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hello and welcome to Runners only with
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dom Harvey that's me on this episode
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Rhys Darby why should it happen to him
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and I don't have the answers for that I
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came from nothing you know I was brought
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up by mum who was on the benefit and we
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lived in a two-bedroom flat uh she had a
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room I had a room she didn't have a job
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and I didn't have anything and so I just
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had dreams and so why can't a kid who uh
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didn't come from anything make it
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through his uh manifestation of what he
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believed he wanted out of life Rhys
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really is a New Zealander that needs no
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introduction but I will jog your memory
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with a Slither of his work since leaving
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the Army and making one of the most
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bizarre career transitions ever and
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becoming a comedian he pretty much
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became the unofficial third member of
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Flight of the Conchords along with
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Britain Jermain and since having a crack
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at acting he's been in films like yes
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men with Jim Carrey Jumanji with Dwayne
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Johnson love birds the boat that rocked
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hunt for the Wilder people the list goes
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on and on his most recent work at the
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time of recording this was the Netflix
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series our flag means death with us mate
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taika waititi I honestly reckon I've
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interviewed Rhys maybe a dozen times 15
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times on the radio over the years but
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this is the first time I've ever gone
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below the surface level with him and I
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loved it and I hope you do too all right
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let's get into it restarting
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[Music]
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run fast peace
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[Music]
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Runners only with dom Harvey and Rhys
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Darby yes in my house and my podcast
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Studio thank you very much for coming
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over mate I really appreciate it no
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worries lovely Place very cozy thank you
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very much thank you very much now a lot
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of people will be wondering and I'm
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wondering as well what what are you
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doing on a running themed podcast
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well I was thinking about that and of
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course I do run uh it's a good way to
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keep fit so I think I do fit in yeah you
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do you do run yeah do run yep always
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been a runner hence the massive calf
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muscles look at those they they are
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actually
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um oh [ __ ] they are sizable they um you
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you are looking buff at the moment ah
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come on you no I mean do you work out
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you go to the gym I I don't go to the
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gym but I do I do work out I have a
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Peloton uh you know the Bible uh big in
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America I don't even know if you can get
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them here but it's basically an exercise
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bike uh with with live video feeds to uh
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hilarious people teaching you and uh
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glasses and whatnot I generally just use
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the uh the other system which is where
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you've just you know you're on a on a
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video Road and you can be in these
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different places and on the globe and I
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listen to my own music and really it's
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just like escapism for 45 minutes or
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whatever I do on it um so that's fun and
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that just keeps me
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in shape and then I also uh run as well
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I enjoy jogging so I'll do that once or
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twice a week as well if I can yeah
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because you're you're in New Zealand a
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bit but you're also in in La so you just
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run do you run in the um the the hills
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around L.A or just from home I do I have
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a little home circuit around the
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neighborhood but also I do uh a track up
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into the hills which is awesome yeah
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I have a couple of links um between you
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and running that I found first of all um
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uh you're in a video recently with
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Prince Harry oh you you share with him a
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fun fact about running which which is
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true Roger Tui I have him in my sights
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and by my sights I mean my eyesights oh
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okay it is fast I'm going in over out
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uh hi you're okay yeah I'd I haven't run
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in a while
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you know we actually invented jogging
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the Australians no aotearoa New Zealand
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oh sorry sorry I know you guys hate that
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kyota I thought that was odd I love that
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fact and it doesn't make any sense but
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uh
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so did you when you read the script did
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you think it was a joke well no because
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it's my script I wrote it thank you
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uh no I bet it was one of the few
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occasions that I did I did uh I did
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write that one and yeah I've always
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liked that little uh that little gem of
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a nugget which is that you know New
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Zealand invented jogging which does seem
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weird because it's like a country
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claiming they invented walking exactly
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yeah well there was running and then
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there was walking and but no one knew
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the in in the middle bit until they saw
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some kiwi like struggling along hey what
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do you call that face yeah
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um so how did that come about the um
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yeah the Prince Harry thing yeah uh well
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um my friend Leon who works for Augusto
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uh here in New Zealand uh they had the
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contract to uh create this uh piece of
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media with uh Harry and uh so I got the
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call Obviously good mate hey hey could
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you jump in on this bandwagon uh get to
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meet Harry absolutely you know and of
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course I looked into what was all about
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and it was sustainability and uh you
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know which is very important tourists uh
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getting rated themselves rather than the
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place that they're touring which I think
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is a great idea because it it uh the
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onus is on us to be good people and
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that's the number one thing I think in
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the world that's going to take us
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through into a better future if anyone
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that hasn't seen it it's um it's no
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doubt on YouTube where it'll live
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forever but yeah in a nutshell
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um how is our jogging and you're
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basically stalking him hiding in the
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bush and you you hit him up with a fruit
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burst rapper that he left on a beach in
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New Zealand many years earlier that's
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right it's a great it's a great concept
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I love it thank you and then yeah so we
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we kind of did that
