"F**kin' hello, kiddies!!"
It's the catch phrase that brings a smile to the face of many a Kiwi - and now, Heath Franklin's Chopper is back on our shores to offend the masses! With a schedule that spans from Auckland to Invercargill, New Zealand’s ‘most wanted’ funnyman is taking his ‘A Hard Bastard's Guide to Life (or how to be less of a f**ktard)’ tour on the road this month.
So to kick things off we sat down with the man behind the moustache, ARIA and Logie Award nominated comedian Heath Franklin, to talk Kiwi comedy, hecklers and how he cracked the biz...
CC: Hi Heath! You’ve been doing improv and comedy since your University days – was it something you always wanted to do?
Heath: Not really, I mean it started out a hobby and then it became a viable alternative to real work - I kind of put a little bit more time into it. But if you told me 10 years ago that this is what I’d be doing for a living I probably would’ve laughed at you.
CC: How do you go about developing your character impersonations, like Chopper, Bear Grylls and Matt Preston?
Heath: I think for the most part it’s just about repeated exposure to it. I watched the ‘Chopper’ film with Eric Bana far too many times, and I guess in the same way that everyone started doing the Austin Powers stuff, you know, all that ‘Groovy Baby’ business I was the one running around going, ‘Oh I’m gonna stab you in the face’ or whatever. Which may not have been quite as popular, but that was my angle.
CC: Do you find that characters are less likely to be heckled?
Heath: No, I find Chopper is almost a heckle magnet. For some reason a lot of alpha males, usually after having a few brown spirit and cola drinks from a can (not to stereotype anyone…) I find some people are like ‘alright this guy thinks he’s hard, I’m going to see if I can take him down.’ But I think I’ve got a pretty good strike rate with hecklers, I hope I’ve sent a few home crying.
CC: Your stand up is wildly popular in New Zealand - how do you rate the Kiwi comedy scene?
Heath: I think it’s great, I mean as usual New Zealand is very much punching above its own weight…There’s some really great comedians in New Zealand. I haven’t had a chance to see tons of it, unfortunately part of being involved in shows and festivals is you don’t get to see as much as you’d like. But yeah, there’s some funny stuff, and it’s quite interesting and quite different too you know, it’s got its own voice.
CC: You shot your first feature film ‘Predicament’ in New Zealand last year – how did you find that experience?
Heath: That was good! I spent two months shooting ‘Predicament’ down in Taranaki which was interesting. Getting to work on a feature film, you feel like a kid in a candy store. And getting to work with Jemaine Clement was obviously a real buzz as well, and Tim Finn. Since then I’ve switched on the TV a few times in New Zealand and seen a lot of my co-stars in other TV shows which is a bit of a buzz too. One of them was in 'Avatar' which was kind of cool, so you’re watching that and blue aliens are jumping round and you go ‘Oh there’s Dave!’ and then blue aliens again.
CC: Which do you prefer – live stand-up, or tv and film work?
Heath: I think if given the choice I would definitely do both. Doing stand up is great because you get that immediate response, but there’s a really gratifying permanency to doing something like film, where you know it’s going to be around for a long time and it’s quite meticulous and you’ve got to get it right. They’re both so different that it would be awesome to be able to keep doing both if possible.
Chopper's ‘A Hard Bastard's Guide to Life (or how to be less of a f**ktard)’ is coming to a town near you this month! CLICK HERE for a full list of dates...
It's the catch phrase that brings a smile to the face of many a Kiwi - and now, Heath Franklin's Chopper is back on our shores to offend the masses! With a schedule that spans from Auckland to Invercargill, New Zealand’s ‘most wanted’ funnyman is taking his ‘A Hard Bastard's Guide to Life (or how to be less of a f**ktard)’ tour on the road this month.
So to kick things off we sat down with the man behind the moustache, ARIA and Logie Award nominated comedian Heath Franklin, to talk Kiwi comedy, hecklers and how he cracked the biz...
CC: Hi Heath! You’ve been doing improv and comedy since your University days – was it something you always wanted to do?
Heath: Not really, I mean it started out a hobby and then it became a viable alternative to real work - I kind of put a little bit more time into it. But if you told me 10 years ago that this is what I’d be doing for a living I probably would’ve laughed at you.
CC: How do you go about developing your character impersonations, like Chopper, Bear Grylls and Matt Preston?
Heath: I think for the most part it’s just about repeated exposure to it. I watched the ‘Chopper’ film with Eric Bana far too many times, and I guess in the same way that everyone started doing the Austin Powers stuff, you know, all that ‘Groovy Baby’ business I was the one running around going, ‘Oh I’m gonna stab you in the face’ or whatever. Which may not have been quite as popular, but that was my angle.
CC: Do you find that characters are less likely to be heckled?
Heath: No, I find Chopper is almost a heckle magnet. For some reason a lot of alpha males, usually after having a few brown spirit and cola drinks from a can (not to stereotype anyone…) I find some people are like ‘alright this guy thinks he’s hard, I’m going to see if I can take him down.’ But I think I’ve got a pretty good strike rate with hecklers, I hope I’ve sent a few home crying.
CC: Your stand up is wildly popular in New Zealand - how do you rate the Kiwi comedy scene?
Heath: I think it’s great, I mean as usual New Zealand is very much punching above its own weight…There’s some really great comedians in New Zealand. I haven’t had a chance to see tons of it, unfortunately part of being involved in shows and festivals is you don’t get to see as much as you’d like. But yeah, there’s some funny stuff, and it’s quite interesting and quite different too you know, it’s got its own voice.
CC: You shot your first feature film ‘Predicament’ in New Zealand last year – how did you find that experience?
Heath: That was good! I spent two months shooting ‘Predicament’ down in Taranaki which was interesting. Getting to work on a feature film, you feel like a kid in a candy store. And getting to work with Jemaine Clement was obviously a real buzz as well, and Tim Finn. Since then I’ve switched on the TV a few times in New Zealand and seen a lot of my co-stars in other TV shows which is a bit of a buzz too. One of them was in 'Avatar' which was kind of cool, so you’re watching that and blue aliens are jumping round and you go ‘Oh there’s Dave!’ and then blue aliens again.
CC: Which do you prefer – live stand-up, or tv and film work?
Heath: I think if given the choice I would definitely do both. Doing stand up is great because you get that immediate response, but there’s a really gratifying permanency to doing something like film, where you know it’s going to be around for a long time and it’s quite meticulous and you’ve got to get it right. They’re both so different that it would be awesome to be able to keep doing both if possible.
Chopper's ‘A Hard Bastard's Guide to Life (or how to be less of a f**ktard)’ is coming to a town near you this month! CLICK HERE for a full list of dates...
Copyright : Comedy Central New Zealand