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[Music]
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ID Ben welcome to my podcast thank you
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for having me um thank you for letting
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me drink wine while we do this it's um
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we're recording this uh yeah 1:00 in the
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afternoon so I'm I'm not having a I
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would normally join you for a wine but
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uh lunchtime wine I'm not working
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tonight you know um so why not you're
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you're not doing not doing a lot to
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break the um Irish stereotype well I'm
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I'm drinking wine so at least it gives
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an air of sophistication to my drinking
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that's true so when did you arrive uh
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day before yesterday I got in yeah so
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what day is it today it's Thursday I got
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in Tuesday morning I had a little bit of
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a nap and then I went out for a meal and
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a drink with my good friend Ben Hurley
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kiwi comic and then uh yesterday was
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just interviews all morning and then an
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episode of seven days in the evening and
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today so far has been interviews all
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morning and this evening I am I'm I'm
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I'm left to my own devices I did have a
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gig I was supposed to do a gig this
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evening but it was not selling so they
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canceled
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it well thank you for your honesty yeah
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there's no point in pretending anything
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other and what happen happened yeah and
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you supposed to say like scheduling
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conflicts or yeah they just we weer sing
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yeah I feel like you're at the um you've
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been doing it long enough now and you're
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at that age or stage in life where yeah
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you you don't give a give a [ __ ] um well
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I do but I don't I guess I'm not as
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excited about my own career as I used to
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be like I genuinely think at this point
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if somebody said hey we've decided to
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give you your own TV show I'd be like
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why why would you do that what what do
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you well why would you no give it to one
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of the young
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people um yeah but the the um the rest
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of the shows it's strange that you can
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come to a country and one show won't do
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well but then a lot of other shows will
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do particularly well it's fascinating
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and what's also really weird is how you
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can do you know the same show you can be
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in the same room and do you know do a
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week there and Tuesday Wednesday is
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great and then Thursday is just awful
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and then Friday Saturday is amazing
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again you can just have one night in the
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in the in the same room and and just I I
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I remember just doing a Monday Tuesday
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Wednesday I mean that's not a there
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that's not a great start Monday Tuesday
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wday sold out every night at the Norwich
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Playhouse 400 seats and Monday went
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great and Tuesday was awful and
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Wednesday was great and it's the same
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show the same room the same town the
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same number of people and weirdly it's
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just it's almost like everybody met up
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beforehand and just said let's be a [ __ ]
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audience tonight yeah yeah shall we we
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all just should we just not laugh at
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anything yeah let's do that it's so odd
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and it's and it does really keep you on
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your toes it has to be said what what is
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that anything to do with the comedian on
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stage or is it the energy in the room or
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as the comedian in question I I feel no
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like I mean I don't I'm not going to
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deny there are nights where you are more
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on it than other nights and it could
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just be something you're not even aware
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of that you said early doors that
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affects how a show can go but no it it
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just I mean you talk to any comedian
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about it it's it's really weird and but
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in a way quite exciting that you can
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never tell how an audience are going to
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be and you can go to a town and have a
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great time and then go back to that town
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on the next tour and maybe you were
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there on a Friday night the first time
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and then you go back and it's Tuesday
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and and they're they're really
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unresponsive or another time you go
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you're better going midweek and you're
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every time your sample size as it were
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is never big enough to absolutely say
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with certainty this town you need to
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play that venue and you need to play it
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during the week or play out the week or
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whatever it is you know cuz it just it
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it just audiences can just really vary
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but you you've been doing this for so
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many so many decades now uh I mean
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you've definitely done your 10,000 hours
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and some uh you must be a when you go on
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any stage anywhere in the world you must
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be comfortable that whatever hole you
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end up in you can pull yourself out of
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it you've got enough tricks in the bag
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yeah um I remember touring New Zealand a
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few years ago good few years ago I had a
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show called different class and I guess
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it was 2008 and everywhere I went the
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show worked it was it was a really nice
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show to do I really enjoyed doing it it
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was incredibly well reviewed and well
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received by audiences and then I got to
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omaru and I did the first three jokes
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from the show and I got absolutely
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nothing just and it was the only place
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and it's the only time with any show not
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just that show the only time where I've
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just gone right and just two minutes in
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just scrunched it up threw it away and
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just did a completely different show
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than the one I was planning on doing and
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you know I mean I've been doing a 30
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years now at the time I've been doing it
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20 years maybe you know 18 years it's
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nice when you have a back catalog that
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you can draw from in these situations
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but it was the first time that ever
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happened to me where where the show
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didn't just not go as well like it just
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wasn't working for whatever reason and I
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just tore it up and just did a
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completely different show to the show
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I've been doing everywhere else on that
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tour
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and and the the good people of omaru
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loved the old material they seemed happy
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with the old material they seemed happy
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with with the greatest hits I'd never
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been there before they were and because
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it's funny then just since I've been
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here I actually I did an interview with
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a DJ in Queenstown he was at that show
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and he couldn't remember he thought it
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was Timaru I said no I've never been at
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Timaru it was definitely Wu and uh he
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had no idea that that even happened like
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he remembered it was maybe a slow start
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but he was he was completely unaware
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that it was a different show to the when
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I had done elsewhere but yeah I I just
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completely the show that show different
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class was all about being not never
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never feeling particularly I didn't grow
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up middle class or working class I'm
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just I'm from this in between thing
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where I don't really and I and and so
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it's all it was all about class all
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about how middle class people do this
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and Working Class People do that and how
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I've never felt comfortable identifying