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um and
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no idea how his uh his movement has has
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progressed from that point but um I was
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just happy to do a creative piece of art
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with the guy and uh that promotes
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something that I think uh yeah is
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important and how does something like
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that work like how much how much time do
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you do you have with him uh does it does
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he just turn up and do the thing and you
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know what I mean is there much damn time
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it was a special event for sure we were
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we filmed at a uh non-disclosed location
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uh but you can disclose it now no
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I had to sign a uh India why is it we
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where he exercises pretty much right
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yeah that's a special place and uh and
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then of course the scripts had to go
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back and forth and he had to be happy
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with what was going on he was happy to
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work with me that was one of the big
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draw cards another reason I think I got
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the job was because you know he he was a
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fan of my comedy hopefully still is now
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that he's part of it and uh and so uh so
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that came into fruition uh it took a
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while actually
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um and then
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yeah we had to have a very small unit of
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people that were allowed on this
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particular property and yeah it was is
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one of those events that I say yes to
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because
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you know it's
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um once in a lifetime opportunity
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perhaps absolutely absolutely a couple
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of couple of Gingers together doing that
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actually you're are you belonged now
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have you died now yeah my Ginger days
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are done because I'm sick of that
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nickname
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luscious locks as my new one uh LL Cool
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Guy have you heard the phrase glow up
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yes I have everyone talks about you
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being like a glow up like a the epitome
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of a glow up that's weird you do you
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feel you are getting better looking as
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you age I mean I don't understand the
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glow up like for me it sounds like yeah
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and I think you know Hollywood has come
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in and there's been some money spent so
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that whether it's a tanning thing or a
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hair coloring yada yada yada teeth
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whiten Etc I haven't really done half of
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those things uh but because of the show
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I was on you know my here was changed
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and I I do have good hair so that's
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that's a big thing in terms of getting
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better looking as you get older that's
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certainly a bit of a man thing for sure
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and I'm happy with it when I was younger
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I was definitely very dorky looking and
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I had a lot of confidence but nowhere to
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take it too and certainly no no one to
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take it to with there's another link
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with you and running um we're recording
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this in July 2022 and this club recently
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um had the internet a Vanity Fair clip
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with you and our taika waititi you you
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talk about your running style compared
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to Tom Cruise's
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um would you say you're a better Runner
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than him that man uh I mean you know
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he's got a famous run it's full-on and
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choose your words carefully here mate
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he's an incredible Runner yeah I mean no
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I'm not a department yeah you're right
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I'm not as good as him oh yeah yeah and
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I think he has such a uh his movie
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running style doesn't yeah I mean what
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is it can you explain well it's like
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it's a Sprint isn't it it's a manic
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Sprint it's a manic Sprint that seems to
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go on forever faster than Usain Bolt
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yeah it's incredible yeah and I think
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that and you know dare I say it he's
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obviously a lovely man but it's it's
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pretty much out there that he is you
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know on the shorter side and I think if
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you're short if you've got little limbs
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you know you're moving them faster right
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yeah you know you're a tall man I myself
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I'm I'm lengthy in the in the limbs and
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so I can't move them that quick so when
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you're like when you're doing that thing
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you know it's like that's what he would
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be doing but for me I'm more of a I see
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more a like a more of a gazelle in me
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like a or even a um
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you know a large sort of ostrich right
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stretching out no no no arms required
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yeah okay so let's let's go um let's go
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all the way all the way back there's so
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much about you that we do know like
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career-wise um but there's so much that
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we that we don't know so first of all
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like where were you born and raised how
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many siblings oh geez uh hey man just
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check my files yeah so I was born in
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Auckland middlemore Hospital
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one of five but uh the the baby
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after a nine-year gap so definitely a
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mistake uh the other the other four uh
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yeah were my my brother is nine years
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older than me and then the other three
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Beyond there I've got three sisters
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older than him and there's like a
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two-year one-year Gap sort of between
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between those guys so then there's me so
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very much uh when I when I arrived it
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was just uh it was mum and dad split up
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at that point as well so I was raised by
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my mother uh on her own uh my brother
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was there for me for a little bit but
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then he took off when he came of age and
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so I really most of my childhood was
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just me and Mum and also my nana who
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lived down the road
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um and
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yeah so
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that's uh that's me in a nutshell is um
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sort of very sort of um feminine uh
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energy upbringing and energy which is
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really good I think but I did lack
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because I lacked the masculinity
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um I've found myself either well
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obviously I ended up joining the Army
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and even before then from the age of 12
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I was wearing uniform in the ear
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training Corps then the Army Cadets and
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I felt like structure and a bit of um a
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bit of man discipline if you will
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something that maybe I felt like I
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needed certainly mum thought it would be
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good she was worried about me being a
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teenager falling on the wrong sides of
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the tracks like one of my uh other
