I think that's where people get

00:57:18

upset because they can't manifest it or

00:57:20

that's not happening for them and it's

00:57:22

because for whatever reason it's all

00:57:24

societal and circumstantial where you

00:57:27

are and what your next move is and

00:57:31

um

00:57:31

you know I I just put the blinkers on

00:57:34

early and looked at what I'm capable of

00:57:36

doing try different things I wanted to

00:57:39

be a ranger for for a long time you know

00:57:41

a wildlife Ranger mainly because I can

00:57:43

classify all the different animals from

00:57:45

the different areas

00:57:46

but look you're fine

00:57:50

you find who you are and you've you get

00:57:54

the closest uh people who are going to

00:57:56

help you and they're your true friends

00:57:58

and they've got your back as you've got

00:58:00

them and they uh help you realize your

00:58:06

dream and um you know my and you and you

00:58:09

don't have just one dream my initial

00:58:11

dream you know was a ranger and then a

00:58:14

being a soldier being an officer in the

00:58:16

military or the air for Air Force was

00:58:18

the first one I watched Top Gun and I

00:58:20

thought that's gonna be me and then I

00:58:21

realized no I got an F in physics and uh

00:58:24

there's no way I'm gonna be a fighter

00:58:27

pilot okay next uh what about a soldier

00:58:29

next best thing yeah pretty cool no no

00:58:32

good at that really apart from the

00:58:33

marching and uh Morse code's not

00:58:35

fashionable a journalist was the next

00:58:38

one you know because uh you know my

00:58:40

favorite book series Tintin he saw the

00:58:42

world he had a cute dog much like you uh

00:58:44

but um you know that was I I went to

00:58:48

University turns out it was a

00:58:49

postgraduate degree so I had to get a

00:58:52

degree and then do journalism and by

00:58:53

then I got bored of it and uh and

00:58:56

realized and uh that comedy was was the

00:58:58

strongest thing in my Essence it was in

00:59:00

my heart was entertaining and doing

00:59:03

funny voices and making people laugh and

00:59:06

so at that point New Zealand had caught

00:59:08

up with me there was an industry there

00:59:10

was a comedy club people were doing it

00:59:12

and there was really the the

00:59:13

groundbreaker was the was the

00:59:15

international festivals people were

00:59:17

coming here fantastic comics from Europe

00:59:19

and saying hey Rhys come and join us

00:59:21

back over there and uh and that was the

00:59:24

rest was history so who would [ __ ] on

00:59:26

you is it only new zealanders that

00:59:28

you're talking about it does seem like a

00:59:29

New Zealand tall puppies yeah that's the

00:59:32

only people that have ever tried to pull

00:59:34

me down well it's terrible because I I

00:59:35

think uh someone someone like you should

00:59:38

be applauded as well right yeah all the

00:59:43

four names that I mentioned before Brent

00:59:44

and Jermaine tiger and yourself it's

00:59:45

inspirational yeah and surely it says to

00:59:48

people [ __ ] I I can do this this guy can

00:59:51

do it I can do it yeah rather than he

00:59:53

doesn't deserve it look at all the good

00:59:54

musicians we have in this country and

00:59:56

and house and how far they go and and

00:59:58

Comics to a certain degree we're

00:59:59

catching up there as well you know we

01:00:01

have some names that are really making

01:00:03

at Rose matafayo overseas yeah

01:00:06

um so it can be done uh but you do have

01:00:08

to do the time and and there's a thing

01:00:10

here now especially with comedy whereby

01:00:12

a lot of the younger ones are jumping on

01:00:15

TV and getting jobs here and are

01:00:17

settling for that and there's no uh

01:00:19

there's no way up from there you know

01:00:21

you've got to go out and become a much

01:00:23

better comic than you would be just in

01:00:24

this country see the world and then take

01:00:27

those skills and you know this is just

01:00:29

me teaching everyone what I did but you

01:00:31

know not the only way but here you can

01:00:34

kind of get a job earlier on it was not

01:00:36

available when I was coming up through

01:00:38

the ranks I love ranking in this country

01:00:41

but now it is but then they can settle

01:00:43

for like a a radio job or a TV job

01:00:46

whereby um you know it's a pretty

01:00:48

average salary and then they go oh now

01:00:52

what oh we could do that one holiday a

01:00:54

year but look honestly the amount of

01:00:55

money that gets thrown at you in America

01:00:58

is ridiculous and the UK the amount of

01:01:02

um Gates that are opened at least they

01:01:05

were now the brexits maybe those gates

01:01:07

are shutting slightly but uh two other

01:01:09

things and also just the the best of the

01:01:12

industry over there you know being being

01:01:13