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with either class you know we had we
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were doing too well to be working class
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we weren't doing well enough to be
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middle class like that was just what it
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felt like and and what summed it up was
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that in Ireland that means you didn't
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own a horse you
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know that that's it like if you're
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middle class your dad's a doctor your
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M's laor bid L you get a horse you know
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if you're you're all living on a in a
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caravan you get a horse anywhere in
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between no horse for you you know and uh
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what did your dad do for a living fixes
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airplanes you get a dog and yeah I'm
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glad you're laughing people War Room No
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in fact somebody even saids I heard
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somebody go well I guess that's funny in
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Ireland they literally said that and I'm
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like okay this is not flying
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and it was a really weird it was the
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first time it felt like I'm sorry to the
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people Wu I'm not going back so [ __ ] you
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but it just was it felt like anything I
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was doing that was out with the personal
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experience with the people in the
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audience they just weren't going to they
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weren't going to go with you they
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weren't going to go oh is that what it's
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like in Ireland oh that's interesting
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that's a funny way you've encapsulated
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something that happened in Europe they
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would it was like no I want something I
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can relate to something about
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you're to me [ __ ] yeah so when
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when was your cuz you are a regular here
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and you've got a massive fan base in New
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Zealand I think part of that is um part
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of that definitely like we we do
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appreciate when artists come to New
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Zealand from a long way away but that's
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only going to get your your foot in the
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door like it needs to be a good show
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beyond that but when did you first come
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here was it 90 87 8797 97 oh that's when
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you went viral you went this is pre went
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viral before the internet yeah yeah so
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what East Side Bar
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that's exactly the one yeah Benny dibit
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the bman at the East Side Bar you even
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remember his name oh course I remember
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his
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name it was uh yeah we had done the um
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there was an opening Gala a big charity
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gala thing for the Comedy Festival and
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then the after party was in this East
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this bar and there was only one guy
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working behind the bar so he was a bit
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overstretched which was his fault
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because he was the manager and decided
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he could do it on his own but he was
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just really rude he was just incredibly
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rude like he he threatened to punch the
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guy next to me John hegley who's a
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performance poet like who's you know
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even nerdier than I am uh didn't like
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the way he had waved at him to try and
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get served so he threatened to punch him
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like he was just incredibly rude I
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hadn't been to New Zealand before I had
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just been in Australia we were trying to
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tip him which I didn't realize you don't
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do in New Zealand and New Zealand bar
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men apparently don't like it when you
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even try to tip them they oh I think
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they do very much now when when you pay
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when you pay by fosle crit card now it
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even gives you a tipping option right
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well I think in 97 they it was
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apparently we offended him by trying to
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tip him um so yeah he was just really
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really rude so after a while I I I I I
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let him know that he was being really
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rude and uh he didn't take kindly to
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that so he threw us out and he told me I
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was in the wrong country so then I I was
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doing the show then the following night
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and one thing I have noticed about kiwi
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audience is and I've always since as
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well is that when you ask questions if
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you ask like a general
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question K audience don't really want to
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join in they don't want to answer
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they're quite reserved I said oh well
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you're still not as rude as the bar man
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at the East Side Bar and everybody
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laughed and I didn't realize this that
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I'd hit on something that he was known
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as a rude man so then I started doing
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jokes about him I said you know he told
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me I was in the wrong country and they
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all booed and said I said well here's
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what you do then after the show
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everybody go out of that bar order a big
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round of drinks when they put him on the
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on the counter and say that'll be you
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know 80 bucks go oh I'm sorry I've just
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realized I'm in the wrong country and
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leave it was a joke apparently somebody
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actually did it I don't actually believe
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anyone actually did it um but he said
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that they did and he was threatened to
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Sue and I was on the
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newsman threatens to sue comedian it was
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literally I was interviewed by the the
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evening news and I went on
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homes he took me down to the bar to try
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and set things straight and I still the
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guy still wouldn't apologize so he what
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they wanted me to apologize I go no uh
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so he still threatened to sue he never
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sued because he didn't have a legal leg
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to stand on but the whole thing caused
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it to just be a big like you say I went
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viral before going viral was even a
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thing and it just sold out my run and it
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stood me in very good stad then every
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time I came back I think people have
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forgotten the actual incident now but I
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think I'm just
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weirdly in more in the public
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Consciousness than I think yeah not a
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comedian I can't remember can't remember
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why that that was why well your recall
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of that story is so good like for 27
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years ago even even the fact that you
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can still remember homes everything
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sticks in my head everything I I let
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nothing
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go I don't know if that's a good thing
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or a bad thing oh and you you got
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engaged in Kuda that's very true that
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was in that was in ' 06 I think it was
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yeah uh in the Green Dolphin in Kota and
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it was we'd been well watching that day
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had we or were we doing it the next day
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I think we were doing it the next day I
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can't remember we' been along the beach
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and looked at seals anyway yeah it was
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an awesome day and uh and then I yeah
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posted her and she said no for a joke I
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remember that because then that became
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that became then the closing joke of the
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of the following tour because uh she
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said no for a joke is that when when so
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she was your publicist uh no she was a
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publicist and and then she became my
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publicist I like I didn't meet her that
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way like she was my girlfriend but and
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she's working as my and then and then I
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I was paying somebody else to be my
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publicist and it was like well people
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were contacting her for interviews
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because so yeah he having having already
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been my girlfriend she then she then
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became my publicist yeah um but uh yeah
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that was I remember that as well because