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sisters slightly did and uh so she in
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what way oh just you know probably
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during the parents divorce and all that
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kind of stuff right she's acting out a
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little acting out you know getting
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involved in um a bit of uh you know uh
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nefarious Behavior I don't know what
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does that word mean I don't know it just
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came with me I don't even know
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like oh you shouldn't be doing that well
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like drugs alcohol yeah exactly or did
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you see yeah and you know did you steal
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that what did you you better take that
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right that's kind of that kind of thing
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you know like uh also so it wasn't a
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motorbike gang for a little bit okay
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yeah Trail bikers though nothing nothing
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untoward
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like comment heroes or yeah Mongrel mob
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no no no no they were dirt bike gang all
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right so uh but they had very loud
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motorbikes like Honda 250s uh and then
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my brother was part of it as well and
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they used to they used to kind of it was
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kind of cool really looking back but I
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must have been about five or six
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watching watching this sort of happen
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um but yeah so anyway turns out there
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was no way I was going to be uh the
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wrong side of the tracks guy uh very
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much a little geek a little you know not
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I was gonna say nerd but no I'm not
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smart enough for that definitely a weird
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kid
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[Laughter]
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um but yeah you know so pakuranga is
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where I spend most of my childhood yeah
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you're how old now and how old is your
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your elder sister the oldest in the
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family yeah so I'm 48 now uh dare I say
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it uh and so my sister Shelley I mean I
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don't even know how old they are but she
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had her 60th a few years ago but they're
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all over 50 now yeah she must be nearly
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60 year old they're all we're all
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getting too old it's it's not nice to
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think about are you quite a close family
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or not really
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um we're a big family yeah and yeah we
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get together
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um you know once a year uh the ones that
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live here I think they see each other
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more often but we have a like a um
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a a text group
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um but yeah we're kind of spread out but
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um
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not as close as some families but I
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don't I think
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being too close can actually be a
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hindrance to everyone's happiness in
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some ways yeah I think I think we're
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pretty much a classic kind of New
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Zealand
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um pakiha family in that regard that we
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um we know each other but we know when
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to not bother with each other so if if
00:14:04
your siblings are going to La would they
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would they hit you up for accommodation
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or uh were they
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yeah but I don't think they would go no
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they can't afford to get over there
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that's not happening yeah this is a
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little bit like my family uh
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no the the skill I'm seeing at the
00:14:21
moment her family is super super tight
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and the parents are still together and I
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I feel kind of envious in a way yeah
00:14:27
it's not very common for the parents
00:14:30
especially from you know our generation
00:14:31
for the parents to still be together and
00:14:33
things like that which they should be
00:14:35
proud of that yeah and you and I are
00:14:37
about the same age and I suppose we were
00:14:39
raised watching the same sort of TV
00:14:40
shows which were American sitcoms where
00:14:43
the families are still together and
00:14:44
what's your relationship like with you
00:14:45
with your dad now
00:14:47
both passed away unfortunately I'm sorry
00:14:50
but yeah my dad and I we're not close
00:14:54
um but we share you know similar aspects
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definitely so when I am with when I was
00:15:01
with him I could see uh myself and him
00:15:04
for sure but
00:15:06
um yeah sense of humor was was something
00:15:08
that I definitely got from him but other
00:15:10
than that or maybe some dancing skills
00:15:12
and these amazing legs
00:15:15
okay so so why the Army first of all
00:15:18
were you were funny at school like we
00:15:19
yeah I was the class clown and I um I
00:15:24
disrupted class on occasion with
00:15:26
ridiculous answers that you know I said
00:15:29
only because they would get a laugh and
00:15:31
I was the weird kid and I would do a lot
00:15:33
of drawings and I sometimes I couldn't
00:15:36
really
00:15:37
um take in what the teacher was going on
00:15:38
about so I would just draw and other
00:15:42
kids
00:15:43
um loved my little comic drawings and
00:15:45
they would just come to class and go
00:15:47
okay get stuck into your drawing you
00:15:49
know we need this week's comic so I
00:15:51
would I wouldn't be like listening to
00:15:52
class I'd be doing what are you doing
00:15:54
race I'm doing my comic I'm going to get
00:15:56
through this I've got three boys lined
00:15:57
up here so I didn't want to prepare you
00:15:59
for the um the the book writing yeah
00:16:02
exactly so which I enjoyed and that was
00:16:04
kind of later on in in in high school
00:16:06
I've had Mike King on the podcast and we
00:16:08
talked about his introduction to Comedy
00:16:10
and he had almost a similar route to you
00:16:12
in that he was in the Navy right um and
00:16:15
I said well what if you were funny why
00:16:16
didn't you just gravitate like straight
00:16:18
towards comedy and he said there was no
00:16:19
sort of path there it was nothing then
00:16:21
was that the same sort of thing around
00:16:23
yeah yeah I mean you know they were the
00:16:25
comedians we knew of were the ones from
00:16:27
TV obviously all the icons uh and they
00:16:30
were sort of a different thing there
00:16:31
wasn't any comedy clubs there wasn't a
00:16:33
burgeoning scene for youngsters to go
00:16:36
and grab a microphone and
00:16:41
something's scratching underneath me
00:16:43
folks
00:16:46
um
00:16:48
okay I know what it is so I'm okay with
00:16:49
it now
00:16:50
stop it stop scratching you can't go to
00:16:54
another man's house until his daughter
00:16:56
oh yeah I'm still learning about dogs
00:16:58
sorry uh keep going lovely that feels
00:17:01
nice it's just new carpet yeah so there
00:17:03
wasn't so I for me and I I was obsessed
00:17:06
with uh sketch comedy British stuff in
00:17:09
particular obviously Monty Python and uh
00:17:12
you know anything Rowan Atkinson was
00:17:14
involved in
00:17:16
um so
00:17:17
I wondered about how to get there and
00:17:21
would that be something I could get into
00:17:23
but being young and being 17 uh because
00:17:28
there was no door open for that
00:17:30
especially at that time I went down the
00:17:32
the route of the military because that
00:17:36
was my other uh passion I liked
00:17:39
um
00:17:40
uh uh everything about uh the military
00:17:44
for some reason and I think looking back
00:17:46
it's because maybe I'm uh in those days
00:17:50
there was no ADHD kind of diagnosis type
00:17:52
thing or anything like that but I'm
00:17:54
thinking to myself I like structure and
00:17:55
I like
00:17:56
uh you know since since then have been
00:17:59
looking I haven't still have not got
00:18:01
myself diagnosed about anything uh
00:18:03
because I'm confident with who I am and
00:18:05
and how I can operate but I like
00:18:08
um lists of things and I like order very
00:18:11
much so and structure and it's nothing
00:18:13
more structurally ordered than than
00:18:15
military and so once I got involved in
00:18:18
that and um
00:18:20
kind of even the ranking system really
00:18:23
uh impressed me and how to you know get
00:18:26
to the next Rank and um and then all the
00:18:30
the training and all that kind of stuff
00:18:32
I don't know for some reason I was into
00:18:34
it and
00:18:36
um and then I got into war history as
00:18:37
well and so that was a for me it was
00:18:39
like uh it was that and then there was
00:18:41
animals I used to classify all animals I
00:18:44
used to be able to name what do you mean
00:18:46
you classify them well well I CLA I had
00:18:49
what my size or alphabetical order uh by
00:18:52
where they were from what continents
00:18:55
God what continents they were from the
00:18:58
speed of land animals their lifespan
00:19:00
that kind of stuff yeah I was just into
00:19:03
that kind of stuff so it was yeah it was
00:19:06
weird wow you're a weird dude yeah and
00:19:09
uh and then
00:19:10
um once I got into the military and I I
00:19:13
was good at certain things in there sort
00:19:16
of like marching uh very good at the
00:19:18
discipline doing what I was told uh but
00:19:21
uh and also you know um so this is the
00:19:24
actual military now not just the cadets
00:19:27
um the physical aspects of it I was very
00:19:30
good at as well I was I was fit and I
00:19:32
could carry the 25 kg pack and I could
00:19:35
dig the holes
00:19:37
um but
00:19:40
here's here's what happened to me
00:19:41
maturity hit so I was very late to
00:19:43
mature so I didn't even have any sexual
00:19:47
urges till I was about 19 or 18. right
00:19:49
what do you mean no sexual urges well
00:19:52
like you know fancying someone right
00:19:54
really yeah like I wasn't really
00:19:56
interested I was still playing with my
00:19:57
toys and skateboarding and things right
00:19:59
up until my late teens and so then when
00:20:02
I started thinking were you worried
00:20:04
about that I was a like you're a late
