Talk the Talk: Rhys Darby interview on Philebrity!

Hello everyone! I know I have been absent for some time now, things have been nuts around here;
looking for new jobs, involved in a new relationship, and a whirlwind of other things.

One of my all time favorite websites, Philebrity, posted an interview between Rhys and Philebrity's creator, Joey Sweeney. It's pretty good. Hope everyone is well!


Talk The Talk: Rhys Darby

Don’t say you don’t know Rhys Darby: He’s Murray, the band manager from Flight Of The Conchords. But, yes, previous to this interview, that was where our knowledge of Darby ended as well. Turns out, he’s quite a guy. Darby has a standup gig at the Trocadero this Sunday night, and after the jump, he waxes philosophic about fame, the New Zealand army, the upcoming season of FOTC and the cause of physical comedy. And we kick it all off with a “Best of Murray” highlight reel.


PHILEBRITY: Hi Rhys! This is Joey Sweeney, editor at Philebrity.com. Glad to talk with you.

RHYS DARBY: Hi Joey. i a good typer.

PHILEBRITY: Whenever we do one of these IM interviews, I always get a little paranoid: What if this isn’t actually the person I’m supposed to be interviewing? So soothe me: Tell me something about yourself that ONLY RHYS DARBY WOULD KNOW.

RHYS DARBY: Ok umm…. my middle name is montague. which is quite cool, a few of my peers now that. or at least they tell me it’s cool.

PHILEBRITY: That is quite cool. So, I’m guessing that a lot of the press you’re doing right now in the States is “Who the hell are you and where the hell do you come from?”-type press. But I think I can get that out of the way right now by saying that most folks know you as Murray from Flight of The Conchords and that New Zealand is the amazing nation that gave us such great bands as The Clean, The Verlaines, The Bats, The Chills, and so on. However, I’m wondering: How famous are you in your homeland? Could you draw an analogy to a U.S. comedian?

RHYS DARBY: It’s fairly hard for me to gage as i haven’t been home much in the last 2 years. But each time i return i seem to be a little bit more famous. The last time i was there was in June this year. I walked around the local shopping mall and i could sense a lot of eyes on me. Mind you that could have been the shirt i was wearing, it was very much like nightwear. Umm since then, I’ve been on the covers of about 3 magazines and my standup dvd was just launched there this week along with a show being televised on primetime on Friday night… so i’m a bit scared by the time i get back this christmas that i’ll be as noticable as say maybe a… Chris Rock in the U.S.

PHILEBRITY: You are the Chris Rock of New Zealand! Bolder, blacker, deffer. It says in your Wikipedia entry that before your career in comedy, you were a soldier. What can you tell me about the NZ army?

RHYS DARBY: The NZ army is small but hefty! We have fought alongside our allies in the major wars. You know, all the popular wars: ww1, 2, Korea, Nam… And then we refused to help in Iraq. Too hot i think. But we sent medics. We now help out with peace keeping and for the most part just hang out at home and are ready for civil and natural emergencies. Rescuing sheep is big on the agenda at winter time. I was a signaller for 3 years. That means i was in charge of the radio equipment. I was also trained in Morse Code. That was the coolest bit. If i ever get caught buried in the rubble of a fallen building i can tap tap out a message …___…___

PHILEBRITY: You really am good typer!

RHYS DARBY: I know Nam wasn’t popular but it i’m talking about popularised on … film and in culture… i learnt to type in the army as well!

PHILEBRITY: I think at this point I’m honor-bound to ask you a question about Flight Of The Conchords, which is a great show, by the way, and also one with really surprisingly rabid fans. Who, I’m sure, would declare this interview a failure if I didn’t ask you what to look out for on the upcoming season of the show. Without dropping spoilers, can you tell me anything about it?

RHYS DARBY:We find out if Murray keeps his position as a succesful manager. When we left him he had a BMW and was about to have lunch with Tori Amos… Things are picked up where we left of there. Throughout the second season we delve into the lives a bit more of the secondary characters and there is a bit more singing and dancing than before. The best thing is though that the show wont differ too much from the first season, by that i mean the real brilliance was in the dialogues between the characters and the importance of band meetings and friendships. This is continued and know one is any more clued up on NYC than before… although Murray would like to think he is…

i have bad use of the words know and no…

PHILEBRITY: Oh man, I hope Murray can hang in there. Last question: Much of what I’ve read about you describes you as a “physical comedian,” which of course conjures legends like Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton. It would seem that as the first world gets more and more obese and sluggish, physical comedy is becoming a real premium in the entertainment world. How far would you go to advance the course of physical comedy?

RHYS DARBY: Do you mean would i encourage teaching of it? There’s plenty of clown schools for that, but i agree that it is not as popular as it once was, but actually it is just as well recieved by audiences when it’s done right. I saw a physical comedy act by a man who fitted his whole bodythrough a tennis racket the other day and i was crying with laughter, but not so much at the phyical feat, which was amazing but it was the words and the timing of his comicness (new word) that really made the act amazing. Same thing with CC and BK, they have the physical side down pat but the key is to be funny in the opposite way to go along with it. Subtle eye movements, the voice and what you say must all come into effect perfectly to hit the mark. If you do physical comedy well, then your making it look easy. I would love to advance physical comedy. In fact Murray gets a bit more physical in FOCT season 2.. but never over the top!

PHILEBRITY: Heavens no! Well, Rhys, I thank you so much for your time! Have a great gig in Philly!

RHYS DARBY: Thanks man. I can’t wait!

source:

That was a great interview. It makes me want the second season right NOW!! I can't wait.

The fact that he said he 'can't wait' for philly makes my heart happy " title="" border="0"/> " title="" border="0"/>

TOMORROW!!!!!! " title="" border="0"/>

btw - Hi Kelly! :-*

Welcome back, Kelly!!!!

This was awesome. I love it. Thanks for sharing it with us.