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then they they came over and I the wa
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the waiter came over and I said we've
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just gotten engaged she was like oh
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there's the
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Bell there was nothing there was no kind
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of they were they were well we want to
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close up I don't know if if it's a thing
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that people do they pretend they' just
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gotten engaged to see if they can get
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free drinks out of a place but we
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totally had just gotten engaged we just
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got engaged and she couldn't have given
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less of a [ __ ] so as as someone that has
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spent quite a bit of time here and um
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you've probably seen a lot more of the
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country than what a lot of new
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zealanders have possibly um what are
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yeah what are some sort of observational
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quirks what things do you notice about
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new zealanders that we may not notice
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about ourselves uh I don't well there is
00:13:06
your I I find doing comedy for a a
00:13:10
people is an excellent way of of getting
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under the the skin of a place and yeah
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you don't like to talk out a turn it's a
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it's an interesting thing I tell a story
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it ended up being in M show it was I
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think I was at Sky City and I came out
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in Oakland and I came out and it was a
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Tuesday night night I'm trying to get
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the audience going and it's it's always
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that tough ask on a Tuesday trying to
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get people Rowdy you know like hey come
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on we got work in the morning we don't
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care all this sort of stuff hey Tuesday
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people make some Tuesday noise and they
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just weren't getting on board and it
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took a a good while before I got a first
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decent laugh out of out of them and then
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you know then the gig was fine
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eventually and then I only realized
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after I left the stage only after the
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show was over did I find out it was
00:13:55
Wednesday and that to me sums up New
00:13:58
Zealand in that any other country in the
00:14:01
world within 30 seconds so G it's
00:14:04
Wednesday you idiots but the Kei was
00:14:06
they just that was 700 people just sat
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there just going it's not Tuesday is it
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we're not going to I'm not going to be
00:14:13
the one to I don't want to tell him
00:14:16
probably just means wi die that's all
00:14:19
are we are we are we hickers no no no
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you're absolutely not you're not you
00:14:23
don't even join in when it would be
00:14:25
helpful as in to correct the fact that
00:14:27
somebody thinks it's Tuesday you were we
00:14:29
will you will happily let a comedian
00:14:31
labor under the misapprehension it's
00:14:32
Tuesday when it's actually Wednesday for
00:14:34
an entire show and that's that is
00:14:37
genuinely not something most people most
00:14:40
nations would would would do now maybe
00:14:42
it's un maybe it's harsh of me to judge
00:14:44
an entire country based on what those
00:14:46
700 people did that night but I I think
00:14:49
it's fair because I also as I notic like
00:14:51
if you talk to somebody directly in the
00:14:53
audience they'll give you what you need
00:14:55
but if you ask like a general question
00:14:56
like has anybody here broken up with
00:14:58
somebody recently or or does anybody
00:14:59
here uh you know any who here has got
00:15:03
kids whatever it is just in general
00:15:04
people just don't want to know I think
00:15:07
for for a lot of new zealanders I think
00:15:09
that's probably like um our worst fear
00:15:11
like being singled out at a show like
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that yeah I don't I don't like to pick
00:15:15
on people I don't like to just make make
00:15:18
you know make make fun of people who
00:15:19
paid money to come and see me it's just
00:15:22
I you know it just helps to you know if
00:15:24
I've got a joke I always just like to
00:15:25
build in a bit into the show like it
00:15:27
lasts last tour you I was talking about
00:15:31
me kids and and I had a thing about not
00:15:34
being able to understand what children
00:15:35
are into and so the question I would ask
00:15:38
somebody in the audience if they had
00:15:39
kids is is there something that their
00:15:40
kids are really really into that they
00:15:42
themselves don't understand that they
00:15:44
themselves don't you know that was and
00:15:46
that was just the and it was then
00:15:48
because then I would do my stuff about
00:15:51
how you know but it was it was just to
00:15:52
see get get somebody else's sort of
00:15:54
perspective first before I then move on
00:15:55
to the routine and I I would never take
00:15:58
the piss out of the person it was always
00:15:59
just to see what comedy could be
00:16:01
generated by having a conversation about
00:16:02
the topic other times I've asked
00:16:04
questions like have you ever U met a
00:16:06
celebrity and have them and be
00:16:08
disappointed have them turn out to be a
00:16:09
bit of a dick which is an interesting
00:16:12
question because it's incredible how
00:16:14
little a celebrity has to do for a
00:16:15
person to consider them a dick power is
00:16:18
it's really Inc it's like oh yeah I
00:16:20
asked Robert din for his autograph and
00:16:22
he didn't seem very happy about it did
00:16:24
he give you his autograph yeah but what
00:16:26
do you want
00:16:29
you want him to adopt
00:16:33
you it takes very
00:16:35
little oh that's funny do you um oh yeah
00:16:38
you mentioned your kids before do you do
00:16:40
you still do the thing where where
00:16:41
you've got the the map of the world oh
00:16:43
where it Dad at the moment it's a big
00:16:45
map in New Zealand obviously how how old
00:16:47
are the kids now 12 and 13 right and
00:16:50
yeah we just spent a week together me
00:16:52
and my wife and the kids just hiking and
00:16:55
doing outdoorsy stuff in Scotland which
00:16:57
is a beautiful way to walk a trip to New
00:17:00
Zealand go to the highlands of Scotland
00:17:02
first just to ease yourself in to the to
00:17:05
the landscape um because yeah it's a
00:17:08
very odd thing about this country the
00:17:10
idea that it was once a completely
00:17:12
different landscape and then Scottish
00:17:14
people came and went get the Sheep let's
00:17:16
turn this into Scotland yeah pretty much
00:17:19
oh you've been to denan haven't you yeah
00:17:21
I have been to den I'm time I went to
00:17:23
Don it was so weird because myself and
00:17:24
my wife actually met in Edinburgh so
00:17:26
that's another weird
00:17:29
uh sort of echo in the fact that we got
00:17:32
engaged in New Zealand and having met in
00:17:35
Edinburgh at the Edinburgh Fringe to
00:17:37
then go to Duneden and have which is
00:17:40
like this weird Edinburgh based theme
00:17:42
park of the
00:17:44
town right yeah it's such an odd thing
00:17:47
to do and you're going to go because at
00:17:49
first you go what a weird thing for new
00:17:51
zealanders to do and they go well they
00:17:53
didn't do it the the the Scots did it
00:17:56
what a weird thing for Scottish people
00:17:58
to do to go all the way to the other
00:18:00
side of the world and go let's recreate
00:18:03
the town we've just come from it's it's
00:18:06
the equivalent of like Irish people who
00:18:08
who you know who move to the states and
00:18:10
then just spend their whole time
00:18:11
drinking an Irish bars in Boston because
00:18:14
it's the most hor Place imaginable well
00:18:17
I remember going to play in San
00:18:18
Francisco and and a bunch of people from
00:18:20
my hometown people who went to my school
00:18:22
people from my town and the town R like
00:18:24
swords B BR and BR all they were all
00:18:26
living in San Francisco and they were
00:18:28
all all drinking in the same bar and
00:18:29
some of them were all working there and
00:18:31
they were all they were all working as
00:18:32
like carpenters and stuff like that but
00:18:33
they were all just hanging out with each
00:18:34
other like they did because you you've
00:18:37
come a long way to not hang out with
00:18:41
even that the Americans oh my God that
00:18:43
is such New Zealand things about new
00:18:44
zealanders as their WR a pack passage
00:18:46
you do like an OE or a gap here they'll
00:18:48
go to go to London live in a a flat and
00:18:50
Hammersmith with eight other kiwis yeah
00:18:52
and then go and watch um 660 play
00:18:55
Live it's like come home come home and
00:18:58
get a job
00:18:59
yeah um where oh where are you going
00:19:02
this time that you haven't been
00:19:03
previously Queen que first wonderful
00:19:07
yeah um I don't think I've been to inber
00:19:09
Cargo
00:19:11
before I think deden was previously the
00:19:13
furthest south I went I could be
00:19:16
and sincerest apologies to the people of
00:19:19
in Carle if I had been there before if I
00:19:21
was it was over 20 years ago
00:19:24
um yeah but yeah I think Queenstown is
00:19:27
is will will will be a first oh fabulous
00:19:29
which is beautiful unfortunately I'm
00:19:31
literally just there for the night I've
00:19:32
got I've got gigs either side of it yeah
00:19:34
and you do you still enjoy like the
00:19:36
travel and the time away from home it's
00:19:38
a long time this trpe you're here for
00:19:39
ages yeah I don't enjoy it as much as I
00:19:41
used to got to be honest with you like
00:19:43
when me and Claire my wife when we first
00:19:47
started coming here we loved it and we
00:19:50
genuinely considered moving here we were
00:19:52
we were thinking when we first traveled
00:19:54
around here and when we got engaged and
00:19:56
all that kind of stuff we just thought
00:19:59
you know what let's just cash out let's
00:20:01
go home do do real do I'm a celebrity
00:20:03
get me out of here do strict do whatever
00:20:05
just sell out do whatever you can make a
00:20:07
pile and just do go in sort of
00:20:10
semi-retired to New Zealand and then I
00:20:13
think we had kids and then things
00:20:15
changed because my kids represent 2third
00:20:19
of my parents grandchildren and I felt
00:20:22
like taking them to the other side of
00:20:23
the world would just have been a bit
00:20:25
cruel to my folks so so we we we never
00:20:28
did it but we genuinely considered for
00:20:30
some time moving uh to to New Zealand
00:20:34
and and it used to be great because it
00:20:36
used to be you could just travel around
00:20:38
and as long as the gig covered the
00:20:42
travel it was fine we had no kids we had
00:20:44
no dependence was just we just do it so
00:20:47
you would go to a town like Napier is a
00:20:49
perfect example it's a really nice town
00:20:51
and we do about hiking the the kekas I
00:20:54
think is the the mountain range that's
00:20:56
near it that we went we went and did
00:20:58
some hiking there there but only about
00:20:59
80 people came to the show but it didn't
00:21:01
really matter because it was a nice
00:21:03
hotel we had nice meal all that so it's
00:21:06
you you think of it you view it kind of
00:21:08
like a working holiday you know as long
00:21:10
as the other gigs still pay your
00:21:12
mortgage it's fine now I'm here on my
00:21:15
own now it's like I don't get to took my
00:21:19
kids in tonight I don't get to see now
00:21:21
everything has to pay you you you become
00:21:23
a lot more militant and the fun of the
00:21:26
travel a lot of that is sucked out of it
00:21:28
so like n no offense nap it was a
00:21:31
perfectly good time but people just
00:21:32
didn't show up like the last time I was
00:21:33
there it was a Saturday night and I got
00:21:35
a 100 people 100 people on a Saturday
00:21:37
night it's just it's not enough if you
00:21:40
can do 700 in ockland then you do you
00:21:43
become really militant about it and the
00:21:46
whole thing of oh be but it's a nice
00:21:47
place to go and we'll have a lovely
00:21:49
lunch is gone because I'm on my own and
00:21:52
everything has to justify itself from
00:21:54
from a financial perspective as it were
00:21:56
you
00:21:57
know which does stuck some of the fun
00:22:00
out of what is supposed to be quite a
00:22:01
fun job you know but it's it's just it's
00:22:04
just the way you've got to view things
00:22:06
changes what what does what does your
00:22:07
down time look like what are you doing
00:22:09
I've got it I know I've got a couple of
00:22:11
days off I've got when I'm in Nelson
00:22:13
I've got the day off before and the day
00:22:15
and the day after Nelson so I'm
00:22:17
definitely going to try and do a bit of
00:22:18
hiking then and then I think then
00:22:19
there's also another point where I'm on
00:22:21
the North Island where I've got like a a
00:22:23
Monday Tuesday Wednesday off that I'm
00:22:25
going to try and and and again maybe do
00:22:28
a hike or do something not just sit in a
00:22:32
bar your hotel much as I love to do sit
00:22:35
in much as going and drinking is a great
00:22:37
way to experience