00:20:06
developer as well and I remember one of
00:20:08
the one of the saddest moments ever was
00:20:10
um maybe my 13th birthday me and my best
00:20:12
friend Aaron we went to McDonald's for
00:20:14
my birthday dinner and I wanted to play
00:20:16
on the the play park and he was just
00:20:18
like too old or too cool for it and it
00:20:21
was it was a heartbreaking moment it was
00:20:22
like we were going in different
00:20:23
directions he reached puberty and I
00:20:25
didn't but all
00:20:27
your friends peeling off taking interest
00:20:30
in girls getting girlfriends or whatever
00:20:32
were you not like [ __ ] what's wrong with
00:20:33
me uh no because my three friends none
00:20:37
of them peeled off to go and get with a
00:20:38
girl
00:20:39
[Laughter]
00:20:44
the dangerous intelligence Commandos we
00:20:47
doesn't have girlfriends okay right
00:20:51
um I said going back to something you
00:20:52
said before
00:20:53
um another another parallel I I reckon
00:20:55
on my ADHD as well or definitely on the
00:20:57
Spectrum somewhere but uh being a
00:20:59
similar age nothing was ever diagnosed
00:21:00
do you think having a label on anything
00:21:03
would change anything or help anything
00:21:04
no I I don't think that I think that's
00:21:06
why I haven't bothered with it I've just
00:21:08
I pretty sure I definitely expect from
00:21:11
me but so are some of my friends and we
00:21:14
now our children yes we would get them
00:21:16
diagnosed or we would so you can know
00:21:19
how to operate with them and uh but even
00:21:22
then
00:21:23
um you know I don't think it's something
00:21:25
you necessarily have to do unless the
00:21:27
kid is clearly quite far on the Spectrum
00:21:29
and then you obviously you can you know
00:21:31
you do need to deal with it but like I
00:21:33
think I can float I'm I'm a floater you
00:21:35
know and I'm not someone that you go oh
00:21:36
I think he needs to have a bit of um
00:21:39
special help the sky although some would
00:21:42
argue
00:21:44
but yeah you're quite good with um
00:21:46
staying focused on a task and being
00:21:48
organized or do you like rely quite
00:21:50
heavily on your wife for that now she's
00:21:52
your manager I she does everything for
00:21:55
me yeah and so for me uh anything to do
00:21:59
with filling out forms or
00:22:01
um you know
00:22:02
swatting you know uh studying yeah I
00:22:06
think I think New Zealand we say
00:22:08
swatting I don't know whether we still
00:22:09
do
00:22:10
um we also SWAT flies uh but anyway
00:22:13
studying uh what are you just swatting
00:22:16
flies okay you've got a paper coming out
00:22:18
yeah yeah I'm hard at it
00:22:22
uh so anything like that I find yeah I I
00:22:26
it's it's struggle and also just reading
00:22:28
like reading a book I've got it'll take
00:22:31
me a month you know where it'll take my
00:22:33
wife you know three or four days right
00:22:35
because your mind wonders when you're
00:22:37
reading or no I'm just I um maybe I'm
00:22:40
just flower at it well as I'm reading it
00:22:42
I'm really I take in every word and she
00:22:44
just likes skim reads right you know I
00:22:46
don't know what you're like but like
00:22:47
she'll just I don't understand how she
00:22:50
says oh yeah I'm just going to read this
00:22:51
page
00:22:52
okay all right wait did you what about
00:22:54
the detail you know what you know and so
00:22:57
I'm a very detail-orientated and so I I
00:23:00
would re I'll read each word and then
00:23:01
like imagine it as it's happening and
00:23:04
going oh wow and then he went over there
00:23:05
and said hello hello
00:23:07
it takes me a month to get through that
00:23:10
I'm the same when I was writing my books
00:23:12
dealing with book publishers they'll be
00:23:13
like oh yeah you should read this book I
00:23:15
read it yesterday afternoon it's amazing
00:23:16
I'm like you read a book in an afternoon
00:23:18
Yeah well yeah it's too much I can't see
00:23:21
how people can do that yeah yeah so back
00:23:23
to the military thing so with your mind
00:23:25
the way it works you so you were like a
00:23:27
morse code guy right you're a morse code
00:23:28
expert
00:23:30
weren't you thinking this is a waste of
00:23:32
time like what am I going to need this
00:23:33
information for when am I ever going to
00:23:35
use Morse code no because I was in the
00:23:38
military I was a Communications
00:23:39
Electronics operator I was proud of my
00:23:42
job I was on the signals Corps Royal New
00:23:44
Zealand signals and uh and this was my
00:23:47
job and so I was just tapping away on
00:23:49
this Morse code thing and I was
00:23:51
imagining that pretty soon we're going
00:23:52
to go to some conflict I'm going to be
00:23:54
in a tent and I'm going to be the
00:23:56
messages are going to be coming in
00:23:59
[Music]
00:24:01
and I'm writing them down and then the
00:24:03
officer will come in what what's the
00:24:04
message
00:24:05
oh there you go sir now they're on their
00:24:07
way the packages are on their way
00:24:10
so a lot of my life is filled with the
00:24:13
imagination of what I'm doing and then
00:24:15
if I was to snap out of it and go hang
00:24:17
on nobody uses Morse code anymore
00:24:20
what if you know it and it's a universal
00:24:22
language then the enemy will know it as
00:24:24
well so they'll yeah exactly right
00:24:27
the enemy doesn't use it anymore that's
00:24:30
why it's really useful New Zealand you
00:24:33
know they clocked onto that like oh no
00:24:34
one else is using this anymore so we'll
00:24:37
see how does it go from the military to
00:24:38
to Comedy was there is there an overlap
00:24:40
where you're still earning money
00:24:43
in in school funny in the Army as well
00:24:45
and got told off more in the Army
00:24:47
obviously for being funny uh like well
00:24:50
because it's stricter yeah and it's like
00:24:51
there's no need for that like you know
00:24:53
there's a big difference though because
00:24:55
there's a lot of there's a lot of class
00:24:56
clowns in life and there's a lot of
00:24:58
funny people in life but there's there's
00:24:59
a big difference between someone that
00:25:01
can do that and someone that can engage
00:25:03
an entire Auditorium yeah I think this
00:25:05
class clown is is a dangerous territory
00:25:08
for for military because that's as you
00:25:13
can imagine with live ammunition and
00:25:15
whatnot but someone who's like you know
00:25:18
we're heading into a battle some
00:25:20
scenario and someone's got their vest on
00:25:22
backwards and go and you know starts
00:25:24
walking backwards going help me my vest
00:25:26
is weird
00:25:27
Derby can you please and when we used to
00:25:30
march sometimes I'd hold hands with the
00:25:31
person in the middle because they
00:25:33
couldn't see us things like that so just
00:25:37
because I don't know I can't help it
00:25:39
um so there was a point where I started
00:25:41
to realize and they brought me into the
00:25:43
office and said you know I don't know if
00:25:45
if you need to stay in this career I
00:25:49
think this is this officer who helped me
00:25:51
see my see the light and he said I
00:25:54
should go to university and you know um
00:25:56
be creative and things like that and uh
00:25:59
so I thought he gave me a couple of
00:26:01
pamphlets for Canterbury University and
00:26:03
I said oh I get time off for this sir
00:26:05
and he said oh no you you'll get a lot
00:26:07
of time off for this leave your Beret
00:26:09
here and off you go uh so that was it I
00:26:12
was kind of gone after that and I wasn't
00:26:13
the only one who left there was a few
00:26:15
others that left with me my friends uh
00:26:17
that also had just got to a point where
00:26:19
they felt like they wanted to move on
00:26:21
and for me it was something I felt like
00:26:24
I needed I needed the discipline it gave
00:26:26
me self-discipline it gave me um the not
00:26:30
so much the family I never had but
00:26:31
certainly the comadre of of really good
00:26:34
friends and the community the community
00:26:36
is something that I I think I craved and
00:26:39
and got from that of like-minded people
00:26:41
in some regard who uh were into listing
00:26:43
you know where animals are from
00:26:46
there's been some fun debates
00:26:55
right so okay so you're at University
00:26:57
and is this where you meet you make
00:27:00
Grant yes well no I meet him outside of
00:27:03
University right but I'm at University
00:27:05
uh I go there I'm very pretty much on my
00:27:09
own there
00:27:10
um because my friend who I left the army
00:27:12
with Luke uh he didn't go to university
00:27:14
he went straight into a job working in a
00:27:17
bar
00:27:18
um a great great step up uh but he
00:27:22
nothing against Hospitality of course
00:27:24
always required especially these days
00:27:26
love you guys but the damage is done
00:27:30
every time
00:27:32
not you Darby all right how many people
00:27:35
have listened to that running podcast
00:27:37
he's not that popular yes he is around
00:27:40
These Bars
00:27:42
um so yeah I kind of like uh I I felt
00:27:45
that
00:27:46
um I I met some new friends at
00:27:48
University but the biggest part there
00:27:49
was was getting involved in the club and
00:27:52
Society situation which I didn't even
00:27:54
know was going to be a thing but there
00:27:56
was a day which I think is still a thing
00:27:58
where they have clubs and societies and
00:28:01
one club with it basically that was uh
00:28:04
introduced to me was the comedy club and
00:28:06
uh so guy Roberts was sitting behind the
00:28:08
desk he saw me walking
00:28:10
um across the courtyard and yelled out
00:28:13
hey you and then he pointed to the
00:28:15
comedy sign I don't know maybe it was my
00:28:17
walk or just my general demeanor I came
00:28:20
over and I signed up straight away
00:28:22
because I thought well there's one thing
00:28:23
I know I'm good at and uh so I joined
00:28:25
this Comedy Club then I had my new
00:28:27
community and we we met once a week we
00:28:30
were out sketches we put on a show
00:28:32
and then when I worked outside of
00:28:35
University like my part-time job uh
00:28:38
that's why I met Grant because that was
00:28:40
at the excalibur's theater restaurant so
00:28:43
I was a theater restaurant uh waiter so
00:28:48
you were in the hospitality now you're
00:28:50
shutting off
00:28:54
the first time on on stage on your own
00:28:56
yeah for sure I think uh well first time
00:28:59
doing stand-up the one that that comes
00:29:01
to mind is actually when talking about
00:29:03
Mike King earlier when he came down I
00:29:06
think with um uh Andy clay and it was a
00:29:10
stand-up tour those two and they they
00:29:13
would go to
00:29:15
um this was way before the classic was
00:29:17
even a thing they would they went on
00:29:19
this little tour
00:29:21
um of of of New Zealand and every little
00:29:25
city they went to they put on a night
00:29:28
whereby local people could get up on
00:29:31
stage and do an open mic slot right and
00:29:33
that was advertised and I remember
00:29:34
seeing that in the paper Comics required
00:29:37
uh or whatever like you know try hards
00:29:41
give it a give it a whirl I don't know
00:29:42
what it said but uh I I put my name down
00:29:44
for it and I because you know it was a
00:29:47
thing that I was and so I I that was my
00:29:49
first five minutes and I remember doing
00:29:51
it it went okay I had a bit about
00:29:54
fishing uh and I remember I did some
00:29:57
definitely did some Frank Spencer
00:29:59
Impressions you know so you're right so
00:30:02
this was like 25 years ago oh yeah for
00:30:04
sure yeah even even further back then
00:30:06
okay before I really started audits
00:30:08
right but um because I was definitely a
00:30:10
late coming to comedy because you know I
00:30:12
did all those other cool things these
00:30:13
days kids are getting into it when
00:30:15
they're 14. yeah which is which is great
00:30:17
but you're supposed because there's that
00:30:20
do you know about the uh the Malcolm
00:30:21
Gladwell 10 000 hour theory yes yes it's
00:30:25
like 10 000 hours to reach um sort of
00:30:27
expert level and he took the example
00:30:28
gives us the Beatles like they went to
00:30:30
Hamburg and we're doing like three shows
00:30:32
a night and then when they got back to
00:30:34
Liverpool they had had so much
00:30:35
experience so I suppose because you were
00:30:37
starting so late you were so much older
00:30:40
when you reached that ten thousand hours
00:30:41
agree because I I I I let's let's say
00:30:45
that I was putting in my 10 000 hours
00:30:47
from the age of six or seven and at
00:30:49
school as a Class Clown and in the Army
00:30:52
I was still doing it I was still amazing
00:30:53
yeah
00:30:55
yeah you know as often as I could and
00:30:58
then also once I got into this scene uh
00:31:00
you know proper and and here in New