involved with with

01:01:15

um the best talent that you could ever

01:01:17

imagine on the planet and here it's just

01:01:19

you know you're limited but and also it

01:01:21

takes look how much does it cost to get

01:01:23

a house in this country it doesn't make

01:01:24

any sense it's ridiculous so you're just

01:01:28

striving to to be uh mediocre so you can

01:01:32

almost buy a house it's just it's like

01:01:34

I'm not telling everyone to leave but

01:01:37

um you know it's something needs to be

01:01:39

done uh in that regard and look it's not

01:01:42

my forte I just decided right from the

01:01:45

beginning that I was gonna leave this

01:01:47

place

01:01:48

oh there's my alarm looks like we're out

01:01:50

of time folks

01:01:52

that's the stranger things oh is it

01:01:56

wow is it a stranger things watch yeah

01:01:58

yeah we're from

01:01:59

stranger things

01:02:01

Timex I got it in America all right

01:02:03

awesome do you have to rip out how much

01:02:05

no no no no just put that on well I'm

01:02:09

loving I'm loving this so much sorry it

01:02:10

has been an hour of your time so you

01:02:12

mentally you're in a great place which

01:02:14

is which is bloody likely um do you have

01:02:15

any like tips or tools to to make sure

01:02:18

your mental health stays in a good place

01:02:20

can you can you feel if it's getting out

01:02:21

of kilter or off balance yeah I think

01:02:24

that the number one thing is is friends

01:02:27

and family and they're always uh your

01:02:30

your best allies

01:02:32

um friends in particular your close ones

01:02:35

have always got your back family can be

01:02:37

annoying but family will always be there

01:02:39

for you so even if your friends have got

01:02:41

to go away or Something's Happened you

01:02:43

had a falling out your family is just

01:02:45

gonna be it's your safety blanket so you

01:02:47

know but the family for families you

01:02:49

have to support each other and don't get

01:02:53

like um annoyed with each other or or

01:02:55

feel

01:02:57

um not bothered about each other which

01:02:59

is quite a kiwi thing as well we we need

01:03:01

to kind of uh raise each other up and

01:03:04

kind of be positive and you know there's

01:03:06

a a lot of negativity in this country

01:03:08

and I think one of the great things in

01:03:10

America I found was just so much

01:03:12

optimism and they are really proud

01:03:16

people they love you know how they're on

01:03:18

top of things and and where they can go

01:03:21

and you know no isn't really a word they

01:03:24

use much over there and I found that

01:03:25

refreshing for me because here in New

01:03:27

Zealand you know it's like oh do you

01:03:29

deserve that I mean you'll never get

01:03:31

that mate or whatever and then when you

01:03:33

go to you know the old mother country

01:03:34

over to Great Britain that's where we

01:03:36

bloody got it from because they're all

01:03:38

they're all upset miserable bastards oh

01:03:41

that's come over here you're from a

01:03:43

colony you're not gonna you know uh but

01:03:45

they I think it is changing younger

01:03:47

Generations are getting better certainly

01:03:49

the older ones were more miserable uh

01:03:52

but

01:03:53

um yeah I think um in terms of a mental

01:03:57

health it's friends and family uh are

01:03:59

your best allies and have more than one

01:04:02

thing going on and that's what I really

01:04:04

love is like for example yeah I do the

01:04:07

acting I do stand up I write the

01:04:09

children's books

01:04:11

um I enjoy

01:04:12

um keeping fit it's a really big thing

01:04:15

as you know for mental health oh sure

01:04:17

absolutely yeah keep fit and people

01:04:20

don't still don't really realize that

01:04:22

but that's probably in the top three

01:04:24

things you could do is just keep fit

01:04:26

because you then you're taking an hour

01:04:27

out of your day to not think about any

01:04:29

of those other things and concentrate on

01:04:31

building up what your your body or or

01:04:34

exercising and listen to some awesome

01:04:36

music music's really important uh your

01:04:40

favorite bands you've got happy you

01:04:41

happy playlist that gets you through the

01:04:43

day and and then the other thing is uh

01:04:46

yeah have many things to do and so I've

01:04:47

got my podcast which is my labor of love

01:04:51

uh with my my two good buddies where we

01:04:53

just talk about crypto geological

01:04:55

creatures and weird news

01:04:57

I find the best way to plug a podcast is

01:04:59

on another podcast yeah right so what's

01:05:01

the name of it it's called The Cryptid

01:05:02

Factor right and it's on uh all the all

01:05:05

the different platforms that's been

01:05:06

going for a while right I've been going

01:05:07

for yeah since 2008 that one oh [ __ ]