00:22:39
culture I I am determined to try and do
00:22:42
something more than just get drunk and
00:22:43
sleep it off the next day yeah oh good
00:22:45
stuff oh cool well it is wonderful to
00:22:47
have you in the country okay let's go um
00:22:50
we'll go go right back to the early
00:22:51
years first of all um like why comedy
00:22:54
are are you naturally funny were you
00:22:55
from a funny family yeah yeah oh yeah
00:22:58
from a very and I always thought my
00:23:00
older brother was the funnier one uh but
00:23:03
he always cites that like a teacher in
00:23:06
his school once told him off and said
00:23:08
you're not going to it's all well and
00:23:09
good being funny you're not going to
00:23:10
make a living doing it so pay attention
00:23:12
or something like that and he said that
00:23:13
that just that just stuck with him I
00:23:15
think it's just an excuse because he was
00:23:16
just too chicken [ __ ] to get on the
00:23:18
stage
00:23:20
Stephen um good camera technique by the
00:23:23
way thank you thank you uh um but yeah
00:23:28
we were always very you know it was
00:23:30
always sitting around around the dinner
00:23:32
table people just talking over each
00:23:34
other and stuff like that and
00:23:36
everybody's buying for attention um so
00:23:39
yeah and and I remember from a very
00:23:41
young age listening to Comedy watching
00:23:44
it on TV and and and we had an album we
00:23:48
had a a vinyl Billy Connelly
00:23:50
album there all right kids vinyl amazing
00:23:55
and it was called The Pick of Billy Cony
00:23:57
it was it was a best of comp from his
00:23:59
previous albums and like your Mar show
00:24:02
yeah exactly and uh it was great and but
00:24:06
I I can still see it I can remember
00:24:08
sitting and listening to it and me dad
00:24:11
there dipping a Biscuit in his tea and
00:24:13
laughing along to this comedy album it
00:24:17
was and being captivated by it and I I I
00:24:21
Had It Off by heart and I would I would
00:24:24
recite it to other people with a in a
00:24:28
bad Scottish accent you know and and and
00:24:32
then there was we also my brother had we
00:24:33
had some not the 9:00 news albums and
00:24:35
some Monty Pyon albums and I genuinely
00:24:38
would put them on and I would genuinely
00:24:40
mime along to them in the same way in
00:24:41
the same I I wasn't a completely weird
00:24:43
kid I also would ER guitar with the
00:24:45
tennis rackets and pretend to be you
00:24:47
know an iron maiden or pretend to be
00:24:49
Prince or pretend to be Freddy Mercury
00:24:51
in my bedroom but I also used to pretend
00:24:53
to be Rowan Atkinson and Billy Connelly
00:24:56
and Mel Smith you know and and and and
00:24:59
talk along and mime along to to comedy
00:25:01
albums when I was a kid yeah I I suppose
00:25:04
um did you do did you like put on shows
00:25:07
for other family members and steal those
00:25:08
jokes and recite them did not did not I
00:25:10
thought cuz I wondered if maybe you'd
00:25:11
get validation from you the laughs no
00:25:13
there wasn't one well and because
00:25:16
without being too pretentious I my I
00:25:20
would say I had an advanced in
00:25:22
interesting comedy so but look by the
00:25:25
time I got to University people reciting
00:25:27
Monty Python we were already irritating
00:25:29
as far as I I I was I was reing Monty
00:25:33
Python when I was in high school and
00:25:35
getting smacked around the head for us
00:25:37
because I was ahead of me time it's all
00:25:40
well and good when you're 18 19 20 to be
00:25:42
M you do that [ __ ] when you're 14
00:25:45
that'll get teeth knocked out what are
00:25:48
you talking about shut up bleeding what
00:25:53
Paris what I don't get it yeah so that
00:25:57
was people talk about you know doing
00:25:59
comedy to avoid being bullied I got
00:26:01
bullied for doing
00:26:03
comedy so what what did what did you um
00:26:07
yeah I I feel like even if anyone that
00:26:09
has um like the idea of doing comedy as
00:26:11
a career it's still got to be like a
00:26:13
plan B like you need a a plan a what did
00:26:15
you want to do as a plan a gardening and
00:26:18
I was a and I it's actually I'll be I'll
00:26:21
be honest one of my greatest regrets is
00:26:23
that I didn't go to university and study
00:26:26
something that would have been of of
00:26:27
help to my Act ual career I should have
00:26:30
done TV production maybe Film Production
00:26:33
drama all of these would have been
00:26:35
better bet but to for me as an
00:26:39
18-year-old in
00:26:40
1990 they weren't proper courses they
00:26:44
weren't they they weren't fallback
00:26:46
position type that was Airy fairy
00:26:49
nonsense and and I had yeah I kind of
00:26:52
had it drilled into me and it's one
00:26:54
thing I won't do to my kids is this idea
00:26:58
that that's not a proper job because the
00:27:00
fact is you know a degree in I mean it
00:27:02
was always a joke of what do you say to
00:27:04
a drama
00:27:05
graduate some Big Mac exactly you know
00:27:09
that's it's Universal yeah um but you
00:27:13
know there's a lot of there's a lot of
00:27:15
transferable skills you get from doing
00:27:17
something like drama you know a lot of
00:27:18
people have jobs real jobs where they
00:27:21
have to do presentations you know whe if
00:27:23
you're going to be go into teaching or
00:27:26
in business just having to do
00:27:28
presentations for meetings and stuff
00:27:29
like that the kind of skills you learn
00:27:30
to drama are actually very useful or you
00:27:32
know you go into you you don't have to
00:27:34
be a movie star just cuz you're did
00:27:35
drama you can be you know you can be a
00:27:38
Jobing actor you can be somebody who
00:27:39
does corporate videos you can be you
00:27:41
know you can and if you do something
00:27:43
like Film Production and stuff like that
00:27:44
you can end up working I mean at the
00:27:46
time you didn't know this but you end up
00:27:48
working help producing podcasts you
00:27:51
producing you know just working in
00:27:52
theaters you know there's a million of
00:27:54
them just lighting there's all this sort
00:27:56
of stuff exactly you can do or you or
00:27:57
you teaches you know it's it's not but
00:28:00
for me it was like that's not a proper
00:28:02
job so I did gardening I I did a degree
00:28:05
in hor I didn't actually do a degree
00:28:06
because I dropped out but I was I was
00:28:08
enrolled in doing a degree in horo
00:28:09
because I worked a bit with my uncle as
00:28:11
a gardener I thought this is a thing I
00:28:12
can be self-employed I can work when I
00:28:14
want to work and then I can pursue
00:28:16
another career you know and try and get
00:28:18
into the Arts on my own time if I'm My
00:28:22
Own Boss and a good way to be my own
00:28:23
boss would be do something like being a
00:28:25
garden so that was why I did it and yeah
00:28:28
I didn't but as I did a TV show then
00:28:31
with Jonathan
00:28:32
Ross a panel show and he introduced me
00:28:36
and he said and before becoming a
00:28:38
comedian he was actually going to be a
00:28:39
gardener think about it Ed if youd stuck
00:28:41
with gardening instead of going into
00:28:42
comedy you might have your own TV show
00:28:44
by
00:28:46
now
00:28:48
is how how much of it was yeah it's
00:28:50
funny you're talking about that yeah um
00:28:52
yeah you're pouring yourself another
00:28:54
wine you're the second guest to do that
00:28:55
I had um Paul Henry who you know yeah
00:28:58
around here a few weeks ago for a chat
00:28:59
um and just what you were talking about
00:29:01
before about the drama thing that's how
00:29:02
he s of got his break into TV he was
00:29:04
like into drama and theater as a kid and
00:29:06
it sort of evolved into a wildly
00:29:09
successful TV career here in New Zealand
00:29:11
well I I was working in the Student
00:29:14
Union I I was I got into student
00:29:16
politics I wasn't really like like
00:29:18
political I was in Running of end you
00:29:20
know entertainments and services and I
00:29:22
was the vice president so I was in
00:29:23
charge of you know the bars and all that
00:29:25
kind of carryon but it um you know it
00:29:27
was what you you got you got paid to
00:29:29
take a year out from your studies to to
00:29:31
to to run the Student Union it was it
00:29:33
was the most awesome year of my life I
00:29:35
was 20 years old and I had an office
00:29:38
above a nightclub basically and uh and I
00:29:42
got paid to live like a student without
00:29:44
having to go to college without having
00:29:46
to do classes so it was awesome um but
00:29:49
in the course of that uh you know I was
00:29:51
sort of funny guy and I was working with
00:29:54
this blow called Chris Stewart who was
00:29:56
an intern and he was was started he
00:29:58
started writing down he was friends he
00:30:00
was an american guy and he was friends
00:30:01
with a guy back in the States who worked
00:30:02
as a comedian professionally and he
00:30:06
started writing down any funny things I
00:30:08
used to say in meetings and stuff and he
00:30:10
we present them to me at the end of the
00:30:12
month these are the funny things you've
00:30:14
said you said this and this heads of the
00:30:16
department meeting you said this at this
00:30:17
financial services meeting these are
00:30:19
funny things and I I'd forgotten them
00:30:21
and I'm reading them I'm going that's a
00:30:22
funny joke like I'm giggling because I
00:30:25
and I go he says you you need to be a
00:30:28
comedian and I went okay and I I bought
00:30:31
a Dictaphone and I started and I there
00:30:33
was nowhere I was living in Glasgow at
00:30:34
the time there was there were no comedy
00:30:36
clubs you know for new people at the
00:30:38
time there had been and and there are
00:30:41
again now but at just right then at that
00:30:43
window there were there was nowhere for
00:30:45
for somebody new to To Tread the boards
00:30:49
so I set up a comedy club uh and MCD it
00:30:52
and and just learned how to do it that
00:30:54
way that is crazy yeah this this um
00:30:58
there's probably parallels between um
00:30:59
Ireland and New Zealand like there
00:31:01
there's the classic here on Queen Street
00:31:03
now there's like TV shows like you know
00:31:05
ripoff panel shows like seven days which
00:31:07
you've been on and have you been paying
00:31:09
attention task mask stuff like that but
00:31:11
there was um if you wanted to be a
00:31:12
comedian in the late ' 80s early 990s
00:31:14
there was really no opportunity MH
00:31:17
whatsoever so how how much of yous was
00:31:18
natural Talent versus hard
00:31:22
work I'm going to say it must be mainly
00:31:24
natural talent because I've never worked
00:31:25
hard at anything in my life
00:31:28
I don't know like if you see you wik
00:31:30
Wikipedia page it's got like a list of
00:31:31
all the shows you've done and it's an
00:31:33
exhausting list now yeah yeah
00:31:36
um um yeah I because I I did it for a
00:31:39
couple of months just in Scotland in
00:31:41
Glasgow and then I moved to London and
00:31:43
that was a real eye opener when I moved
00:31:46
to London because suddenly I realized I
00:31:47
was not as funny as I thought I was
00:31:49
because just being on the London circuit
00:31:51
was a very competitive place and you
00:31:55
know I had written routines that I
00:31:57
thought were original and funny and then
00:31:58
I got there and found it was like three
00:32:00
other people doing the same subject
00:32:01
matter much better and I really had to
00:32:04
find a new
00:32:05
gear um so it was I mean I look back now
00:32:11
and I was 21 and I just up stumped and
00:32:14
moved to London with hardly any money I
00:32:17
got a loan of like 400 quid um and just
00:32:22
did it from there just I was on the
00:32:24
welfare basically I didn't know anyone
00:32:27
in London I just moved there and I do
00:32:29
look back and go I would never have the
00:32:31
arrogance or the confidence to do
00:32:33
something like that now but I think at
00:32:34
21 you just do it you just go what the
00:32:38
hell um yeah so it was quite a it was
00:32:41
quite a bold quite a cocky move and then
00:32:43
it still took well over a year and even
00:32:45
that was pretty quick but you know you
00:32:47
got waiting this like six months just to
00:32:49
get an open spot at the comedy store and
00:32:51
then even if that goes well it's another
00:32:52
six months before you get a half spot
00:32:55
and then if that even if that goes well
00:32:56
it's still another six months before you
00:32:58
get it 20 minutes and get you know get
00:33:00
paid so it takes doesn't matter how good
00:33:02
you are it's going to take you at least
00:33:04
a year and a half to two years to make a
00:33:06
living so you were quite good early on
00:33:09
you must have been okay to to get that
00:33:10
sort of um it did it hit pretty quickly
00:33:13
you know I
00:33:15
um I I I yeah I was pretty pretty Speedy
00:33:18
in in in getting established on on the
00:33:20
circuit um so yeah I was making a living
00:33:23
I think I signed off the Dole in about
00:33:25
nine months and then I was still on
00:33:26
housing benefit until about 18 months in
00:33:29
and then uh and then I was self-
00:33:31
sustaining after that and it's the only
00:33:33
career I've ever had I've done jobs I've
00:33:35
done gardening I've done office temping
00:33:37
I've done babysitting but yet from the
00:33:39
age of 21 it was the first time I had an
00:33:42
actual
00:33:44
profession what about um uh being on the
00:33:46
dog so you you and I are similar ages um
00:33:49
I'm from a very middle class family in a
00:33:51
place called P north um if I if I was on
00:33:54
the doll for any length of time it would
00:33:56
have been um IM shame my family yeah
00:33:59
yeah no well my family just said said
00:34:01
they were happy to support me while I
00:34:03
was at University and if I wanted to
00:34:05
move home that was fine as well but they
00:34:07
were not going to support me if I was
00:34:09
just going to gallivant around
00:34:11
L fancying myself as being a comedian
00:34:14
that I had to do under my own steam so
00:34:17
yeah that was that was hence the the the
00:34:20
welfare and it was hard I'm I like I
00:34:25
remember having a cancel an open spot
00:34:27
because I didn't didn't have the money
00:34:28
to get there cuz my do check which was J
00:34:29
to arrive on the Wednesday morning
00:34:30
didn't come and it was you know it was
00:34:33
only God I can't remember remember what
00:34:35
it was it must have been 35 a week I
00:34:37
think it was it was it was nothing and
00:34:41
like I literally survived on just you
00:34:44
know potatoes that sounds so Irish but
00:34:47
they're so they're cheap you know and
00:34:50
you can just I had an oven so you can
00:34:51
roast him and but yeah I had I remember
00:34:56
one night yes having to cancel open spot