00:31:02
Zealand uh with with Grant and then and
00:31:05
then again after that solo uh up here in
00:31:08
Auckland I was doing three gigs a week
00:31:11
which was more than anyone Terry Frisbee
00:31:13
and I and uh Brendan lovegrove were sort
00:31:15
of the the main ones and there was a few
00:31:17
others that were gigging that often but
00:31:19
I I really was was just thanks to
00:31:22
Brendan for the most part just doing any
00:31:24
gig he he threw my way
00:31:27
um with him and then
00:31:29
um I pretty much
00:31:30
um got scooped up uh after that and and
00:31:33
sent to England
00:31:35
not by the government like all right
00:31:38
here's our greatest comic
00:31:40
11 again raise me please get a
00:31:42
universally yeah
00:31:43
you just go to the UK you'll have a lot
00:31:45
of time over in the UK so you're being
00:31:47
picked out of the country now leave your
00:31:49
Beret off you go
00:31:51
uh so I went over there and then uh I
00:31:54
was just just really dove into the scene
00:31:56
I I was Edinburgh Fringe Festival first
00:31:59
and then um and then when I eventually
00:32:02
got to London and and got a comedy agent
00:32:04
you know I was at the height of my uh my
00:32:07
early stand-up internationally was doing
00:32:10
five gigs a week and sometimes three a
00:32:12
night you know and I was taking away
00:32:13
like a thousand pounds in an envelope a
00:32:17
cash hard cold pounds cash so that was
00:32:20
amazing you know and that and treading
00:32:22
the boards that often was not only
00:32:24
confusing because you did your same 20
00:32:26
minutes three times a night uh but also
00:32:29
you really got your skills up and so I
00:32:31
quit at that time which was about six
00:32:33
years worth of doing that headlining
00:32:36
clubs eventually not straight away but
00:32:37
getting there uh to being and then
00:32:40
returning and doing the shows that you
00:32:42
would have seen here was because of the
00:32:44
skills I I had from from those audiences
00:32:46
when did you realize that you um you
00:32:49
were quite good
00:32:50
oh I mean I'd love to say day one uh you
00:32:53
know that it was cheap but it was it was
00:32:56
day one disastrous or like five five out
00:32:58
of ten six out of ten it was for me uh I
00:33:01
was definitely like my own my own
00:33:02
personal go at it uh it was definitely a
00:33:05
six out of ten right were you terrified
00:33:07
wrong sex no because I've been making
00:33:09
people laugh all the time right and uh
00:33:11
it was natural to me yeah I think
00:33:13
there's a difference between like making
00:33:14
people laugh in a environment when
00:33:16
they're not expecting it to a a New
00:33:19
Zealand audience with us sitting there
00:33:20
going all right then make us laugh yeah
00:33:22
it's a little bit of that but
00:33:24
um we because of thanks to University
00:33:27
and just like-minded people and that and
00:33:30
that world back in Christchurch uh when
00:33:33
you know I should talk about meeting
00:33:34
Rosie and then her she set up this uh
00:33:38
this club called The Green Room uh with
00:33:40
her two friends the three of them from
00:33:42
University they co-owned this this great
00:33:45
performance place
00:33:47
um and they also advertised for
00:33:49
performers and this is when men Grant
00:33:51
had only just started as a Duo recently
00:33:54
granted was our was our stage yeah and
00:33:57
so we ended up performing there and so
00:34:01
the audience was also basically a
00:34:05
like-minded people from University and
00:34:07
all other performers okay and that's the
00:34:09
greatest thing about those kind of uh
00:34:12
those cafes those beatnik style artist
00:34:14
areas because everyone else is the same
00:34:17
oh yes that's a friendly order it's a
00:34:18
friendly audience and so our weirdness
00:34:20
was kind of celebrated and then when we
00:34:23
the next thing we did was hit the comedy
00:34:25
festivals and our first show was a half
00:34:27
hour show and we went to Wellington we
00:34:30
went across on the ferry and it was a
00:34:31
big trip and um and I found that
00:34:34
Wellington was kind of it was a sort of
00:34:36
a theater-based city as well and they
00:34:39
went the people that came to shows in
00:34:40
the festival were people that were going
00:34:42
to want comedy and to expect a laugh
00:34:45
they'd paid some money and so they were
00:34:47
they were lovely as well and and our
00:34:49
weirdness was good there so so when it
00:34:51
got to the point of Auckland was a
00:34:54
slightly different matter you've got
00:34:55
different people up here less theatrical
00:34:58
and more kind of like an area mate what
00:34:59
do you got you know and so there was
00:35:02
definitely a difference there
00:35:04
um but
00:35:06
yeah I think there's something about the
00:35:07
fact that our comedy and then further
00:35:11
into my solo stuff was it was it was
00:35:14
weird and so it was escapism it wasn't
00:35:16
poking fun at any uh religion or uh
00:35:20
political
00:35:22
um ideas it was it was purely sort of
00:35:25
Fantastical stuff so really you couldn't
00:35:27
really Heckle that stuff you kind of you
00:35:29
know if I was doing a helicopter
00:35:31
impression and then doing uh showing uh
00:35:33
doing a story about having sex with a
00:35:35
mermaid you know people aren't going to
00:35:37
go oh that wouldn't happen
00:35:40
you know what I mean so um so recently
00:35:44
granted what was that was it did you do
00:35:46
songs yeah so he had a bass guitar okay
00:35:48
and uh so I went around to his place and
00:35:52
he knew about two chords and they
00:35:54
sounded cool to me he had an amp and he
00:35:56
was doing
00:35:57
and I just said I chucked down some
00:36:00
lyrics about jandals and then we wrote
00:36:02
the song about about jandals and that
00:36:04
became our kind of anthem
00:36:07
objective
00:36:13
still like the fact that let the air in
00:36:16
he'd come around to my place and you can
00:36:18
guess what he was wearing his jackets
00:36:20
and then from there we we wrote other
00:36:22
songs uh a love affair with Mrs whippy
00:36:25
my my obsession with being a mall guy
00:36:28
hanging out and shopping malls and
00:36:30
various other silly songs like that and
00:36:32
then we also we
00:36:34
um intersected or interspersed those
00:36:36
with uh with little sketches that were
00:36:38
quite surreal like the two of us um uh
00:36:42
doing impressions of frigate Birds
00:36:44
during mating season or
00:36:47
um there was one where he uh smoking
00:36:49
Olympics where he would he would smoke a
00:36:51
cigarette on stage and I'll do the
00:36:52
commentary as he's doing these weird
00:36:54
moves you know calculator boxing
00:36:57
remember that that game yeah we would do
00:36:59
that live on stage including all the
00:37:01
sound effects would be the two boxes
00:37:02
doing the exact moves of that so there
00:37:05
was some nostalgic things there it was
00:37:08
just odd so was it kind of um
00:37:11
Flight of the Concord fish I don't think
00:37:13
so I think it's really it's very it was
00:37:16
for a start it was before them and then
00:37:19
the songs weren't good enough to be
00:37:21
anything like this uh and then we were
00:37:24
more surreal right yeah you were a big
00:37:26
state here in New Zealand I remember
00:37:27
seeing you on the comedy Gallery every
00:37:29
year and you do your sound effects and
00:37:30
stuff was was the big breakthrough for
00:37:32
you sort of being um Brian Nisbet and
00:37:35
the uh in the BBC Radio version of
00:37:38
Flight of the Conchords hello Brian
00:37:39
Nesbitt
00:37:41
oh Rosie hello how are you it's Brian's
00:37:44
wife Rosie calling from New Zealand
00:37:55
well exactly so there's a mess
00:37:57
everywhere and they've taken off so here
00:38:00
I am cleaning up after them
00:38:02
have you what's happened there's trouble
00:38:04
Brewing back home in taranaki oh you're
00:38:07
joking me
00:38:08
was it was that when things sort of no
00:38:10
that's a good question that's a good I
00:38:11
think I think probably because other
00:38:14
than that up until that point you know
00:38:16
the comedy duo then my solo efforts and
00:38:19
then heading over to Edinburgh doing my
00:38:22
my solo show there
00:38:24
um and that's pretty much when that
00:38:26
happened as well I think 2003 I'm
00:38:29
guessing I think it was uh the Concords
00:38:31
were there as well and uh Jermaine asked
00:38:35
me to to do the voice of the manager too
00:38:38
he told me what the idea was and so you
00:38:41
know I just um helped them sort of
00:38:43
create that idea of a man who had no
00:38:46
idea what he was doing and uh I did a
00:38:48
roll call you know just uh straight off
00:38:51
the bat because I thought that was the
00:38:53
first thing we should do is just like
00:38:54
let's see who's here and I don't think
00:38:56
that's going going back to my military
00:38:58
career I used to do that there as well
00:39:00
that always uh when we when we're we've
00:39:02
got a gaggle of soldiers and I think
00:39:04
that's the correct term
00:39:06
um
00:39:08
the the sergeant major would go through
00:39:10
and do the names mainly because he
00:39:12
wanted to figure out where Derby was you
00:39:14
know it's quite off I'd be behind him
00:39:15
doing an impression of him but uh Darby
00:39:18
get out from behind me
00:39:20
so it's legal in there get out around
00:39:21
there come on now
00:39:24
um so yeah so a lot of that um Flight of
00:39:27
the Concord stuff in the um and the the
00:39:29
radio this is the radio series we're
00:39:30
talking about which is before the TV
00:39:32
series was a lot of that sort of
00:39:33
ad-libbed oh yeah for sure the whole
00:39:34
thing yeah it's funny because then we
00:39:36
haven't got to this yet in any great
00:39:37
depth but that um clip that I referenced
00:39:39
before the Vanity Fair one with you and
00:39:41
taika um he calls you I think the
00:39:43
greatest dad Liber that he's ever worked
00:39:44
with oh yeah I think something like that
00:39:46
I mean that's a massive compliment it is
00:39:50
Chris Darby
00:39:52
is
00:39:53
in my opinion and the one of the
00:39:56
greatest advisors I've ever known
00:39:57
awesome that's me you are telling the
00:40:00
truth oh thank God when it comes to my
00:40:02
friends oh
00:40:05
well it's very lovely to say I think it
00:40:07
is something that I I do feel proud
00:40:10
about because put me in any scene and I
00:40:13
immediately feel that it's real and I
00:40:15
know where I can go with it
00:40:17
um so I don't have to struggle with
00:40:19
coming up with words or gags they just
00:40:21
come to me I don't know how I can't
00:40:24
explain it but
00:40:26
um
00:40:27
I could use the old army adage again of
00:40:29
having to be adaptable in any situation
00:40:32
but really it doesn't work because in
00:40:34
the military you had to just be quiet
00:40:37
and you know only only speak when you're
00:40:39
spoken to so maybe it was years of that
00:40:41
and then finally me being released being
00:40:44
able to just like I've got so many
00:40:45
things to say like I feel like a fizzed
00:40:47
up candy yeah exactly I don't know if
00:40:49
you spend much time reflecting or
00:40:51
anything but it's [ __ ] crazy to think
00:40:53
that there's like yourself taika Brent
00:40:56
and Jermaine uh you'll have four guys
00:40:58
four friends and the same sort of
00:41:00
circuit and you've all done like just
00:41:03
phenomenal things in your in your sphere
00:41:05
yeah I mean I I don't stop to think
00:41:08
about it much because I'm still trying
00:41:10
to push for the next thing I think if
00:41:11
you rest uh you know then yeah it's
00:41:14
lovely to think about and be nostalgic
00:41:17
and wonder how it happened but also I
00:41:20
feel like as we got older you've got to
00:41:23
keep going and you've got to keep coming
00:41:25
up with new ideas and I I think when you
00:41:28
look at someone like taika you know gone
00:41:30
from strength to strength and I think
00:41:33
um there's been no kind of slowdown
00:41:35
particularly on his part I mean myself
00:41:39
um
00:41:40
similar uh but
00:41:43
yeah I've I've really tried to change
00:41:47
Tech from from a stand-up into a into an
00:41:50
actor and that was my mission from
00:41:53
I guess halfway through the the stand-up
00:41:55
career because
00:41:58
although I find stand-up fun to do
00:42:02
um it's not much of a challenge it's
00:42:03
really quite you know well I don't want
00:42:06
to say it's easy for me but
00:42:08
it is because you've done you've done it
00:42:11
long enough that it's yeah did you not
00:42:13
give that a sort of adrenaline rush that
00:42:15
you should anymore
00:42:16
um I still do on stage which is why I
00:42:18
can't wait to do these live shows here
00:42:19
in New Zealand and especially with new
00:42:22
audiences because I just did a east
00:42:23