01:05:11

yeah yeah it started off with a radio

01:05:12

show on the actual radio and then we got

01:05:14

kicked off into another radio station

01:05:16

and then we ended up in another radio

01:05:18

station and then lucky along the way we

01:05:20

started recording them and then podcasts

01:05:22

became a thing and now we're now we're a

01:05:24

podcast that uh that has just kept going

01:05:26

and it's been it's been a like a side

01:05:28

hustle and so yeah I think you make some

01:05:31

money out of it no there's no money I

01:05:33

say hustle and uh just because I

01:05:34

couldn't think of another term but it's

01:05:36

just like a side love I guess so

01:05:38

something you do a hobby a hobby hobby

01:05:39

well I could have just said it's a hobby

01:05:41

uh but I like the term side Hustle

01:05:45

there's some money

01:05:49

there's no there's not much money then

01:05:51

we do have a patreon where if you want

01:05:53

to join you can get more content but

01:05:56

that money we save up and that we give

01:05:58

that to uh buttons if he wants to come

01:06:00

over to LA

01:06:02

uh he's the the producer of the podcast

01:06:05

um but anyway basically

01:06:07

um yeah have a lot of things going on

01:06:09

because if you're focused on one thing

01:06:10

and that gets you down

01:06:13

um then you kind of where do you go and

01:06:15

so you've got to have

01:06:17

um you've got to have fun things happy

01:06:19

happy places that you can cross into and

01:06:22

that and this is so simple like with

01:06:24

books or I have happy TV shows that if

01:06:26

I'm down I'll go and click that on you

01:06:29

know and um I don't know that those are

01:06:31

my little tips I like that yeah I like

01:06:33

that because I think with mental health

01:06:34

is no what's the one size fits all so if

01:06:36

it's yeah if it's a show that makes you

01:06:38

happy like love island or whatever then

01:06:39

go ahead and watch it what's your inner

01:06:41

voice like you you seem like very

01:06:43

self-assured do you do you beat yourself

01:06:45

up much or are you quite kind to

01:06:46

yourself

01:06:48

um I think yeah I think my inner voice

01:06:50

that's a good question I think it's

01:06:52

um always on track and uh you know

01:06:57

telling me

01:06:59

where I want to be it's telling me to be

01:07:01

cautious and telling me to

01:07:04

um just keep alert don't put a foot

01:07:06

wrong especially these days with all the

01:07:08

things that are going on

01:07:10

um and

01:07:12

don't put a foot wrong in terms of like

01:07:13

what's things

01:07:16

that's not a big one for me but it's

01:07:19

kind of like just yeah I can't imagine

01:07:21

you do anything like oh no not like that

01:07:23

but I think just be keep relevant and be

01:07:26

aware of uh society and just in terms of

01:07:30

like saying the wrong thing or or um

01:07:32

which is you know because we're from a

01:07:34

generation that we have to learn a bit

01:07:36

more than the younger ones do sure with

01:07:39

how we use words and things like that we

01:07:41

always we say the wrong thing all of a

01:07:43

sudden and then people will go hey you

01:07:44

can't say that with it oh sorry I'm from

01:07:46

1974. sorry you know things like that oh

01:07:50

that's great because they clipped that I

01:07:52

referenced before the Vanity Fair work

01:07:53

there's a scene in there where the joke

01:07:55