00:34:58
cuz it was in North London and I
00:34:59
literally didn't have the money for the
00:35:01
tube fair to get there and and the guy
00:35:05
didn't believe me when I found him
00:35:07
because Ireland was in the World Cup it
00:35:09
was 1994 and Ireland were in the world
00:35:12
cup that year and there was an Ireland
00:35:13
and I don't give a [ __ ] about football I
00:35:15
had no interest in it uh but he thought
00:35:18
I was counseling because because I
00:35:19
wanted to watch Ireland and I did I did
00:35:21
watch the match at home cuz I had
00:35:22
nothing else to do and I sit drinking a
00:35:24
pint of water cuz I didn't have the
00:35:25
money for beer honestly I was I was flat
00:35:29
broke um so that was no fun London is
00:35:32
not a fun place when you have no money
00:35:35
yeah and that's expensive s by the way I
00:35:37
love the word gallivanting how much
00:35:39
ganting is anyone doing on 35 qu away no
00:35:41
none at all but in their in their mind
00:35:43
that's what I was doing um well you must
00:35:46
have like um yeah accelerated quite
00:35:48
quickly because I I I was watching a
00:35:49
clip on YouTube yesterday of you in the
00:35:51
US um on Late Night with Conan O'Brien
00:35:54
in 2000 funnily enough um you're your
00:35:58
this is a year before 911 um a big part
00:36:01
of your routine is about like Aviation
00:36:03
Security and terorist sneak with yeah
00:36:07
and and that and then and then I adopted
00:36:09
that routine after 911 to to to make it
00:36:12
more relevant and more topical and it
00:36:14
was it was actually like a really good
00:36:16
routine but then it became very quickly
00:36:18
very hack because security got so
00:36:20
increased suddenly everybody had a
00:36:22
routine about about airc airplane
00:36:25
security and suddenly mine look but I
00:36:27
was there first cuz cuz I was flying a
00:36:30
lot from Ireland to the UK and because
00:36:33
of you know the situation back then you
00:36:35
know early 90s it was still the troubles
00:36:38
were still very much a thing so so I was
00:36:41
I genuinely had had stuff about it early
00:36:44
early doors but then then because I
00:36:48
remember then doing it at the just phop
00:36:49
Festival in Montreal and kind of getting
00:36:53
slagged off by the paper as it being
00:36:55
really hack because by then everybody
00:36:58
was doing it and I felt like going no I
00:37:00
was doing it first though I I do it for
00:37:02
ages ago mine's the best routine yeah I
00:37:06
got yeah I was doing it a year before
00:37:08
the towers got blown up it's amazing so
00:37:11
um so something like that happens a
00:37:13
booking like that on a a late night TV
00:37:15
show in America bear in mind like this
00:37:17
is 24 years ago so there was no Tik Tok
00:37:20
we may have had Myspace I don't know
00:37:22
maybe not even I don't think it was no
00:37:24
Myspace didn't come along until sort of
00:37:28
2003 there so this is a big deal yeah it
00:37:32
was weird cuz the it was the produ the
00:37:35
segment producer Frank Smiley had been
00:37:37
just on holiday he had been to the
00:37:38
kileny Comedy Festival and had seen me
00:37:41
there and I think he'd seen me Jim Owen
00:37:44
and Shan Hughes he he he he liked us he
00:37:47
and he wanted all of us to to to go and
00:37:49
do the show and then somebody from the
00:37:51
Aspen Comedy Festival saw me then at the
00:37:53
Edinburgh Fringe because it was then I
00:37:56
mean now it's 10 grand at the time was a
00:37:57
grand for the work visa so between the
00:38:00
Aspen festival and Conan O'Brien they
00:38:02
got me the work visa they they they
00:38:04
pulled the resources on that so I did
00:38:06
Aspen Festival ended ended Late Night
00:38:08
with con O'Brien and I ended up doing I
00:38:09
think five episodes of Late Night with
00:38:11
con O'Brien but yeah and it didn't and
00:38:15
they all went well I think was one was a
00:38:17
bit ropey but they all pretty much went
00:38:20
well but it didn't nothing materialized
00:38:24
you know what I mean so you get off yeah
00:38:25
you get off stage you think your life's
00:38:26
going to change yeah it was like because
00:38:29
it was in the days when a million people
00:38:30
watched this which in a country of over
00:38:32
300 million is not a lot of people but
00:38:35
then it didn't have that online thing of
00:38:38
that then it gets it then it's on
00:38:40
Instagram the next day and then or you
00:38:41
know the idea of going viral because you
00:38:44
were on a TV show like that that didn't
00:38:47
happen then so yeah it's it was I know
00:38:52
it sounds ridiculous it was cuz if you
00:38:54
do a show like that and then you die in
00:38:55
your ass and get cut from the show show
00:38:57
your career is over because everyone
00:38:59
will know everyone in the industry will
00:39:01
know that happened to you but if you
00:39:03
just do a good set in front of fine yeah
00:39:08
oh maybe we'll book him from this comedy
00:39:10
club like I got got to play a couple of
00:39:11
comedy clubs it's incredibly high stakes
00:39:13
where you have everything to lose and
00:39:15
not really a great deal to gain but it
00:39:18
was nice it was it was an interesting
00:39:20
experience in getting to meet con o
00:39:21
Brian was pretty awesome but uh yeah
00:39:24
it's uh cuz then years later like my my
00:39:27
friend Daniel SLO you know he does it
00:39:30
but it's it's able to snowball into a
00:39:32
point where he gets to then Tour the
00:39:33
States off the back of it um that just
00:39:36
didn't seem like an option uh when I
00:39:38
when I did it back in the
00:39:40
90s yeah it's interesting what was that
00:39:42
experience like who who was on the
00:39:44
episodes with you what happens backage
00:39:47
so I got to you mingle with anyone there
00:39:48
was people I really like I got to meet
00:39:50
Kevin nean who who used to be on
00:39:52
Saturday Night Live was a very funny
00:39:53
comedian um and it was yeah it was it
00:39:56
was awesome
00:39:58
uh hanging out with him uh yeah there's
00:40:01
a few like David trimmer was on one of
00:40:03
the episodes um but I think it was
00:40:06
probably for for meeting celebrities the
00:40:08
the Graeme Norton Show definitely beats
00:40:10
everything else hands down you whatever
00:40:12
say what you like about The Graham
00:40:13
Norton Show it is an excellent way for
00:40:15
midlevel comedians to meet Hollywood
00:40:17
movie stars yeah I say how many times
00:40:19
have you been on grah Norton I think I
00:40:21
was on that five or six times yeah they
00:40:23
don't they don't have comedians on it as
00:40:24
often as they used to I think they what
00:40:26
they when it was first finding its feet
00:40:28
that show they they would have a couple
00:40:30
of like Hollywood stars or maybe one on
00:40:32
and then they would have a comedian on
00:40:33
in case the Hollywood star didn't
00:40:35
deliver I think that was the sort of
00:40:37
safety n was that to also have a
00:40:39
comedian on and now I think Hollywood
00:40:42
stars have become so media trained that
00:40:46
they're always going to give you good
00:40:48
value these days so they don't really
00:40:49
need the com to backup anymore so so so
00:40:54
I've kind of been benched you go the the
00:40:57
clip I watched in anticipation of you
00:40:59
coming today was one um from 2009 um
00:41:02
with Robert Downey Jr one of the biggest
00:41:04
stars in the world um [ __ ] that looked
00:41:06
like hard work he he seemed prickly I
00:41:09
thought he was prickly thank you cuz
00:41:11
it's funny cuz somebody else talk
00:41:12
literally just the other night she was
00:41:14
going oh he seemed to really like you no
00:41:16
you misread that no no no no I mean we
00:41:20
were chatting beforeand he seemed all
00:41:22
right he seemed nice enough and I think
00:41:23
he he probably is but he's I mean he's
00:41:26
someone who's been a famous he's been
00:41:28
famous since he was a teenager right in
00:41:30
fact I I think he was first his first
00:41:32
movie role he was a child um so so
00:41:37
he's these these people are almost not
00:41:39
human I don't mean to dehumanize people
00:41:42
but these people are are odd people and
00:41:46
I remember he uh I remember just making
00:41:49
a joke with him we were talking about
00:41:51
brilliant film he was in called Kiss
00:41:52
Kiss Bang Bang and there's a scene in it
00:41:54
where he kisses V him and valim have a
00:41:55
kiss and uh and I know I knew his wife
00:41:59
produced the film because she produces
00:42:00
nearly all his films and I said was that
00:42:03
actually in the script that you kiss Val
00:42:04
Kilmer or or did your wife did your wife
00:42:07
put it in the film because she just
00:42:08
wanted to see you kiss Vil I thought it
00:42:10
was a funny thing to say he did not
00:42:12
think it was a funny thing to say and he
00:42:15
visibly bristled and he's like my wife
00:42:17
is not a
00:42:19
freak
00:42:20
right I I don't think it would make you
00:42:23
a freak to want to see your husband kiss
00:42:25
Val Kilmer I think that would be aect L
00:42:27
reasonable thing I think my wife would
00:42:30
maybe not now he's a bit aged but I
00:42:32
think back in the day I think my wife
00:42:34
would have gotten off on me and valma
00:42:36
having a SN in front of her well you
00:42:38
seem to um when I'm over on that that
00:42:40
appearance though there's a a joke you
00:42:42
make about uh your friend looking up
00:42:43
stupid in the dictionary and
00:42:45
see yeah I'm not the one who have to
00:42:47
look up stupid in the dictionary yeah
00:42:49
yeah and um he seemed to really like
00:42:51
that you seem to win him over at that
00:42:53
point but um yeah he seemed like hard
00:42:54
work yeah or or just not willing to you
00:42:57
a courtesy laugh when he C but when but
00:42:59
then there was other times on that show
00:43:01
like I was on with Martin Sheen and we
00:43:03
did a we recreated a walking talk style
00:43:05
thing from The West Wing and it was just
00:43:07
me Martin Gene and Graham Norton just at
00:43:09
a circuit of the studio just having a
00:43:11
conversation just just like the westwing
00:43:13
and that was pretty awesome and then at
00:43:15
the end of the show uh doing a thing
00:43:18
they actually had a car basically I got
00:43:20
to pretend to be Martin Shen's bodyguard
00:43:22
as Jed Bartlett and try and take a
00:43:23
bullet from a paintball and things like
00:43:26
that those kind of moments are that's
00:43:29
crazy yeah they're they they they
00:43:31
moments you're just going to go did I
00:43:33
did I do that yeah you did and there's
00:43:35
footage to prove it yeah that's amazing
00:43:37
well he must really like you Graham
00:43:39
Norton to be on the show that many times
00:43:41
is that an Irish thing or no it's his
00:43:43
Booker his Booker actually I think it
00:43:45
was an Italian woman but she was fond
00:43:47
yeah do you with those things you get
00:43:50
nervous beforehand backstage or yeah and
00:43:53
nerves are good you if you get if you
00:43:56
don't you need to have some if you don't
00:43:58
have any you can be too complacent but
00:44:01
but too many is is it can then also be
00:44:05
creatively stifling so it's it's you
00:44:06
need just the the right level of
00:44:08
butterflies I think to to deliver yeah
00:44:10
just that nervous Edge oh um yeah other
00:44:13
TV appearances the chase you're on the
00:44:15
chase that's so funny being in New
00:44:17
Zealand you guys are obsessed with the
00:44:19
chase my God back home when I do
00:44:21
interviews nobody mentions the chase
00:44:23
nobody gives a monkeys but it's like
00:44:26
nearly every interview I do here it's
00:44:29
you mention the I'm going to put that on
00:44:30
my bingo card
00:44:32
now I have a bingo card at home of of
00:44:35
phrases people use terms people use so
00:44:38
this show that I'm touring at the moment
00:44:40
because it's about death it's about my
00:44:41
little brother dying cathartic that's
00:44:44
the quest that's the word people keep
00:44:46
bringing up so is it cathartic talking
00:44:49
about this and I just in my head I just
00:44:50
take off the mental bingo card but since
00:44:52
I've got New Zealand the chase is the
00:44:54
new Square on the bingo card oh my God
00:44:57
you guys love that show and I love that
00:45:00
show I genuinely love that show the the
00:45:03
the dark destroyer um sea Wallace one of
00:45:05
the one of the Chasers he it seems like
00:45:07
he comes over here like once a month to
00:45:09
host some quiz nights and things okay
00:45:11
he's a massive star here well I cuz I'm
00:45:13
I'm very good M with Paul sinner because
00:45:15
obviously he's a stand the cin he's a
00:45:17
he's a a standup you know as well so I
00:45:20
know him and I and I've come to know
00:45:22
Jenny Ryan who she the Vixen she does a
00:45:27
podcast with a very good friend of mine
00:45:28
called Lucy Porter who's a standup comic
00:45:30
who's and also a king quizzer H so they
00:45:32
do a podcast together called fingers on
00:45:34
buzzers and and and Jenny's actually
00:45:37
going out with another guy now called
00:45:38
Tom Tuk who's a comic so I know her as
00:45:40
well so I've gotten and then when I was
00:45:41
in Australia I got to meet some of the
00:45:43
Australian uh Chasers uh The Smiling
00:45:46
assassin uh Maria Legends Mar yeah she
00:45:50
came to the show we don't we don't care
00:45:53
about the Australian on no no if the
00:45:54
Australian one's on it's like nah n n we
00:45:57
need Bradley we need we need the barones
00:46:00
we need the dark destroyer why isn't
00:46:02
there a kiwi version shouldn't there be
00:46:04
I don't think there's one smart enough
00:46:06
oh no let me host the Kiwi version of
00:46:09
the chase that would be good that would
00:46:11
be awesome but you you did really well
00:46:13
so it's money for charity but you you
00:46:15
got I ra it for Scottish Mountain Rescue
00:46:17
yeah yeah and uh I actually did it twice
00:46:20
the first time I did it we we did not
00:46:21
win the first time I did it I I I went
00:46:24
for the high offer and it was something
00:46:25
like 160 Grand it was the most most
00:46:27
anyone had won to bring back to the
00:46:30
table at at the time it was a record uh
00:46:33
but then it was just me and the darts
00:46:34
player Eric Bristo and we did not beat
00:46:36
the Chaser Eric Bristo Lord have mercy
00:46:40
on him now now sadly dead not a quizzer
00:46:44
excellent arts player not a he buzzed in
00:46:47
on a he buzzed in on a bloody golf
00:46:50
question and then stood there blinking
00:46:53
and I'm and I'm lit you can see it if
00:46:54
you watch it back I'm there next to him
00:46:56
I'm going just say pass just
00:47:00
pass because I'm insanely competitive
00:47:03
and it it's and it's still haunts me one
00:47:06
of the question was who which one of the