coast of the US tour and they'd never
00:42:26
seen me before and they were just very
00:42:29
excited just to see my face because
00:42:30
they'd seen it on on TV and this this
00:42:32
pirate show that I've been making
00:42:35
um which has a whole new audience so
00:42:37
that was a really cool
00:42:38
on Netflix yeah not just a pirate show
00:42:41
everyone knows what you it's a big show
00:42:42
it's a big show yeah you and taika are
00:42:45
both in it and you play like gay lovers
00:42:47
yeah that's the one yeah so it's kind of
00:42:49
like uh you know entertaining a new
00:42:52
audience that's a real lightning bolt up
00:42:55
my uh up my uh
00:42:58
oh
00:43:08
uh yeah my butt is a bit fully clenched
00:43:12
so there's no no way of entering there
00:43:14
but I think I think
00:43:17
um
00:43:18
you know I just love the challenge of
00:43:20
acting and particularly with this our
00:43:22
flag means death the show it was perfect
00:43:24
for me because I got to be the uh
00:43:27
buffoon I got to be
00:43:29
um the man out of his depth I got to do
00:43:32
physical comedy I used all my strengths
00:43:34
and then there was a couple that I
00:43:36
hadn't really used and that was the
00:43:37
dramatic side of it and uh reaching into
00:43:40
this character and uh feeling the trauma
00:43:44
that he'd gone through as a kid and my
00:43:46
son actually got to play the younger
00:43:48
version of me
00:43:49
um Theo and he was fantastic and it you
00:43:52
know he spent a day working with taika
00:43:54
uh in these scenes and it was all just
00:43:57
vomiting getting sticks thrown at him uh
00:44:01
and put out in a little dinghy and and
00:44:03
having uh Stones thrown at him I should
00:44:06
say there were no sticks he did run into
00:44:08
a tree I think that's where I got the
00:44:10
stick side here from so he had to do a
00:44:11
stunt you know it was like and at the
00:44:13
end of it he said that's I'm done with
00:44:15
acting if that's acting yeah offer only
00:44:18
from now on uh but he was he was lovely
00:44:21
and and so that but realizing uh as in
00:44:25
this middle-aged character that had a um
00:44:28
uh you know a breakaway from his normal
00:44:31
life to escape a midlife crisis
00:44:35
um I could really relate to to him
00:44:38
because he had this massive sense of
00:44:40
adventure and that's the same with me
00:44:42
growing up getting to a point where I
00:44:44
just want to go I'm going to leave it
00:44:45
all and go overseas and you know you
00:44:48
only live once we've got this whole
00:44:50
planet Earth to play on let's see what I
00:44:52
can do and um don't look back and so I
00:44:56
could really relate to this guy
00:44:58
and then I was acting with taika and
00:45:00
these dramatic Parts where we're really
00:45:03
close to each other he's his character's
00:45:05
gone through a lot of trauma he doesn't
00:45:06
feel loved I don't feel loved I have
00:45:10
affection for him because he's
00:45:11
Blackbeard and he's a hero in the pirate
00:45:15
world my guy has like read all the books
00:45:18
it's pretty much the only thing he's
00:45:19
good at is reading uh and so now he's
00:45:22
living the reality that he thought he
00:45:25
would go for it's kind of like me like
00:45:27
the Army thing I used to watch a lot of
00:45:30
war movies and I used to read a lot of
00:45:32
texts about
00:45:34
um military tactics for whatever reason
00:45:36
and then just imagined myself in it and
00:45:38
then I ended up like biting the bullet
00:45:40
so to speak and and actually doing it
00:45:42
and and then feeling out of my depth
00:45:45
once I was there same with Steed as a
00:45:47
pirate he's completely out of his depth
00:45:49
but it's too late he's there now
00:45:52
um so yeah I could really relate to this
00:45:54
guy yeah so like from a New Zealand
00:45:57
perspective it's just um it seems like a
00:45:59
success after success so we're like oh
00:46:01
[ __ ] uh Reese is doing a Nike commercial
00:46:03
with Roger Federer and then a year later
00:46:05
oh [ __ ] Reese is in a movie with uh Jim
00:46:07
Carrey and then you know so on and so
00:46:09
forth but I'm guessing from your
00:46:11
perspective for every one of these jobs
00:46:12
that comes through there's probably
00:46:13
another nine that slips through the
00:46:15
cracks or whatever so is it all success
00:46:19
success is it is easy and perfect as it
00:46:21
looks yeah or is it um have there been
00:46:24
some some Bleak times and some scary
00:46:25
times
00:46:26
the only Blake times uh really uh season
00:46:31
two of Concords
00:46:34
um when that had finished
00:46:36
um there was nothing else on the table
00:46:38
for me so I went back to uh went back to
00:46:42
London and to get back into the stand-up
00:46:44
scene and I kind of dropped out of it
00:46:47
um we had run out of money because the
00:46:49
uh
00:46:51
the the show didn't pay as much as what
00:46:53
people think it really did especially
00:46:55
the first season when you say we run out
00:46:56
of money you mean um
00:46:58
and uh because she had to give up her
00:47:01
job right so I'm guessing like Britain
00:47:04
Jermaine must have done well out of it
00:47:05
uh you were getting paid like an actors
00:47:07
fee or whatever yeah they didn't do it
00:47:09
as well as what people think either they
00:47:11
probably did a bit better than me but I
00:47:13
was yeah I was on a much more simple
00:47:15
simple fee for that because you imagine
00:47:17
um it's an HBO show you just assume it's
00:47:19
a big budget yeah and that's that's a
00:47:21
very uh kiwi mentality to think you know
00:47:23
okay big America thing you're gonna get
00:47:25
a lot of money but it doesn't really
00:47:27
happen that way and the money does go up
00:47:29
the more you stay in the game and uh
00:47:31
with contracts and everything you know
00:47:33
you get contracted into something and
00:47:35
then you know it depends how good your
00:47:37
lawyer is they can go okay the next year
00:47:39
of the contract he's going to get this
00:47:40
much more whatever but back in those
00:47:42
days we didn't have lawyers or anything
00:47:43
like that it's changed now now we have
00:47:45
like a full team of people that look
00:47:46
after us that's what America does to you
00:47:48
they kind of grab you and they go okay
00:47:50
you can be part of that but these people
00:47:52
are going to work for you and they're
00:47:53
going to give them 10 each
00:47:56
don't worry you're getting a million
00:47:57
bucks but you'll get 300 000 of that oh
00:48:00
okay love you man yeah you're the best
00:48:03
you're the best places yeah have a
00:48:05
Ferrari yeah yeah back on Tuesday how
00:48:08
long did it take you to sniff out the
00:48:10
[ __ ] I'm guessing it's fairly quick
00:48:11
you go to meetings you're gonna be a
00:48:13
star oh yeah no yeah definitely back in
00:48:16
the day we did the rounds of finding a
00:48:17
manager because I have a manager over
00:48:19
there had one for I've had one for
00:48:21
forever since I was over there but in
00:48:23
the early days you've got to find a
00:48:24
manager now with the agent I was lucky
00:48:27
enough to sign up to the same agency
00:48:29
that the Concords already had and so
00:48:31
because I went into doing that show
00:48:33
without that so I had uh I had
00:48:37
um I think I might have had an acting
00:48:39
agent here but it wasn't the one I
00:48:40
currently have
00:48:42
um in New Zealand it was like um a
00:48:44
little Ad Agency thing that you know it
00:48:46
was you know wouldn't have been helpful
00:48:47
at all and then England I I only had a
00:48:51
comedy agent uh just so basically um
00:48:53
helping me get my stamp and Up Kicks so
00:48:56
yeah I went into you know arguably one
00:48:59
of the the deepest pools of Brilliance
00:49:01
which is working on television
00:49:03
for HBO in America just a guy who'd done
00:49:06
nothing I mean I was my first acting job
00:49:09
so I just go over there like a you know
00:49:11
a bright-eyed little Cherry uh excited
00:49:14
to even see the tall buildings you know
00:49:17
and I get to act as well with my buddies
00:49:19
okay and so you see that when you see
00:49:22
the show and you think you could think
00:49:23
about that especially when you see the
00:49:24
pilot which I think we did in 2006 and
00:49:26
I've got this big you know Ginger here
00:49:29
and I'm sitting at this little the whole
00:49:31
set is uh was very cheaply made at that
00:49:34
point and I think once we got the series
00:49:36
you know we
00:49:38
um redid it to make it look as as though
00:49:40
it was the same but actually it was a
00:49:42
proper building at that point
00:49:44
um but yeah and I've lost track of what
00:49:47
I was going to say have you heard about
00:49:49
the different animals in uh Madagascar
00:49:51
no yeah so from that I suppose it led to
00:49:55
everything else you know yeah anyway I
00:49:57
was bringing me back to like I had hard
00:49:59
times for a while there definitely
00:50:00
financially after the after believe it
00:50:03
or not after the after the Concords
00:50:05
because I didn't know I was not enough
00:50:07
of a name in America to get any
00:50:09
certainly get no stand-up work and even
00:50:12
if I did they don't pay anything over in
00:50:14
America unless you're a big name you've
00:50:15
got to do the college circuit or you you
00:50:18
you have to it takes time to become a
00:50:21
comic celebrity over there and that was
00:50:23
not going to happen for me um so I went
00:50:25
back to where I knew uh I could earn
00:50:28
money and that was back in England
00:50:31
um and yeah it was it was um
00:50:36
it was hard I uh we I I got the call I'm
00:50:39
gonna say I'm getting this a little bit
00:50:41
mixed up it was after season one that I
00:50:43
went back and we had literally had no
00:50:45
cash and we had
00:50:47
um a little toddler at that point we
00:50:48
ended up living in tooting and I started
00:50:51
getting back on the comedy scene there
00:50:53
and that's when um the show thankfully
00:50:56
blew up so it was it it my space was
00:50:59
happening there we put the pilot out on
00:51:01
MySpace it got many many views and then
00:51:04
after doing season one
00:51:07
um Peyton Reed was a big fan of the show
00:51:09
he's a director and he
00:51:12
um emailed me directly as directors do
00:51:15
it's the only way
00:51:18
and he asked me if I wanted to have a
00:51:21
role in this new movie which which Jim
00:51:24
Carrey was in so it was like get out of
00:51:26
town is this a joke you know so I I
00:51:28
landed that role is another thing where
00:51:30
it's [ __ ] pay but you know it's going to
00:51:32
be a fantastic opportunity uh no I mean
00:51:35
in terms of what I was doing and
00:51:37
certainly the pay was okay you know but
00:51:39
yeah it's the first movie role so it
00:51:40
wasn't you know uh huge but it was
00:51:43
enough to and really it's not the pay on
00:51:45
these things it's how they look after
00:51:46
you right so they fly us back their
00:51:49
first class they get us a limo from our
00:51:51
little uh little tiny town that we were
00:51:54
in
00:51:55
um and to the airport and then first
00:51:57
class travel and then
00:51:59
um they put us up uh in a place for two
00:52:02
months while the shooting was on uh just
00:52:04
down the road from where we're filming
00:52:06
and and really it's kind of like I'm in
00:52:10
then uh and but I'm still uh always
00:52:14
thinking okay so what happens when this
00:52:16
finishes you know I I'm now I'm stuck in
00:52:18
the US again do I go back and do
00:52:20
stand-up so
00:52:22
um thankfully it's just the universe
00:52:23
really comes down to my performances and
00:52:26
these things so the Concords performance
00:52:28
for me was was obviously big and they
00:52:31
called it um the summer of Murray on the
00:52:33
in the New York Times I was on the
00:52:35
newspaper and they had a picture of me
00:52:37
on there and I was this new thing that
00:52:40
found that they thought was really uh
00:52:42
really different and and people used to
00:52:44
think where does this voice where does
00:52:46
he come from
00:52:48
is he a real is that really how he
00:52:50
sounds you know and it turns out yeah it
00:52:52
is
00:52:53
and that's why I've been still making
00:52:55
money on this voice ever since then
00:52:57
because I'm not going to change it this
00:52:58
is my this is a money maker this is my
00:53:00
nugget yeah absolutely and so things
00:53:02
were heading off there the big you know
00:53:04
the director of um yes man wanted me and
00:53:07
then who else picked up on the on the uh
00:53:10
on the bandwagon and that was uh Sir
00:53:12
Richard Curtis and so he he saw my work
00:53:15
on Concords and wanted me for his uh the
00:53:18
boat that rocked movie
00:53:19
um which uh you know yeah exactly which
00:53:23
was my next big thing and so I landed
00:53:25
that went back to England it's been like