is kind of let everyone in New Zealand

01:07:57

knows everyone in New Zealand yeah and

01:07:58

Tiger shows you a selection of photos

01:08:00

and there's um Peter Jackson Jacinda

01:08:02

ardern and one of Melanie lynskey yeah

01:08:04

do all kiwis in Hollywood know each

01:08:07

other pretty much well no definitely

01:08:09

know of each other and have seen each

01:08:10

other once or twice if not regularly

01:08:12

yeah do you know this woman

01:08:20

yes of course

01:08:22

her name again Melanie and yeah you mean

01:08:25

some you mentioned that you've you've

01:08:27

met Melvin and Linsky once so it's um

01:08:29

It's Perfectly fair that you wouldn't

01:08:30

you wouldn't necessarily remember her

01:08:32

even though she does have a huge body of

01:08:34

work but um you sort of were you expect

01:08:36

that to be cut out by the way

01:08:38

uh because you sort of whispered a tiger

01:08:41

who is it yeah I didn't recognize her

01:08:45

right uh if that was if that was me I'd

01:08:48

be I'd be beating myself up for for days

01:08:51

over there I'd be out on a runner I'd be

01:08:53

like oh you did that Melanie lynskey

01:08:55

thing but no you're um and I I shouldn't

01:08:57

yeah but it's just how my brain works

01:09:00

yeah yeah yeah no no yeah I know the

01:09:02

beating up thing you if that does happen

01:09:04

you know when you when you you miss an

01:09:07

opportunity or you I think that's very

01:09:09

human for us too we're we're very

01:09:11

valuable and we we do stuff up all the

01:09:13

time but uh you've got to when you feel

01:09:16

yourself

01:09:18

um when you feel as though you have

01:09:19

stuffed up uh you've got to really move

01:09:21

on you can't dwell and it's it's yeah

01:09:23

you've got to move on from the door

01:09:25

you're good at that yeah

01:09:26

compartmentalizing things yeah I go

01:09:28

straight into my classification of

01:09:30

animals and I'm away

01:09:32

where does this all come from this like

01:09:35

I don't know this mental strength and

01:09:37

focus that you have has it just always

01:09:39

been there yeah I think so right from

01:09:41

the early age being a kid I just knew

01:09:45

that

01:09:46

I wanted to get somewhere in the world

01:09:49

and take it on and

01:09:51

um and never give up I mean I'm an Aries

01:09:53

so maybe my star sign has something to

01:09:55

do with it

01:09:56

um I have a lot of uh fire in my heart

01:09:59

and my soul and I really want to

01:10:02

I guess yeah get things done and and I

01:10:05

want

01:10:06

I want to have a good time yeah while

01:10:09

I'm here you know we may only be here

01:10:11

once and uh I think I think right from

01:10:14

the the essence of it was like I said

01:10:16

earlier on the show at the beginning you

01:10:19

know I felt like I'm a mistake and I'm

01:10:20

not supposed to be here and I feel like

01:10:22

I'm weird and so I'm feeling like right

01:10:24

if I'm if I'm an alien and I've just

01:10:26

landed I'm gonna conquer this planet and

01:10:28

then um and and prove to everyone that

01:10:31

I'm not a mistake or that mistakes uh

01:10:34

the most magical things you can get yeah

01:10:36

I think everyone feels weird though

01:10:37

don't they as you get older don't you

01:10:39

think you realize that everyone feels

01:10:41

exactly the same way

01:10:42

no I don't know I don't know I haven't

01:10:44

spoken to everyone

01:10:45

[Laughter]