00:47:08
Beatles wrote Here Comes the Sun and of
00:47:10
course it was George Harrison and I said
00:47:12
Paul McCartney and I still wake up in a
00:47:14
cold sweat and smack myself in the face
00:47:17
what of course that wasn't Paul
00:47:18
McCartney you tulle um but the second
00:47:22
time I did it there was yeah there was
00:47:23
four of us and we all got through and
00:47:26
and it was it was a group effort yeah we
00:47:28
we Tred home with the money so I was
00:47:30
yeah that felt like slaying a dragon I
00:47:32
was delighted with that how good how
00:47:33
good to to go on that show and not
00:47:35
embarrass yourself I think that's uh
00:47:37
that's a really cool thing it's easy to
00:47:39
look go on that show and look like an
00:47:40
idiot it is and and and naen Daris did
00:47:44
that when I was there the first time the
00:47:46
woman who went on to be culture
00:47:47
secretary uh a conservative politician
00:47:51
she she went to go for the mid she went
00:47:53
to go for the low offer and the audience
00:47:55
booed her so she went for the middle of
00:47:58
her cuz that's what a Weather Vein She
00:47:59
was That's How afraid that's how swayed
00:48:01
by criticism she was and then she got
00:48:04
then she got caught and couldn't even
00:48:06
yeah
00:48:08
so uh and then went on to prove
00:48:11
herself an incredibly poor
00:48:14
politician as poor a politician as she
00:48:16
was a quiz show contestant sh these are
00:48:18
good memories hey what a career yeah
00:48:21
what a career um and now you're doing
00:48:23
this this the show which you're in New
00:48:24
Zealand for um tragedy plus time which
00:48:27
um must be how old are you what are you
00:48:29
now 5 51 52 52 yeah it must be immensely
00:48:33
satisfying at this um age age in life
00:48:36
and stage in your career to do something
00:48:37
so different yeah do you know what it
00:48:40
really is it's and it's completely
00:48:42
different to any show I've done before
00:48:44
and I I'm going to admit I do read
00:48:48
reviews and I do sometimes I'll read a
00:48:51
bad one and I'll go that's fair enough
00:48:54
and sometimes I'll read a bad one I'll
00:48:55
go no that's actually being mean
00:48:57
uh or and some go well that's you it
00:49:00
wasn't for you like sometimes you got a
00:49:02
bad like I I you know the last couple of
00:49:05
shows I've done have focused a lot
00:49:07
onstead of being a dad and that and you
00:49:10
know I I get it if you're a 20
00:49:13
two-year-old girl who doesn't have kids
00:49:16
you're not really going to want to hear
00:49:17
what some middle-aged guy has to say
00:49:19
about being a dad and I get that but if
00:49:21
you're a reviewer you I you kind of need
00:49:24
to park that and go it's not for me
00:49:27
but the audience seemed to enjoy it yeah
00:49:29
100% yeah but I I got a few where it was
00:49:31
like you know two star reviews because
00:49:33
the person reviewing was like you know
00:49:35
it because it didn't J with them Omar
00:49:38
syndrome yeah exactly thank you that's
00:49:40
what we'll call it yeah so whereas this
00:49:43
show you know has been incredibly well
00:49:47
received critically and the feedback
00:49:50
from the audience has been nothing like
00:49:52
I've ever had in my life um you that
00:49:56
it's
00:49:57
I feel like an arst saying using so but
00:50:00
it seem it touches people this show you
00:50:03
know and sometimes you get people coming
00:50:05
along I was just in Melbourne a few
00:50:07
months ago there was two women in the
00:50:09
front row both of them had lost their
00:50:12
brothers in the last
00:50:13
year didn't know what the show was going
00:50:15
to be about came along to cheer
00:50:17
themselves up and then it turns out to
00:50:19
be a show about me losing my brother and
00:50:22
they just thought it was the best thing
00:50:24
they' ever seen they all they wanted to
00:50:25
hug afterward we had a group hug
00:50:27
afterwards you know that sort of you
00:50:29
know I had a guy came along saw the show
00:50:31
at The edenor Fringe again didn't know
00:50:33
what it was going to be about he lost
00:50:35
his brother to co very early on in the
00:50:37
pandemic and he said to me he was there
00:50:39
with his wife and he said I actually
00:50:42
feel that my wife now understands me
00:50:44
better than she did before like watching
00:50:47
that show has made my wife understand me
00:50:50
better and his wife just nods at me and
00:50:52
it's like I've never had any ambition to
00:50:56
be any anything other than just funny
00:50:58
just do a show that'll just make you
00:50:59
laugh so to have ended up writing a show
00:51:02
that has had this sort of bonus impact
00:51:06
for people has been incredibly
00:51:09
gratifying yeah well it I mean it's so
00:51:11
powerful I suppose like you have this um
00:51:14
this Talent OR ability to um articulate
00:51:17
things the way that most people don't so
00:51:19
it's uh I suppose anyone that's had a
00:51:20
similar sort of experience they're like
00:51:22
yes that's exactly how I feel I just
00:51:23
haven't been able to you know H the nail
00:51:25
on the head well it's CU I guess I mean
00:51:27
all the things I've ever done it's been
00:51:30
like that like even when you do like a
00:51:32
joke about an argument with your wife or
00:51:34
an argument with your girlfriend or
00:51:35
something like that it's kind of a group
00:51:38
therapy thing and that everybody in the
00:51:40
audience both both the men and their
00:51:43
wives and girl everyone's like oh yeah
00:51:44
well we do this you know what I mean
00:51:46
it's kind of a it is a sort of sometimes
00:51:49
the laugh comes from the fact
00:51:52
that we we were all getting we we feel
00:51:55
we're in agreement you know what I mean
00:51:56
was like you you you you're picking on a
00:51:59
on on a minute observation about how
00:52:01
people behave in relationships as as a
00:52:03
for instance and it's very uh
00:52:05
therapeutic for everyone because people
00:52:07
I thought that was just me I thought I I
00:52:09
thought I was the only one who felt this
00:52:11
way and so that is sort of mildly
00:52:14
therapeutic for everybody and that's
00:52:16
kind of why you're all laughing because
00:52:17
yeah we do do that is kind of what that
00:52:20
comes from but then when you take a more
00:52:22
serious subject like how we deal with
00:52:24
death or or how we argue with our
00:52:26
siblings like you will never have an
00:52:28
argument with anyone like you'll have an
00:52:30
argument with somebody you grew up with
00:52:34
you know and I do talk about that about
00:52:36
arguments me and my my little brother
00:52:37
had and and and people just relate to
00:52:41
that sort of thing on on on quite a deep
00:52:43
level and uh so yeah it has been it's it
00:52:46
has been therapeutic and even if even
00:52:48
people come I mean most people are
00:52:49
coming to the show have not experienced
00:52:51
this level of loss people you know have
00:52:53
lost parents and grandparents stuff like
00:52:54
that most people don't my age don't lose
00:52:57
a sibling you know you're not it's it's
00:52:59
not usually part of the plan yeah uh and
00:53:02
you don't need to have but people still
00:53:04
relate to the whole thing of the
00:53:07
competitiveness and sibling rivalry and
00:53:09
and the and the volatile you know
00:53:11
relationships we did we all tend to have
00:53:13
with with the people who we are
00:53:15
essentially closest to yeah so so what's
00:53:18
the back story so your your younger
00:53:19
brother Paul he died um age 44 on the
00:53:21
12th of February 2022 it was actually
00:53:24
yeah it was 11 but it was it was it I
00:53:26
guess the news was only announced on the
00:53:28
12th yeah right so was liver
00:53:29
complications mixed with a bit of Co
00:53:31
yeah yeah yeah he he had liver failure
00:53:34
he had been clean and sober for 15 years
00:53:37
uh and then he got dumped basically
00:53:39
during the second lockdown we were
00:53:41
during our second lock down he got
00:53:43
dumped um and he just yeah he just like
00:53:48
a lot of people did turn back to the
00:53:49
bottle in that second lockdown he just
00:53:51
went back to just I think he just
00:53:53
thoughted he' get away with us I think
00:53:55
that was the thing
00:53:57
I I think what what happened with him so
00:53:59
he he he was a drinker and then he drank
00:54:03
himself in the hospital once and he
00:54:05
wasn't like an
00:54:06
inveterate like or what we would say a
00:54:09
depressive alcoholic I guess he was just
00:54:10
a party guy he just drank a lot and he
00:54:13
drank himself in the hospital they said
00:54:16
to him you can't drink anymore and he
00:54:17
stopped and then five years after that
00:54:18
he got hudkins
00:54:20
lyoma and they said to him it's lucky
00:54:24
you gave up the drink cuz we can see the
00:54:26
liver has regenerated enough so we can
00:54:29
hit you with the heavyduty chemo and I
00:54:32
think that that had a part that a the
00:54:35
chemo for the cancer wouldn't put
00:54:37
another hurting on the liver but the
00:54:38
liver is a very powerful regenerative
00:54:41
organ it does recover and I think part
00:54:44
of him when he went back to the bottle
00:54:46
just for that stint after he broke up
00:54:48
with that girl that he just thought I'll
00:54:51
be fine I can do it for this long and
00:54:54
then the liver will recover but it
00:54:56
didn't and I think that was just it he
00:54:59
was one of those people who just always
00:55:00
thought he was going to be okay yeah but
00:55:02
just like an optimist yeah yeah I think
00:55:05
he just thought everything Luck of the
00:55:06
Irish Lu the Irish um you guys um yeah
00:55:11
you guys didn't talk for uh 12 of his
00:55:13
last 16 months of his yeah was what what
00:55:17
was it was just a stupid argument I was
00:55:18
just like nothing it was yeah but that's
00:55:21
just it it's but that's always the way
00:55:22
isn't it we're siblings we just I mean
00:55:24
and I tell I go into this in in in great
00:55:26
detail in the show of how what how the
00:55:28
argument happened I was helping to move
00:55:30
house and we just ended up having a
00:55:31
stupid argument over the satav it was
00:55:33
just a DA argument that escalated and
00:55:36
like always happens with siblings it
00:55:38
doesn't it stops being about the thing
00:55:39
you're arguing about and becomes about
00:55:41
every problem you've ever had with the
00:55:42
person and we just went each other in a
00:55:44
way that just only siblings can exactly
00:55:48
and to me it was like I was doing I
00:55:50
can't believe I was doing him a favor
00:55:52
and we still ended up having an argument
00:55:53
yeah and he was probably like I can't
00:55:56
believe I'm in this much trouble that I
00:55:59
have to and he still we still had an
00:56:02
argument you know what I mean that would
00:56:03
have been where it's hard to see it from
00:56:05
the other person's perspective yeah and
00:56:07
that is one of my most it's one of my
00:56:09
favorite bits of the whole show it's the
00:56:10
one I find most satisfying to do and I
00:56:12
think it's the one bit of the show that
00:56:14
where he's still alive he would get the
00:56:16
biggest kick out of it's because at the
00:56:18
time I completely thought he was 100%
00:56:21
wrong and I was 100% right and the more
00:56:23
I replay the situation in my head the
00:56:26
more I realize my role in it and in
00:56:28
trying to make it funny I I very much
00:56:31
play up my role in that argument and and
00:56:34
I and I'm very self-deprecating about
00:56:36
what happened that day and it's it's
00:56:38
something that audiences very much
00:56:41
relate to and I find that one of the
00:56:44
most satisfying things to do in the show
00:56:46
uh but yeah we didn't we didn't speak
00:56:49
for that but we did reconcile and and
00:56:52
then and the reconciliation that we had
00:56:54
is something I also share with the
00:56:55
audience and that's one of the
00:56:56
highlights of the show as well yeah did
00:56:58
the the reconciliation happen um just
00:57:01
because he was unwell it wasn't that he
00:57:03
because it was more because he would had
00:57:05
he'd broken up with a girlfriend and
00:57:06
stuff like that and I knew yes he'd
00:57:08
gotten sick but it wasn't it wasn't the
00:57:09
case of I I didn't think then he was
00:57:10
going to die I I thought he was going to
00:57:12
be all right uh he hadn't gotten really
00:57:14
sick at this point he'd gotten sick but
00:57:17
I I yeah it wasn't like we better
00:57:20
reconcile before we lose him it was just
00:57:22
we better reconcile cuz we're brothers
00:57:24
and this is stupid now yeah it's funny
00:57:25
though when you're siblings um and you
00:57:27
think you've got another 30 40 whatever
00:57:30
years left not speaking for a year is no
00:57:32
big deal you know you'll patch things up
00:57:34
eventually yeah exactly I think it's
00:57:36
probably what it's like oaklander going
00:57:37
up the sky tower it's like it'll always
00:57:40
be there I'll do I'll do it
00:57:41
eventually and then one day it falls
00:57:43
over and you go I never went up it um
00:57:48
yeah can you remember your your last
00:57:49
conversation was it anything poignant or
00:57:51
yeah no I do I abs and again and I talk
00:57:53
about it in the show we our last face to
00:57:55
face conversation was in the hospital
00:57:57
canteen and it was just it was it was
00:57:59
actually very sweet it was just laughing
00:58:01
and joking about movies and music and uh
00:58:05
and uh but we we talked we talked about
00:58:09
my ADHD which I hadn't been diagnosed
00:58:11
with yet but it was yet to be we talked
00:58:14
about that and and yeah and again that's
00:58:17
that's all part of the show but I yes I
00:58:18
still remember the last time I saw him
00:58:20
in the flesh it was him just I offered
00:58:23
to give him a lift home he was checking
00:58:24
out of the hospital
00:58:26
to go back to his flash uh CU he was he
00:58:30
was he was fine
00:58:31
and and I was I I I wanted to give him a
00:58:34
lift home and he said no it's fine I'll
00:58:36
just get an Uber and and and I I don't
00:58:39
know I wish I I wish he'd at least let
00:58:40
let me give him a lift home that
00:58:42
day yeah but then the SAT n and yeah who
00:58:46
knows what would end up happening so um
00:58:49
[ __ ] it's um yeah where are the where
00:58:52
are the jokes in the show are they just
00:58:53
sort of like pe oh mate it's honestly
00:58:56
it's I'm not just saying it it's a
00:58:58
really funny show yeah the review speak
00:59:00
for itself yeah it's and I've been very
00:59:03
keen and as I say he was a comedy writer
00:59:05
and a comedy director he worked with
00:59:06
comedians his thing was helping
00:59:07
comedians take the bad things in their
00:59:11