00:53:27
a real rock and roll ride and through
00:53:29
all this you know I I could I could just
00:53:32
like put the stand up aside and then
00:53:34
from that I I think um I may get the
00:53:37
order on this wrong but that's when I
00:53:39
started getting offers from like Nike
00:53:41
and then HP
00:53:44
um what's the HP thing so that's uh
00:53:46
Hewlett-Packard yeah
00:53:47
for computers right uh touch screen
00:53:51
um home computers another commercial
00:53:53
that was a big that was a big payer
00:53:57
um that stuff's probably on YouTube yeah
00:53:58
and so I got that and then I came back
00:54:00
to New Zealand and got two degrees as
00:54:03
well and so everyone on the giant logo
00:54:05
ones exactly yeah yeah it's memorable
00:54:07
yeah and so it's kind of like oh wow
00:54:10
this is all coming together I might be
00:54:11
able to buy a house yeah so so there was
00:54:14
never a point where where you you and
00:54:17
your wife Rosie who's your manager uh
00:54:19
you you've got a young kid or two young
00:54:20
kids that you thought [ __ ] we need to go
00:54:22
back home and forget about the stream no
00:54:25
never right so I suppose there was a way
00:54:27
you always had like a backstop like you
00:54:30
can go you can always go well I've
00:54:31
always got to stand up or I've always go
00:54:33
to New Zealand and I've got a fan base
00:54:34
there yeah I liken it to
00:54:37
um riding dragons in the ionosphere so
00:54:40
you're basically right up there and
00:54:42
you're on a dragon and you're actually
00:54:43
running alongside on the on the on the
00:54:46
on the top of it and you get closer to
00:54:49
the head of the dragon and you're right
00:54:50
up there and you're holding on to the
00:54:52
reins of this massive dragon and you
00:54:54
realize oh my gosh this dragon's gonna
00:54:55
fall out underneath me so you're looking
00:54:57
up and you're finding another Dragon
00:54:58
that's out there in the sky and you leap
00:55:01
over to it and sometimes it's a side
00:55:03
leap or sometimes it's a smaller Dragon
00:55:05
but you're still up there and and you're
00:55:07
just riding dragons until you until you
00:55:09
fall off wow I get what you're saying
00:55:13
it's a terrible analogy though
00:55:15
people are going to be quoting that for
00:55:17
years so through it through this um
00:55:19
how's your mental health been through
00:55:21
the years so always been always been
00:55:23
Rock Solid yeah pretty chipper nothing
00:55:25
nothing gets you down you don't
00:55:27
well you know looking at uh my under
00:55:31
undiagnosed issues with my spectrum of
00:55:34
course I'm very sensitive so anything uh
00:55:36
will get me down where people don't uh
00:55:39
jump on board what I'm thinking or don't
00:55:41
like me I don't like that that hurts as
00:55:44
it does every human but it can hurt
00:55:46
highly sensitive people way more so you
00:55:50
know there's moments that you know when
00:55:53
I hear or see things that can get me
00:55:55
down but over time you know you what do
00:55:58
you mean like in terms of comments
00:55:59
reviews
00:56:01
comments people saying things that you
00:56:04
overhear some people or someone tells
00:56:06
you oh bloody this guy hates you or
00:56:07
these people don't you know so all I've
00:56:09
ever heard about heard about you and you
00:56:11
sort of even referenced this yourself
00:56:12
just before the only criticism you'd
00:56:14
hear from haters if you want to call
00:56:16
them that in New Zealand is that you're
00:56:17
a one-trick pony right right yeah they
00:56:20
always just he just does the voice yeah
00:56:22
yeah yeah I've already described how
00:56:24
many tracks I have on this podcast I
00:56:26
think it's more than one I can ride
00:56:27
dragons but when you hear something like
00:56:29
that just does does that hurt or are you
00:56:31
like well [ __ ] you I've done very well
00:56:33
with no one trick pony doesn't doesn't
00:56:35
hurt at all because I'm not a one-trick
00:56:37
pony and if I am that Pony's pretty
00:56:39
amazing
00:56:40
it's a very well fit yeah
00:56:43
stuff like people like I don't deserve
00:56:45
it or whatever or like why should it
00:56:48
happen to him and look I don't have the
00:56:49
answers for that I came from nothing you
00:56:51
know I was brought up by mum who was on
00:56:53
the benefit and we lived in a
00:56:55
two-bedroom flat uh she had a room I had
00:56:58
a room uh she didn't have a job uh and I
00:57:02
didn't have anything and so I just had
00:57:04
dreams and so why can't a kid who uh
00:57:08
didn't come from anything make it
00:57:09
through his uh manifestation of of what
00:57:13
he believed he wanted out of life you
00:57:15
know I think that's where people get
00:57:18
upset because they can't manifest it or
00:57:20
that's not happening for them and it's
00:57:22
because for whatever reason it's all
00:57:24
societal and circumstantial where you
00:57:27
are and what your next move is and
00:57:31
um
00:57:31
you know I I just put the blinkers on
00:57:34
early and looked at what I'm capable of
00:57:36
doing try different things I wanted to
00:57:39
be a ranger for for a long time you know
00:57:41
a wildlife Ranger mainly because I can
00:57:43
classify all the different animals from
00:57:45
the different areas
00:57:46
but look you're fine
00:57:50
you find who you are and you've you get
00:57:54
the closest uh people who are going to
00:57:56
help you and they're your true friends
00:57:58
and they've got your back as you've got
00:58:00
them and they uh help you realize your
00:58:06
dream and um you know my and you and you
00:58:09
don't have just one dream my initial
00:58:11
dream you know was a ranger and then a
00:58:14
being a soldier being an officer in the
00:58:16
military or the air for Air Force was
00:58:18
the first one I watched Top Gun and I
00:58:20
thought that's gonna be me and then I
00:58:21
realized no I got an F in physics and uh
00:58:24
there's no way I'm gonna be a fighter
00:58:27
pilot okay next uh what about a soldier
00:58:29
next best thing yeah pretty cool no no
00:58:32
good at that really apart from the
00:58:33
marching and uh Morse code's not
00:58:35
fashionable a journalist was the next
00:58:38
one you know because uh you know my
00:58:40
favorite book series Tintin he saw the
00:58:42
world he had a cute dog much like you uh
00:58:44
but um you know that was I I went to
00:58:48
University turns out it was a
00:58:49
postgraduate degree so I had to get a
00:58:52
degree and then do journalism and by
00:58:53
then I got bored of it and uh and
00:58:56
realized and uh that comedy was was the
00:58:58
strongest thing in my Essence it was in
00:59:00
my heart was entertaining and doing
00:59:03
funny voices and making people laugh and
00:59:06
so at that point New Zealand had caught
00:59:08
up with me there was an industry there
00:59:10
was a comedy club people were doing it
00:59:12
and there was really the the
00:59:13
groundbreaker was the was the
00:59:15
international festivals people were
00:59:17
coming here fantastic comics from Europe
00:59:19
and saying hey Rhys come and join us
00:59:21
back over there and uh and that was the
00:59:24
rest was history so who would [ __ ] on
00:59:26
you is it only new zealanders that
00:59:28
you're talking about it does seem like a
00:59:29
New Zealand tall puppies yeah that's the
00:59:32
only people that have ever tried to pull
00:59:34
me down well it's terrible because I I
00:59:35
think uh someone someone like you should
00:59:38
be applauded as well right yeah all the
00:59:43
four names that I mentioned before Brent
00:59:44
and Jermaine tiger and yourself it's
00:59:45
inspirational yeah and surely it says to
00:59:48
people [ __ ] I I can do this this guy can
00:59:51
do it I can do it yeah rather than he
00:59:53
doesn't deserve it look at all the good
00:59:54
musicians we have in this country and
00:59:56
and house and how far they go and and
00:59:58
Comics to a certain degree we're
00:59:59
catching up there as well you know we
01:00:01
have some names that are really making
01:00:03
at Rose matafayo overseas yeah
01:00:06
um so it can be done uh but you do have
01:00:08
to do the time and and there's a thing
01:00:10
here now especially with comedy whereby
01:00:12
a lot of the younger ones are jumping on
01:00:15
TV and getting jobs here and are
01:00:17
settling for that and there's no uh
01:00:19
there's no way up from there you know
01:00:21
you've got to go out and become a much
01:00:23
better comic than you would be just in
01:00:24
this country see the world and then take
01:00:27
those skills and you know this is just
01:00:29
me teaching everyone what I did but you
01:00:31
know not the only way but here you can
01:00:34
kind of get a job earlier on it was not
01:00:36
available when I was coming up through
01:00:38
the ranks I love ranking in this country
01:00:41
but now it is but then they can settle
01:00:43
for like a a radio job or a TV job
01:00:46
whereby um you know it's a pretty
01:00:48
average salary and then they go oh now
01:00:52
what oh we could do that one holiday a
01:00:54
year but look honestly the amount of
01:00:55
money that gets thrown at you in America
01:00:58
is ridiculous and the UK the amount of
01:01:02
um Gates that are opened at least they
01:01:05
were now the brexits maybe those gates
01:01:07
are shutting slightly but uh two other
01:01:09
things and also just the the best of the
01:01:12
industry over there you know being being
01:01:13
involved with with
01:01:15
um the best talent that you could ever
01:01:17
imagine on the planet and here it's just
01:01:19
you know you're limited but and also it
01:01:21
takes look how much does it cost to get
01:01:23
a house in this country it doesn't make
01:01:24
any sense it's ridiculous so you're just
01:01:28
striving to to be uh mediocre so you can
01:01:32
almost buy a house it's just it's like
01:01:34
I'm not telling everyone to leave but
01:01:37
um you know it's something needs to be
01:01:39
done uh in that regard and look it's not
01:01:42
my forte I just decided right from the
01:01:45
beginning that I was gonna leave this
01:01:47
place
01:01:48
oh there's my alarm looks like we're out
01:01:50
of time folks
01:01:52
that's the stranger things oh is it
01:01:56
wow is it a stranger things watch yeah
01:01:58
yeah we're from
01:01:59
stranger things
01:02:01
Timex I got it in America all right
01:02:03
awesome do you have to rip out how much
01:02:05
no no no no just put that on well I'm
01:02:09
loving I'm loving this so much sorry it
01:02:10
has been an hour of your time so you
01:02:12
mentally you're in a great place which
01:02:14
is which is bloody likely um do you have
01:02:15
any like tips or tools to to make sure
01:02:18
your mental health stays in a good place
01:02:20
can you can you feel if it's getting out
01:02:21
of kilter or off balance yeah I think
01:02:24
that the number one thing is is friends
01:02:27
and family and they're always uh your
01:02:30
your best allies
01:02:32
um friends in particular your close ones
01:02:35
have always got your back family can be
01:02:37
annoying but family will always be there
01:02:39
for you so even if your friends have got
01:02:41
to go away or Something's Happened you
01:02:43
had a falling out your family is just
01:02:45
gonna be it's your safety blanket so you
01:02:47
know but the family for families you
01:02:49
have to support each other and don't get
01:02:53
like um annoyed with each other or or
01:02:55
feel
01:02:57
um not bothered about each other which
01:02:59
is quite a kiwi thing as well we we need
01:03:01
to kind of uh raise each other up and
01:03:04
kind of be positive and you know there's
01:03:06
a a lot of negativity in this country
01:03:08
and I think one of the great things in
01:03:10
America I found was just so much
01:03:12
optimism and they are really proud
01:03:16
people they love you know how they're on
01:03:18
top of things and and where they can go
01:03:21
and you know no isn't really a word they
01:03:24
use much over there and I found that
01:03:25
refreshing for me because here in New
01:03:27
Zealand you know it's like oh do you
01:03:29
deserve that I mean you'll never get
01:03:31
that mate or whatever and then when you
01:03:33
go to you know the old mother country
01:03:34
over to Great Britain that's where we
01:03:36
bloody got it from because they're all
01:03:38
they're all upset miserable bastards oh
01:03:41
that's come over here you're from a
01:03:43
colony you're not gonna you know uh but
01:03:45
they I think it is changing younger
01:03:47
Generations are getting better certainly
01:03:49
the older ones were more miserable uh
01:03:52
but
01:03:53
um yeah I think um in terms of a mental
01:03:57
health it's friends and family uh are
01:03:59
your best allies and have more than one
01:04:02
thing going on and that's what I really
01:04:04
love is like for example yeah I do the
01:04:07