01:10:52

yeah you know I feel like everyone does

01:10:54

okay so what's what's next for you are

01:10:55

you much of like a planner like a goal

01:10:57

Setter or do you just sort of take

01:10:58

opportunities as they come and assist

01:11:00

them yeah you can't you can't really

01:11:02

I've got to a point now where you know

01:11:04

the goals have been achieved to a

01:11:06

certain degree for sure and uh so now

01:11:08

I'm just like hanging on to this to this

01:11:11

current dragon and waiting for the next

01:11:13

phone to ring so you know you're still

01:11:15

as an actor you're still you know only

01:11:17

as good as your last performance and

01:11:19

you're waiting for the next opportunity

01:11:21

and you know these are coming

01:11:24

uh and and you know I did our flag means

01:11:27

death and it was a success so I'm I'm

01:11:30

okay I can I can relax we've got a

01:11:31

second series so I'm doing that I'm

01:11:33

filming that this year and uh I'm just

01:11:36

kind of enjoying trying to enjoy

01:11:39

um the place I'm in right now and and be

01:11:42

happy with with who I am yeah I feel

01:11:45

like you are good do I look like that I

01:11:47

feel like that is the glow maybe that's

01:11:48

the glow the glove oh no you just you

01:11:50

look very very content and and assured

01:11:54

and and happy and I I suppose the life

01:11:56

that you've created for yourself and

01:11:57

your family means that your kids at the

01:11:59

ages they're at now 12 and 16 Yes means

01:12:01

the the window of years that you've got

01:12:03

with them as kids is running out it's

01:12:05

running out and you get to spend this

01:12:06

time with them which is a luxury

01:12:07

absolutely yeah and and Rosie to her

01:12:11

credit she's very involved in making

01:12:13

sure that you know these years with the

01:12:15

kids uh the best they can be and we're

01:12:18

full of memories and that we can provide

01:12:19

and all that kind of stuff and and give

01:12:21

them these great opportunities which

01:12:23

also the state's office as well as as

01:12:25

well as here so yeah we're in we're in a

01:12:28

good we're in a good place but you know

01:12:29

the world isn't in a great place and so

01:12:31

there's still that like volatile

01:12:34

situation of like what's going to happen

01:12:36

what's what's China doing what's Russia

01:12:39

doing you know oh we've got New Zealand

01:12:41

I know

01:12:44

this is my military stuff again I'm

01:12:46

always looking at things like your

01:12:47

strategies and what plans and countries

01:12:49

are thinking of and then I go nope move

01:12:51

back to your happy place you know you're

01:12:52

a pirate

01:12:54

entertain yeah no you can't you can't

01:12:57

like dwell on on on negative stuff like

01:13:00

that but um you never know what's around

01:13:02

the next corner so I think now more than

01:13:04

ever you know pandemic everything like

01:13:07

that is just enjoy yourself on a

01:13:10

day-to-day basis and just take each day

01:13:12

as it comes

01:13:14

um and be thankful for the things that

01:13:15

you do have yeah not probably a nice

01:13:18

place to end it I think yeah thank you

01:13:20

so much for your time today I've I don't

01:13:21

know how many times uh I've interviewed

01:13:23

you on the radio maybe maybe twinning a

01:13:25

few yeah um but I've really enjoyed this

01:13:27

conversation yeah it's been awesome to

01:13:29

have a nice big in-depth one yeah this

01:13:30

is what I'm going to do about podcasts