life and turn them into comedy that's
00:59:13
it's funny that that's then he never
00:59:15
directed me but he's now the bad thing
00:59:18
in my life that I've turned into comedy
00:59:20
and his thing I and I spoke to a number
00:59:23
of his clients uh Sarah keyworth would
00:59:26
be one in particular who said you know
00:59:29
his thing was you can be as serious and
00:59:31
as heartfelt as you want but there has
00:59:34
to be a joke it has to be in service of
00:59:37
a joke you can't just say something to
00:59:39
show how sad you are or how damaged You
00:59:42
Are by this event and then just let it
00:59:44
hang you've it's there's got to be a
00:59:46
joke and I've made sure that that's how
00:59:48
the show is it's it's it's very joke
00:59:52
heavy and some of the jokes are maybe a
00:59:55
bit hard to to take some of the jokes
00:59:57
but you know they do make people go ooh
00:59:58
and they make people recoil but I quite
01:00:01
kind of enjoy it cuz here's the
01:00:03
thing there's a lot of stuff in comedy
01:00:06
now about what you can and can't say and
01:00:07
all that and there's a lot of thing
01:00:08
about trying to push audiences and and
01:00:11
and doing jokes that are in inverted com
01:00:13
as offensive or dark or whatever but
01:00:16
what I do quite like about the show is
01:00:18
that it's very much about me and what
01:00:19
happened to me well obviously what
01:00:21
happened to my brother but my brother
01:00:22
dying is what happened to me he's dead
01:00:24
he doesn't give a [ __ ] anymore right
01:00:25
he's his death he's the one person we
01:00:28
absolutely know his death does not
01:00:29
bother right he's gone it bothers me and
01:00:32
if I want to make a lightharted or a
01:00:34
dark joke about what happened I then I
01:00:37
will if you're offended by that that is
01:00:39
absolutely your fault it's not like I'm
01:00:41
making a joke about somebody else's
01:00:43
disability or somebody else's learning
01:00:46
difficulty or somebody else's weight
01:00:48
problem or somebody's reg or ethnicity
01:00:51
I'm not doing any of I'm not touching
01:00:52
any of those subjects I'm talking about
01:00:54
something that happened to me
01:00:56
and if you don't like how I am dealing
01:01:00
with my [ __ ] that's on you you know I I
01:01:05
I think it's absolutely fair enough for
01:01:07
people to get offended and for people to
01:01:09
feel that comedians have have have
01:01:11
crossed a line in their material when it
01:01:14
comes to being about General stuff be it
01:01:17
political be it personal whatever it is
01:01:19
I I am not someone who thinks comedians
01:01:22
should be allowed to say whatever we
01:01:24
want with impunity I think com medians
01:01:26
have a responsibility to you know to not
01:01:29
Foster certain opinions or not not
01:01:32
Foster certain attitudes shall we say uh
01:01:35
but but when it comes to what I'm doing
01:01:38
about this you you you as far as I in my
01:01:41
head I'm you can't touch I'm untouchable
01:01:44
you can't have a go at me if you have a
01:01:46
problem because oh well actually I lost
01:01:48
my brother and I found it offensive that
01:01:50
he did the job I don't give a [ __ ] I
01:01:52
lost my brother and this is how I'm
01:01:53
dealing with this and if you don't like
01:01:55
the jokes I'm doing about that is
01:01:56
absolutely fine with me as as opposed to
01:01:58
you know other times I may have done
01:02:00
jokes where people have G well I didn't
01:02:01
like that because you know of of
01:02:04
something happen that I can understand
01:02:06
that that I can you know I can get over
01:02:09
but with with this it's I I I feel
01:02:12
almost bulletproof in
01:02:15
that you canot like us but I'm sorry you
01:02:18
don't get criticized you're not going to
01:02:20
be this is how I'm dealing with it
01:02:21
you're not going to be cancelled on this
01:02:23
hell yeah um also I think
01:02:26
I don't know I'm probably speaking on
01:02:27
just on my own behalf here but uh like
01:02:30
when when you die you don't want to be
01:02:32
forgotten do you and you keeping his
01:02:34
memory alive oh yeah and 100% And when I
01:02:37
first started doing the show it was very
01:02:39
difficult I was crying every time were
01:02:41
you yeah yeah and and different aspects
01:02:45
of the show would grab me on different
01:02:47
nights
01:02:49
and uh and I did think early on I may
01:02:53
have made a mistake here cuz I got to
01:02:55
I've got a tour booked in I've got to do
01:02:57
this
01:02:58
repeatedly uh but then very quickly I
01:03:00
found it very therapeutic and I found it
01:03:01
really nice and people were coming to
01:03:03
the show who didn't know who Paul was
01:03:04
and are going away knowing who he was
01:03:06
and it's absolutely that it's it is
01:03:08
keeping his memory alive and then for
01:03:10
people who did know him it's even more
01:03:12
gratifying like I one of the nicest
01:03:13
comments I had was I think only on the
01:03:16
second night of the show well you know
01:03:18
you bear in mind even though I've been
01:03:19
doing comedy a long time I've never done
01:03:21
a show like this and when I first
01:03:23
started doing it I really didn't know if
01:03:24
I was doing it right I didn't hire a
01:03:26
director I I was just doing it myself
01:03:29
and I didn't know how well it was going
01:03:32
to go or whether it was going to work
01:03:34
and so the fact that it did was great
01:03:36
and so any kind of feedback I had that
01:03:38
was positive was very important to me
01:03:40
and people I had a couple come up to me
01:03:42
after the show who had worked with Paul
01:03:44
and they said we loved it it was like
01:03:46
getting to spend another hour in his
01:03:49
company yeah that which is like is yeah
01:03:53
yeah je yeah yeah good
01:03:56
yeah I found a photo of him online um
01:03:58
eating what looks like yeah that photo
01:04:00
was in the show funny enough yeah so who
01:04:02
who is Paul that's do you know what's
01:04:04
funny about that show because Larry Dean
01:04:07
who's one of Paul's clients a Scottish
01:04:10
comic and he came to the show ear and he
01:04:12
he took this Photograph I didn't even
01:04:14
know Larry had taken this Photograph so
01:04:16
Larry was really when that photograph
01:04:17
comes up in the
01:04:19
show quite a moment yeah yeah so yes so
01:04:22
who wants the like a 5year age G yeah
01:04:25
yeah so you
01:04:26
weren't when you were young young yeah
01:04:29
we weren't close until we were old it's
01:04:31
funny like when I was 18 he was 13 yeah
01:04:34
it's a big age you're almost like an
01:04:35
uncle yeah you show me an 18-year-old
01:04:38
that wants to hang out with a
01:04:39
13-year-old I'll show you an 18-year-old
01:04:40
that needs to be on a list you know so
01:04:44
he was more someone who you know
01:04:46
annoying little brother yeah exactly uh
01:04:49
and then I left home to go to college
01:04:50
when I was 18 and it wasn't really until
01:04:53
you know I was in my late 20s and he and
01:04:55
his mid
01:04:56
that we we really started to get
01:04:58
on um and then then he he actually moved
01:05:03
to London I I I I it was it was my idea
01:05:07
I think I was home for Christmas and I
01:05:08
just in in would have been 200
01:05:13
three yeah it would have been Christmas
01:05:15
2003 I was home and I just said you
01:05:18
should move to London and you should
01:05:19
move in with me and he did and uh and
01:05:24
then not long after that my now wife
01:05:26
then girlfriend like I wanted to move
01:05:28
her in and so I had to move him out but
01:05:30
I I sort of came to him and said look I
01:05:32
really feel like I brought you over to
01:05:33
London and then I I'm kicking out so I I
01:05:36
paid his rent because I seemed it seemed
01:05:38
fair you know I didn't want to live with
01:05:40
my brother and my girlfriend but so uh I
01:05:44
brought him to London and he first the
01:05:47
first comedian he worked with was was a
01:05:48
good friend of mine Australian comic
01:05:49
called Brendan Burns and another again
01:05:51
friend of mine called Andrew Maxwell so
01:05:53
he yes I was his introduction to the
01:05:56
industry and his introduction to the
01:05:58
first his first two clients but after
01:06:00
that he completely he he you know forged
01:06:03
his own path and was working with people
01:06:05
I didn't even know you know well barely
01:06:07
knew like as say sward V rooshan ConEd
01:06:10
all these people so he
01:06:12
absolutely yeah there was no no help
01:06:14
from me yeah do you do you do you feel
01:06:16
exhausted after doing the show now or
01:06:18
does it depend on the audience bit more
01:06:19
out of me than previous shows yeah
01:06:21
certainly and there been the odd
01:06:23
occasion where you know show might sell
01:06:26
out and my manager will go oh do you
01:06:28
want to do two shows that night I'm like
01:06:30
[ __ ] I can't do it twice
01:06:33
yeah apparently that's age in my in my
01:06:37
20s it was easy you know I could do a
01:06:40
show I could get drunk and do a show
01:06:41
that's another thing I can't do I can't
01:06:42
do a show drunk anymore I used to be in
01:06:45
the 20s I was made of rubber and steel
01:06:48
you know and I could get I could meet
01:06:51
people in the afternoon get hammered
01:06:53
with them do an hour of Comedy no bother
01:06:56
did it sell out do another hour on top
01:06:57
of that and then go and do some late
01:06:59
night you know 10 minute slots as well
01:07:02
on top of that for just for fun not
01:07:04
anymore aging hey it's in my 20s I could
01:07:07
spend the whole weekend just getting
01:07:08
pissed and eating McDonald's now it's
01:07:11
like if f a day without the Magnesium
01:07:13
I'm it's terrible um yeah I've heard you
01:07:18
say the bit of the audience the more
01:07:19
emotional I
01:07:21
get that's a weird thing yeah what what
01:07:23
um what do you mean the better the
01:07:24
audience in that even from the early
01:07:27
stages of the show like because the show
01:07:28
starts off I talk about a minor tragedy
01:07:31
to to as a as a sort of CounterPoint and
01:07:34
and how I was making jokes about that
01:07:36
minor Char was M car getting broken into
01:07:38
and how the very next night I was on
01:07:39
stage making jokes about it so I I
01:07:41
started off just doing you know just
01:07:43
light-hearted observational humor as it
01:07:45
were and if people aren't laughing then
01:07:49
big you know the more people are
01:07:50
laughing then the more then when we get
01:07:52
into the more serious stuff the more
01:07:54
serious stuff the more serious I can let
01:07:56
the serious stuff be you know the ideal
01:07:59
audience laughs a lot of the funny stuff
01:08:01
and then you know really gets involved
01:08:03
with the serious stuff but if people
01:08:04
aren't really
01:08:06
laughing the show Works in general but
01:08:09
if people aren't really laughing at the
01:08:10
stuff that's just funny then you're kind
01:08:12
of like okay right well it's going to be
01:08:15
a long because in a couple of minutes
01:08:16
we're going to I'm going to tell you
01:08:17
something that's not actually not going
01:08:18
to make you laugh and then it's going to
01:08:20
be [ __ ] if you don't laugh at that bit
01:08:22
that's going to be a full two minutes
01:08:24
between laughs that's not you know what
01:08:26
I mean like there's there's certain
01:08:28
laughs that are there to punctuate I
01:08:29
don't like to go too long without a
01:08:31
laugh doesn't matter how serious the
01:08:32
story is there's got to be a laugh but
01:08:34
if then people don't laugh at this joke
01:08:35
here or this that joke there then I find
01:08:40
myself cutting the serious stuff down I
01:08:43
find myself making the poignant stuff
01:08:45
less poignant because I'm I'm I'm just
01:08:48
more aware in my head of how long we've
01:08:51
gone without a belly
01:08:53
laugh oh I guess something you think
01:08:56
about right yeah yeah I'm a big fan of
01:08:58
David Chapelle he he sometimes he he
01:09:00
tell a story that's very a long time
01:09:02
between laughs yeah yeah yeah and I yes
01:09:06
I don't have that confidence right it's
01:09:08
as simple as that I don't have that
01:09:10
confidence to go that long and I am not
01:09:12
Dave Chappelle it's as simple as that
01:09:13
Dave Chappelle en enjoys a hero worship
01:09:17
from his audience that I cannot count on
01:09:21
I don't Dave Chappelle yeah he can go
01:09:23
five minutes and just talking from the
01:09:26
heart and then have a punch line
01:09:28
eventually I I I don't I don't feel I
01:09:31
can do that yeah so I and I'm just more
01:09:33
aware that if if I do a joke and it only
01:09:36
gets a bit of a titter where it where
01:09:38
I'm normally expecting a decent laugh
01:09:40
then I I get inside my head and go okay
01:09:43
I'm going to have to I'm going to have
01:09:44
to shorten this next story now to get to
01:09:46
the next laugh oh you're editing on the
01:09:49
go yeah yeah that's experience mhm and
01:09:52
the show and and we depending on how the
01:09:54
audience can be the show be anywhere
01:09:56
between an hour to an hour and a half
01:09:57
long right for that very reason oh
01:10:00
that's so cool what what um you what
01:10:03
about what lessons with um grief like
01:10:05
what have you learned through this whole
01:10:06
experience that could help
01:10:08
others well I suppose the one thing they
01:10:11
would immediately spring to mind is um
01:10:13
you know if if you're if you're not
01:10:15
speaking with someone [ __ ] fix it
01:10:16
because you don't know well I do and
01:10:18
that is the that is the overall message
01:10:19
of the show but the thing is you
01:10:22
can't I I I do try and say this only if
01:10:25
it's not completely unforgivable only
01:10:28
it's only if it's in as it was in the
01:10:29
case of me and my brother just to do
01:10:31
with that stupid argument on a pattern
01:10:32
of behavior and and stubborn pride and
01:10:35
all that sort of thing that's the sort
01:10:37
of [ __ ] you can't let get in the way of
01:10:38
your friendship if somebody's done
01:10:40
something unforgivable or somebody is
01:10:42
constantly horrible to you it is okay to
01:10:46
[ __ ] them off you know what I mean and I
01:10:48
don't feel that you so I you you can't
01:10:51
go through life treating everybody as if
01:10:54
they die tomorrow and what the regret
01:10:57
you'll have you you can't be a doormat
01:11:00
in that way where you let people treat
01:11:02
I'm saying it's only in the in the case
01:11:04
of you know do you really in your heart
01:11:07
love this person then yeah then you've
01:11:09
got to let that [ __ ] go yeah I suppose
01:11:11
if that if if they happen to die and
01:11:13
you're going to feel guilty about it
01:11:14
then um yeah patch it for your own sake
01:11:16
as much as anything else and and and