acting I do stand up I write the
01:04:09
children's books
01:04:11
um I enjoy
01:04:12
um keeping fit it's a really big thing
01:04:15
as you know for mental health oh sure
01:04:17
absolutely yeah keep fit and people
01:04:20
don't still don't really realize that
01:04:22
but that's probably in the top three
01:04:24
things you could do is just keep fit
01:04:26
because you then you're taking an hour
01:04:27
out of your day to not think about any
01:04:29
of those other things and concentrate on
01:04:31
building up what your your body or or
01:04:34
exercising and listen to some awesome
01:04:36
music music's really important uh your
01:04:40
favorite bands you've got happy you
01:04:41
happy playlist that gets you through the
01:04:43
day and and then the other thing is uh
01:04:46
yeah have many things to do and so I've
01:04:47
got my podcast which is my labor of love
01:04:51
uh with my my two good buddies where we
01:04:53
just talk about crypto geological
01:04:55
creatures and weird news
01:04:57
I find the best way to plug a podcast is
01:04:59
on another podcast yeah right so what's
01:05:01
the name of it it's called The Cryptid
01:05:02
Factor right and it's on uh all the all
01:05:05
the different platforms that's been
01:05:06
going for a while right I've been going
01:05:07
for yeah since 2008 that one oh [ __ ]
01:05:11
yeah yeah it started off with a radio
01:05:12
show on the actual radio and then we got
01:05:14
kicked off into another radio station
01:05:16
and then we ended up in another radio
01:05:18
station and then lucky along the way we
01:05:20
started recording them and then podcasts
01:05:22
became a thing and now we're now we're a
01:05:24
podcast that uh that has just kept going
01:05:26
and it's been it's been a like a side
01:05:28
hustle and so yeah I think you make some
01:05:31
money out of it no there's no money I
01:05:33
say hustle and uh just because I
01:05:34
couldn't think of another term but it's
01:05:36
just like a side love I guess so
01:05:38
something you do a hobby a hobby hobby
01:05:39
well I could have just said it's a hobby
01:05:41
uh but I like the term side Hustle
01:05:45
there's some money
01:05:49
there's no there's not much money then
01:05:51
we do have a patreon where if you want
01:05:53
to join you can get more content but
01:05:56
that money we save up and that we give
01:05:58
that to uh buttons if he wants to come
01:06:00
over to LA
01:06:02
uh he's the the producer of the podcast
01:06:05
um but anyway basically
01:06:07
um yeah have a lot of things going on
01:06:09
because if you're focused on one thing
01:06:10
and that gets you down
01:06:13
um then you kind of where do you go and
01:06:15
so you've got to have
01:06:17
um you've got to have fun things happy
01:06:19
happy places that you can cross into and
01:06:22
that and this is so simple like with
01:06:24
books or I have happy TV shows that if
01:06:26
I'm down I'll go and click that on you
01:06:29
know and um I don't know that those are
01:06:31
my little tips I like that yeah I like
01:06:33
that because I think with mental health
01:06:34
is no what's the one size fits all so if
01:06:36
it's yeah if it's a show that makes you
01:06:38
happy like love island or whatever then
01:06:39
go ahead and watch it what's your inner
01:06:41
voice like you you seem like very
01:06:43
self-assured do you do you beat yourself
01:06:45
up much or are you quite kind to
01:06:46
yourself
01:06:48
um I think yeah I think my inner voice
01:06:50
that's a good question I think it's
01:06:52
um always on track and uh you know
01:06:57
telling me
01:06:59
where I want to be it's telling me to be
01:07:01
cautious and telling me to
01:07:04
um just keep alert don't put a foot
01:07:06
wrong especially these days with all the
01:07:08
things that are going on
01:07:10
um and
01:07:12
don't put a foot wrong in terms of like
01:07:13
what's things
01:07:16
that's not a big one for me but it's
01:07:19
kind of like just yeah I can't imagine
01:07:21
you do anything like oh no not like that
01:07:23
but I think just be keep relevant and be
01:07:26
aware of uh society and just in terms of
01:07:30
like saying the wrong thing or or um
01:07:32
which is you know because we're from a
01:07:34
generation that we have to learn a bit
01:07:36
more than the younger ones do sure with
01:07:39
how we use words and things like that we
01:07:41
always we say the wrong thing all of a
01:07:43
sudden and then people will go hey you
01:07:44
can't say that with it oh sorry I'm from
01:07:46
1974. sorry you know things like that oh
01:07:50
that's great because they clipped that I
01:07:52
referenced before the Vanity Fair work
01:07:53
there's a scene in there where the joke
01:07:55
is kind of let everyone in New Zealand
01:07:57
knows everyone in New Zealand yeah and
01:07:58
Tiger shows you a selection of photos
01:08:00
and there's um Peter Jackson Jacinda
01:08:02
ardern and one of Melanie lynskey yeah
01:08:04
do all kiwis in Hollywood know each
01:08:07
other pretty much well no definitely
01:08:09
know of each other and have seen each
01:08:10
other once or twice if not regularly
01:08:12
yeah do you know this woman
01:08:20
yes of course
01:08:22
her name again Melanie and yeah you mean
01:08:25
some you mentioned that you've you've
01:08:27
met Melvin and Linsky once so it's um
01:08:29
It's Perfectly fair that you wouldn't
01:08:30
you wouldn't necessarily remember her
01:08:32
even though she does have a huge body of
01:08:34
work but um you sort of were you expect
01:08:36
that to be cut out by the way
01:08:38
uh because you sort of whispered a tiger
01:08:41
who is it yeah I didn't recognize her
01:08:45
right uh if that was if that was me I'd
01:08:48
be I'd be beating myself up for for days
01:08:51
over there I'd be out on a runner I'd be
01:08:53
like oh you did that Melanie lynskey
01:08:55
thing but no you're um and I I shouldn't
01:08:57
yeah but it's just how my brain works
01:09:00
yeah yeah yeah no no yeah I know the
01:09:02
beating up thing you if that does happen
01:09:04
you know when you when you you miss an
01:09:07
opportunity or you I think that's very
01:09:09
human for us too we're we're very
01:09:11
valuable and we we do stuff up all the
01:09:13
time but uh you've got to when you feel
01:09:16
yourself
01:09:18
um when you feel as though you have
01:09:19
stuffed up uh you've got to really move
01:09:21
on you can't dwell and it's it's yeah
01:09:23
you've got to move on from the door
01:09:25
you're good at that yeah
01:09:26
compartmentalizing things yeah I go
01:09:28
straight into my classification of
01:09:30
animals and I'm away
01:09:32
where does this all come from this like
01:09:35
I don't know this mental strength and
01:09:37
focus that you have has it just always
01:09:39
been there yeah I think so right from
01:09:41
the early age being a kid I just knew
01:09:45
that
01:09:46
I wanted to get somewhere in the world
01:09:49
and take it on and
01:09:51
um and never give up I mean I'm an Aries
01:09:53
so maybe my star sign has something to
01:09:55
do with it
01:09:56
um I have a lot of uh fire in my heart
01:09:59
and my soul and I really want to
01:10:02
I guess yeah get things done and and I
01:10:05
want
01:10:06
I want to have a good time yeah while
01:10:09
I'm here you know we may only be here
01:10:11
once and uh I think I think right from
01:10:14
the the essence of it was like I said
01:10:16
earlier on the show at the beginning you
01:10:19
know I felt like I'm a mistake and I'm
01:10:20
not supposed to be here and I feel like
01:10:22
I'm weird and so I'm feeling like right
01:10:24
if I'm if I'm an alien and I've just
01:10:26
landed I'm gonna conquer this planet and
01:10:28
then um and and prove to everyone that
01:10:31
I'm not a mistake or that mistakes uh
01:10:34
the most magical things you can get yeah
01:10:36
I think everyone feels weird though
01:10:37
don't they as you get older don't you
01:10:39
think you realize that everyone feels
01:10:41
exactly the same way
01:10:42
no I don't know I don't know I haven't
01:10:44
spoken to everyone
01:10:45
[Laughter]
01:10:52
yeah you know I feel like everyone does
01:10:54
okay so what's what's next for you are
01:10:55
you much of like a planner like a goal
01:10:57
Setter or do you just sort of take
01:10:58
opportunities as they come and assist
01:11:00
them yeah you can't you can't really
01:11:02
I've got to a point now where you know
01:11:04
the goals have been achieved to a
01:11:06
certain degree for sure and uh so now
01:11:08
I'm just like hanging on to this to this
01:11:11
current dragon and waiting for the next
01:11:13
phone to ring so you know you're still
01:11:15
as an actor you're still you know only
01:11:17
as good as your last performance and
01:11:19
you're waiting for the next opportunity
01:11:21
and you know these are coming
01:11:24
uh and and you know I did our flag means
01:11:27
death and it was a success so I'm I'm
01:11:30
okay I can I can relax we've got a
01:11:31
second series so I'm doing that I'm
01:11:33
filming that this year and uh I'm just
01:11:36
kind of enjoying trying to enjoy
01:11:39
um the place I'm in right now and and be
01:11:42
happy with with who I am yeah I feel
01:11:45
like you are good do I look like that I
01:11:47
feel like that is the glow maybe that's
01:11:48
the glow the glove oh no you just you
01:11:50
look very very content and and assured
01:11:54
and and happy and I I suppose the life
01:11:56
that you've created for yourself and
01:11:57
your family means that your kids at the
01:11:59
ages they're at now 12 and 16 Yes means
01:12:01
the the window of years that you've got
01:12:03
with them as kids is running out it's
01:12:05
running out and you get to spend this
01:12:06
time with them which is a luxury
01:12:07
absolutely yeah and and Rosie to her
01:12:11
credit she's very involved in making
01:12:13
sure that you know these years with the
01:12:15
kids uh the best they can be and we're
01:12:18
full of memories and that we can provide
01:12:19
and all that kind of stuff and and give
01:12:21
them these great opportunities which
01:12:23
also the state's office as well as as
01:12:25
well as here so yeah we're in we're in a
01:12:28
good we're in a good place but you know
01:12:29
the world isn't in a great place and so
01:12:31
there's still that like volatile
01:12:34
situation of like what's going to happen
01:12:36
what's what's China doing what's Russia
01:12:39
doing you know oh we've got New Zealand
01:12:41
I know
01:12:44
this is my military stuff again I'm
01:12:46
always looking at things like your
01:12:47
strategies and what plans and countries
01:12:49
are thinking of and then I go nope move
01:12:51
back to your happy place you know you're
01:12:52
a pirate
01:12:54
entertain yeah no you can't you can't
01:12:57
like dwell on on on negative stuff like
01:13:00
that but um you never know what's around
01:13:02
the next corner so I think now more than
01:13:04
ever you know pandemic everything like
01:13:07
that is just enjoy yourself on a
01:13:10
day-to-day basis and just take each day
01:13:12
as it comes
01:13:14
um and be thankful for the things that
01:13:15
you do have yeah not probably a nice
01:13:18
place to end it I think yeah thank you
01:13:20
so much for your time today I've I don't
01:13:21
know how many times uh I've interviewed
01:13:23
you on the radio maybe maybe twinning a
01:13:25
few yeah um but I've really enjoyed this
01:13:27
conversation yeah it's been awesome to
01:13:29
have a nice big in-depth one yeah this
01:13:30
is what I'm going to do about podcasts
01:13:31
you can you can go to places that you
01:13:33
wouldn't necessarily go to On the Radio
01:13:34
Chat yeah like if it was radio I'd have
01:13:36
to ask you if you've had like Rita Ora
01:13:38
over for dinner with tiger yeah we don't
01:13:40
need to have you no no
01:13:43
thank you yeah thanks bro thanks very
01:13:45
much for making it all the way through
01:13:46
that episode of Runners only with dom
01:13:48
Harvey with Rhys Darby really hope you
01:13:50
liked it use your Spiel at the end of
01:13:52
the podcast
01:13:53
um if you like it make sure you
01:13:54
subscribe wherever you get your podcast
01:13:55
from or take a moment and give it a
01:13:58
rating or even a review if you want if
01:14:00
um the podcast platform that you listen
01:14:02
to allows you to do so if you're a
01:14:04
regular listener uh like you listen
01:14:06
every week I can't tell you how much I
01:14:08
appreciate having you along for this
01:14:09
journey and another little favor you can
01:14:11
do if you want if you can think of
01:14:13
someone that you think may like this
01:14:14
podcast or get something out of it
01:14:16
please do recommend it to them or share
01:14:19
it on your social media channels I can't
01:14:21
underestimate just how effective That
01:14:23
Word of Mouth marketing is all right
01:14:25
thanks very much really appreciate you
01:14:26
being here hope to see you next week