01:13:31

you can you can go to places that you

01:13:33

wouldn't necessarily go to On the Radio

01:13:34

Chat yeah like if it was radio I'd have

01:13:36

to ask you if you've had like Rita Ora

01:13:38

over for dinner with tiger yeah we don't

01:13:40

need to have you no no

01:13:43

thank you yeah thanks bro thanks very

01:13:45

much for making it all the way through

01:13:46

that episode of Runners only with dom

01:13:48

Harvey with Rhys Darby really hope you

01:13:50

liked it use your Spiel at the end of

01:13:52

the podcast

01:13:53

um if you like it make sure you

01:13:54

subscribe wherever you get your podcast

01:13:55

from or take a moment and give it a

01:13:58

rating or even a review if you want if

01:14:00

um the podcast platform that you listen

01:14:02

to allows you to do so if you're a

01:14:04

regular listener uh like you listen

01:14:06

every week I can't tell you how much I

01:14:08

appreciate having you along for this

01:14:09

journey and another little favor you can

01:14:11

do if you want if you can think of

01:14:13

someone that you think may like this

01:14:14

podcast or get something out of it

01:14:16

please do recommend it to them or share

01:14:19

it on your social media channels I can't

01:14:21

underestimate just how effective That

01:14:23

Word of Mouth marketing is all right

01:14:25

thanks very much really appreciate you

01:14:26

being here hope to see you next week

Badges

This episode stands out for the following:

70
Best performance
60
Most inspiring
60
Best overall
60
Most creative

Episode Highlights

Rhys Darby's Journey
From humble beginnings to comedy stardom, Rhys shares his inspiring story.
“I came from nothing, you know?”
@ 00m 08s
October 25, 2022
Meeting Prince Harry
Rhys discusses his unique opportunity to collaborate with Prince Harry on sustainability.
“It's a once in a lifetime opportunity, perhaps.”
@ 07m 24s
October 25, 2022
A Heartbreaking Birthday
A poignant reflection on growing apart from childhood friends during a birthday celebration.
“It was a heartbreaking moment.”
@ 20m 21s
October 25, 2022
Military to Comedy
Transitioning from a disciplined military life to a creative career in comedy.
“I needed the discipline it gave me.”
@ 26m 24s
October 25, 2022
Discovering Comedy
The journey into comedy began unexpectedly at university, leading to a new community.
“I signed up straight away because I thought well there’s one thing I know I’m good at.”
@ 28m 22s
October 25, 2022
The Greatest Dad Liber
Taika calls him the greatest dad liber he's ever worked with. A massive compliment!
“That's a massive compliment!”
@ 39m 46s
October 25, 2022
Riding Dragons
He likens his career journey to riding dragons in the ionosphere, always seeking the next challenge.
“You're just riding dragons until you fall off.”
@ 54m 40s
October 25, 2022
Manifesting Dreams
He reflects on coming from nothing and manifesting his dreams despite societal challenges.
“Why can’t a kid who didn’t come from anything make it?”
@ 57m 09s
October 25, 2022
The Journey to Comedy
Rhys Darby reflects on his path from journalism to comedy, realizing it was his true passion.
“Comedy was the strongest thing in my essence.”
@ 58m 56s
October 25, 2022
Mental Health Tips
Rhys shares insights on maintaining mental health through friends, family, and fitness.
“Friends and family are your best allies.”
@ 01h 02m 24s
October 25, 2022
The Importance of Optimism
Rhys discusses the difference in optimism between New Zealand and America.
“There's a lot of negativity in this country.”
@ 01h 03m 08s
October 25, 2022