01:11:19
yeah and try and I've said this to other
01:11:21
people
01:11:22
like reach out like I've had a bunch of
01:11:24
friends I have come who I have spoken to
01:11:27
about this sort of stuff since they've
01:11:28
been to see the show if you reach out
01:11:31
and they knock it back you'll at least
01:11:34
when they do eventually die which they
01:11:36
will we all will eventually die you you
01:11:38
won't feel as bad because that is the
01:11:41
thing about Paul is that I am I did
01:11:45
there's a podcast called griefcast which
01:11:46
is done by a comedian called carad Lloyd
01:11:49
and I did that show about 3 months after
01:11:51
Paul died which was probably a little
01:11:53
soon and one thing I said to her that
01:11:55
was quite interesting as I was saying it
01:11:58
uh is that my older brother Stephen I've
01:12:00
always been closer to there's a
01:12:01
three-year age Gap and you know he has a
01:12:04
he has a daughter the same age as my son
01:12:06
and we just do more stuff together and
01:12:08
our relationship is uncomplicated and we
01:12:11
he to die I'm closer to him but where he
01:12:15
to die I would just be sad and I feel
01:12:19
like that would be easier to deal with
01:12:21
than all the stuff that's unsaid and the
01:12:24
regret about arguments that I have with
01:12:26
Paul you know like guilt is it guilt you
01:12:29
carry not even so much guilt but just
01:12:31
sort of just missing the relationship
01:12:33
that we never even had you know wishing
01:12:36
we'd had a better friendship and a
01:12:37
better relationship missing the
01:12:38
Friendship we did have but kind of
01:12:41
wishing we could have improved so
01:12:42
there's a lot of regret that goes along
01:12:44
with it whereas when Stephen if Steven
01:12:46
were to die tomorrow it would just be I
01:12:49
would just miss him but there wouldn't
01:12:51
be any complication with it so it's
01:12:54
what's weird is that the more
01:12:56
complicated relationship you have with
01:12:58
somebody the the worse you'll feel when
01:13:01
they die it's a it's a really weird
01:13:03
thing if you just love somebody and and
01:13:06
and just and just miss them I genuinely
01:13:09
think that's easier to deal with just
01:13:12
cuz it's less complicated yeah yeah have
01:13:16
you have you always been good at um like
01:13:18
talking about difficult stuff like this
01:13:20
and expressing your your feelings in a
01:13:23
deep and vulnerable way just be on the
01:13:24
surface level of a laugh I not with not
01:13:27
not not in comedy I don't think I in
01:13:29
comedy I've always just gone for the
01:13:31
easier laugh or the I'm not saying low
01:13:33
hanging fruit but I I it's never been as
01:13:36
say a an ambition or an aspiration to to
01:13:40
tackle yeah these kinds of difficult
01:13:43
subjects sometimes I I'll have an idea
01:13:45
I'll have a notion of something I want
01:13:46
to talk about I'll have a an opinion
01:13:48
could be political that I want to
01:13:49
express and trying to find a way to make
01:13:51
that funny is is is is tricky but uh no
01:13:55
I've never really through comedy dealt
01:14:01
with something as weighty as this before
01:14:02
well what about in what about in your
01:14:04
your actual life are you you quite what
01:14:06
what Irish what are Irish men like are
01:14:08
you quite good I
01:14:10
I there's a
01:14:12
general a generalization about Irish
01:14:15
people that really applies but I no I I
01:14:18
I I think I'm I'm pretty good at at at
01:14:21
talking about stuff and I yeah and I
01:14:25
maybe it's I'm I'm not as good a
01:14:27
listener as I like
01:14:29
think oh no it's it's um it's a
01:14:31
conversation I have with a lot of the
01:14:32
guests on the podcast CU I think like
01:14:34
New Zealand guys we are notoriously bad
01:14:36
like we're so good at bottling things up
01:14:38
or not not even troubling our loved ones
01:14:40
with um you know serious stuff that's
01:14:42
going on with their lives no I I think I
01:14:45
am I think I'm pretty I think I'm too
01:14:47
open sometimes yeah I think your wife's
01:14:51
like God I wish he wasn't so vulnerable
01:14:53
all the time no like I remember before I
01:14:56
met my wife I was going out with a girl
01:14:59
and it was not a great relationship it
01:15:01
was terrible but I remember doing and
01:15:04
then a play with this guy who I knew
01:15:06
didn't even know that well I I I knew
01:15:07
him but we we were doing a play together
01:15:10
and we hadn't seen each other a long
01:15:11
time and he says so what are you up to
01:15:15
uh what's your girlfriend like and I
01:15:16
described my situation and his I I feel
01:15:20
like I just unloaded on this guy who I
01:15:22
hadn't seen in a long time and his
01:15:23
taking after everything I said was
01:15:25
why are you still going out with her
01:15:26
then that was oh [ __ ] yeah maybe you're
01:15:30
right there and I didn't realize just
01:15:32
how much I'd come out with until I came
01:15:34
out with it about what the relationship
01:15:37
I was in how unhappy it was when I was
01:15:40
just it was one of those things like you
01:15:42
know do you ever ask somebody how are
01:15:44
you and then they actually tell
01:15:46
you the New Zealand the new like yeah n
01:15:50
all good yeah yeah I think I am guilty
01:15:53
of of of if somebody who did not want to
01:15:56
know how I actually am and yeah I would
01:15:59
then tell them how I actually am well
01:16:01
that's I think that's a really good
01:16:02
thing a real powerful thing to be uh to
01:16:03
be guilty of um and your mental health
01:16:06
that's most been
01:16:08
good yeah by and large I think so I
01:16:11
think raking over the Cs of the darkest
01:16:13
moment in my life five nights a week all
01:16:17
year has probably not been very helpful
01:16:19
I I think this is the longest I've gone
01:16:21
without doing the show since I first
01:16:23
wrote it I haven't done it in over a
01:16:25
week now cuz yeah had I took a holiday
01:16:28
and and it's actually been nice to park
01:16:32
it for a bit Yeah so do you think you
01:16:34
you'll do the cycle of the show and then
01:16:36
it's that's it it's done buried Away In
01:16:38
A Box yeah yeah once I record it and
01:16:40
then yeah once I finish I I
01:16:42
think I've got I've got gigs up till
01:16:45
April of next year and then there may be
01:16:47
some European dates after that but
01:16:49
certainly by the summer of next year
01:16:50
I'll I'll be I think I'll be I'll be
01:16:53
done with this show yeah oh what a
01:16:55
tribute to your brother um no no no
01:16:57
backlash or reservations from anyone in
01:17:00
the family no no the family have been
01:17:01
good and the family have been very
01:17:03
understanding and the family you know
01:17:04
get it you know this is this this is how
01:17:07
we deal with it this is how we deal with
01:17:09
you the burns this is what do this is
01:17:11
absolutely the the way it's done oh and
01:17:13
does does James Cordon get a mention in
01:17:15
this show he does in this one yeah well
01:17:18
what's what's you have have you got beef
01:17:19
with James cor I don't have beef I
01:17:21
actually don't well one of the themes of
01:17:23
the show is is you might be right but
01:17:26
you might be wrong that's a theme that
01:17:28
runs through the show and I talk about
01:17:30
conspiracy theorists and I talk about uh
01:17:32
you know arguing with siblings and Stu
01:17:34
like that is that you know and no one
01:17:35
ever wants to admit they're wrong but
01:17:36
you might be right but you might be
01:17:38
wrong and one example of that is you
01:17:40
know I met James Cordon once I thought
01:17:42
he was a nice guy I'm clearly wrong you
01:17:46
know well is he not a nice guy
01:17:49
apparently not like I did that joke in
01:17:50
high Wickam and and everyone laughed it
01:17:52
turns out that's where he's from so that
01:17:54
says everything you know no I don't
01:17:56
actually and I again I talk about this
01:17:57
on stage I don't actually have a problem
01:17:59
with James Gordon but it's what he
01:18:00
represents and he's one of those people
01:18:03
who uh I try not to look at what other
01:18:06
people are doing but I sometimes can't
01:18:07
help it and the fact is James Cordon
01:18:09
enjoys a level of privilege I would
01:18:11
quite like that goes along with a level
01:18:12
of Fame I am not prepared to work for
01:18:14
that is my problem with James
01:18:16
Gordon uh and and I do and I go into
01:18:18
greater detail on that yeah uh and it's
01:18:21
to hilarious degree in the show yeah was
01:18:25
yes's he must be at the same age as you
01:18:27
as he s who else were you contemporaries
01:18:29
were you well he was never a
01:18:30
contemporary he was one of those people
01:18:32
who would have you know because he was
01:18:33
never a standup yeah so he no when I was
01:18:36
starting out I mean I'm trying to think
01:18:39
the people who I was starting out with
01:18:41
who went on to be big Julian Barrett of
01:18:43
the mighty Bo he would have been
01:18:45
somebody who would have been uh on my
01:18:47
sort of open mic uh scene um I think
01:18:52
yeah I think of all the people who that
01:18:54
would be an an example of and uh and the
01:18:57
other guy who I used to see a lot when I
01:18:59
was starting out was a guy called Tony
01:19:01
roach who doesn't perform anymore but
01:19:02
he's now he he's one of the writers on
01:19:05
succession and the thick of it and vep
01:19:07
and all that kind of stuff so he's very
01:19:09
successful now um uh but yeah that would
01:19:13
be the my sort of Open Mic
01:19:16
contemporaries they would have been the
01:19:19
the the two that really went on and then
01:19:21
and then sort of just before after me
01:19:23
like Ross Noble we shared flat together
01:19:25
he's uh oh yeah he was a big he was a
01:19:27
big deal here in New Zealand yeah yeah
01:19:29
he's a big he's a massive deal in
01:19:30
Australia he lives in Australia yeah and
01:19:32
he does he does he does he does well in
01:19:34
the UK yeah he used to come here all the
01:19:36
all the time right about the same time
01:19:37
there another Irish guy called Danny boy
01:19:38
who was massive here a a Scottish guy
01:19:40
Danny boy yeah yeah yeah Danny boy who I
01:19:43
went to college with his brother Billy
01:19:45
this is
01:19:47
absolutely absolutely true we weren't in
01:19:49
the same class we were in the same year
01:19:50
together I I used to know his brother
01:19:51
quite well from University yeah uh but
01:19:54
yeah he's still doing all right is he
01:19:56
yeah I always felt like he was he was
01:19:58
too handsome to be a really good
01:20:00
comedian he too goodl looking a level of
01:20:03
not not not a criticism you're leveling
01:20:04
at me I see a level of uniqueness I
01:20:07
don't know hey um hey this has been
01:20:09
bloody great that's been a lot of fun uh
01:20:12
I know you're jet lagged and you're
01:20:13
you're pissed off cuz you lost your
01:20:15
headphones on the headphones on Emirates
01:20:18
yeah I'll name names yeah you made me
01:20:21
fill out the online for you wouldn't let
01:20:22
me back on the plane to just get them
01:20:23
myself you made me fill out a form there
01:20:25
at the airport and they just they're not
01:20:27
in your system they're not in your
01:20:29
system well tell the cleaner not to
01:20:31
steal them then how far how far off the
01:20:34
plane were you when you realized your
01:20:36
era and I was five 5 minutes from the
01:20:38
plane like I I turned around I but I I
01:20:41
tried to go back I couldn't go back and
01:20:43
I I instantly went to the to a desk and
01:20:45
went I've just left me headphones on the
01:20:47
plane and they're like yeah nothing we
01:20:49
can do you need to fill out a form which
01:20:52
I did and that's you know they has fil
01:20:55
absolutely nowhere no no human being has
01:20:58
had any interaction with that data that
01:21:01
has just got into some automatic filing
01:21:05
system designed to just keep you at bay
01:21:08
that's all that's happened to it I mean
01:21:09
how many peers of stend houses to the
01:21:11
cleaner need like realistically must
01:21:14
happen every flight it happens to me all
01:21:16
the time you know it's my own fault I I
01:21:19
remember losing a a PlayStation Portable
01:21:21
On on an Air Lingus Flight and straight
01:21:23
away again still at the airport and get
01:21:26
picking up a courtesy phone like those
01:21:28
other the days and going you and I've
01:21:30
just realized and I'm going no we
01:21:32
haven't found it no well I know exactly
01:21:34
where it was it's in the pocket this is
01:21:36
the seat number I've Got My Bodyguard no
01:21:38
it's not there oh
01:21:41
really mysterious yeah well if it turns
01:21:44
up let me know yes yes we've got the
01:21:46
form hey this has been great ITB thank
01:21:49
you so much for being so generous with
01:21:50
your time D thanks for having me that's
01:21:52
been really cool by the way um don't
01:21:54
feel bad that you finished a whole
01:21:55
bottle of R there's a it's not a whole
01:21:57
bottle that's not a whole bottle that's
01:22:00
a that if I if this is a whole bottle
01:22:01
I'm a
01:22:03
giant it's half a bottle half size
01:22:06
bottle yeah well so pleasure to have you
01:22:08
back in New Zealand and um yeah
01:22:09
congratulations on the show is this is
01:22:11
it the work you're most proud of or is
01:22:13
it hard to say I am very proud of but I
01:22:15
I I am aware that sometimes people come
01:22:16
and it's not the show that they wanted
01:22:18
to see and I always say I'll be honest
01:22:20
with you it's not the show I wanted to
01:22:21
write yeah you know and then and then
01:22:24
the next I'll do hopefully it'll be a
01:22:25
bit brighter and breezier yeah and I'll
01:22:27
go back to getting three star reviews
01:22:28
again yeah well enjoy it while it lasts
01:22:32
are you great you're you are an honorary
01:22:33
New Zealander I think oh that's a very
01:22:35
sweet thing to say that's that's one of
01:22:37
the nicest compliments I've had honorary
01:22:39
New Zealander four stars do you want to
01:22:42
yeah do you want to sign off the podcast
01:22:43
with um your uh honorary New Zealand
01:22:45
phrase what is it about something about
01:22:47
the
01:22:48
menu it's quite an extensive
01:22:52
menu he I heard you say in an interview
01:22:54
um Ben Hurley hles you for sing like
01:22:57
John Key yeah that's I there was one
01:22:59
night where I just really felt like I'd
01:23:01
got it I'd got the Newan accent and it
01:23:03
was like fingernails on the Blackboard
01:23:04
every time I did it stop it you sound
01:23:07
like John
01:23:09
K it kind of does he's one of our great
01:23:11
Prim ministers um hey thank you so much
01:23:13
mate really appreciate it cheers man he
01:23:15
be
01:23:24
a