Episode Quotes

It's a once in a lifetime opportunity, perhaps.
Rhys Darby on how to keep mental health in good shape || Runners Only! Podcast with Dom Harvey
It was a heartbreaking moment.
Rhys Darby on how to keep mental health in good shape || Runners Only! Podcast with Dom Harvey
Our weirdness was kind of celebrated.
Rhys Darby on how to keep mental health in good shape || Runners Only! Podcast with Dom Harvey
You only live once, let’s see what I can do.
Rhys Darby on how to keep mental health in good shape || Runners Only! Podcast with Dom Harvey
If I am a one-trick pony, that pony's pretty amazing.
Rhys Darby on how to keep mental health in good shape || Runners Only! Podcast with Dom Harvey
You’ve got to have fun things, happy places to cross into.
Rhys Darby on how to keep mental health in good shape || Runners Only! Podcast with Dom Harvey

Key Moments

Prince Harry Collaboration07:24
Heartbreaking Moment20:21
Military Discipline26:24
Comedy Club Discovery28:22
Manifesting Dreams57:09
Career Reflections58:35
Mental Health1:03:57
Podcast Journey1:04:51

Words per Minute Over Time

Vibes Breakdown

Matthew Ridge shares awkward story about how he met his wife | Runners Only! Podcast with Dom Harvey

October 25, 2022

01:42:23

Matthew Ridge shares awkward story about how he met his wife | Runners Only! Podcast with Dom Harvey

Fair Go's Haydn Jones is a bloody Good Sort! || Runners Only! Podcast with Dom Harvey

May 21, 2023

01:07:44

Fair Go's Haydn Jones is a bloody Good Sort! || Runners Only! Podcast with Dom Harvey

A truly inspiring chat with Dai Henwood || Runners Only! Podcast with Dom Harvey

March 05, 2023

01:40:14

A truly inspiring chat with Dai Henwood || Runners Only! Podcast with Dom Harvey

Star Architect, George Clarke: "I Can’t Stop Coming Back to New Zealand!"

August 13, 2025

36:21

Star Architect, George Clarke: "I Can’t Stop Coming Back to New Zealand!"

Martin Henderson on Heath Ledger, The Success of Virgin River, Britney Spears and more!

January 14, 2024

02:06:28

Martin Henderson on Heath Ledger, The Success of Virgin River, Britney Spears and more!

Jeremy Wells shares when he considered suicide || Runners Only! Podcast with Dom Harvey

October 15, 2022

01:01:41

Jeremy Wells shares when he considered suicide || Runners Only! Podcast with Dom Harvey

Dion Nash Reflects on Business Journey, Cricket Career, Cannabis Controversy & More!

June 09, 2024

02:24:53

Dion Nash Reflects on Business Journey, Cricket Career, Cannabis Controversy & More!

Tim Ross Reflects on Merrick & Rosso, Triple J, Teaching Kathy Griffin Aussie Slang & More!

May 01, 2024

01:43:00

Tim Ross Reflects on Merrick & Rosso, Triple J, Teaching Kathy Griffin Aussie Slang & More!

Boxing Promoter and former league player Dean Lonergan || Runners Only! Podcast with Dom Harvey

February 26, 2023

01:22:48

Boxing Promoter and former league player Dean Lonergan || Runners Only! Podcast with Dom Harvey

NZ Cricketer turned Mountaineer, Adam Parore || Runners Only! Podcast with Dom Harvey

March 19, 2023

01:27:41

NZ Cricketer turned Mountaineer, Adam Parore || Runners Only! Podcast with Dom Harvey

Hamish Kerr - This white man can jump! || Runners Only! Podcast with Dom Harvey

November 30, 2022

01:29:39

Hamish Kerr - This white man can jump! || Runners Only! Podcast with Dom Harvey

Anna Mowbray on ZURU’s Origin Story, Life in China, Parenting with Ali Williams, Auckland FC & More!

July 21, 2024

01:27:16

Anna Mowbray on ZURU’s Origin Story, Life in China, Parenting with Ali Williams, Auckland FC & More!