Halfway through a 17-date national tour, Rhys Darby and his intrepid cohorts are very much in their stride as they step up to play the mighty Civic, nearest thing we’ve got to a Carnegie Hall.  Opening night, they should be rather pleased with this particular show; it flies, it pops and it meanders into some rather bizarre places, the near-capacity house behind him every step of the way. And then it comes back, making funny noises and camp miming gestures all the way, and takes off in another unlikely yet, in context, totally feasible direction. 

The fairly extensive warm-up package begins with Darby’s bodyguard, park ranger Bill Napier’s music video of his latest down-home pop single about his blessed occupation tending Nuzillan’s majestic wilderness “like a lean clean mean green killing machine, without the killing”.  After which, Mr Napier appears in person with the permission of Mr Darby to try his hand at this stand-up comedy thing which he reckons looks easy.  From a medium distance in his khaki ranger suit and respectably full moustache, with his laconic southern-man drawl, he could be channelling a young Barry Crump. 

Having warmed us up for the warm-up act proper, Bill introduces Cornwall’s greatest hip-hop gangstsa-rap duo export, Hedluv and Passman.  Hedluv wears the red beanie and the ‘Doin it Dreckly’ teeshirt, plays the casio-tastic keys and raps. Passman’s the one in the singlet and satin burgundy short shorts, with the Freddy Mercury vocals and the Village People dance moves.

Their properly solid beats and tunes belie the laughably lame subject matter of their glibly artful rhymes. From the idiosyncrasies of Cornish dialects to eating chocolate while watching David Attenborough, they’re the most banal lyrics I’ve heard since The Streets. The contrast between their aggressive rapping and their gentle in-between banter is also notably amusing. 

After the interval, the main act kicks off with another video, this time from an old wizardly Slartibartfast sort of chap claiming to be sending this message across time from a certain mystical locale of popular legend.  This sets up the premise as implied in the title: man goes into the world to observe and experience the marvels and wonders of exotic locales – coastal Thailand, the deep Rwandan jungle and a wee pond in the north known as Loch Ness – with only with his guides’ counsel, his overactive imagination and the occasional psychoactive beverage to go on. 

Darby’s definitively Kiwi character eschews the cringey ineptitude of his world-famous Murray persona, instead presenting an unapologetically potty-mouthed good keen man, often venturing into quite camp territory speaking both geographically and personality-wise.  There’s still a clear sensitivity to his nature, but he’s been at it long enough now with enough success to provide the fortitude to take us on his wildly unusual ride with confidence. 

His openly blunt dismissal of one determined nonsensical heckler, shouting over a scene-setting anecdote, is met with unanimous appreciation in the form of just about the loudest applause of the evening.

Projected cartoon backdrops literally illustrate the scenes of Rhys’s fantastical exploits, while his irrepressible guest act returns periodically to supply a culturally appropriate musical atmosphere.  The heart of this entertainment, though, is Darby’s ingenious narrative, whereby many a ludicrous notion shared in passing is later revisited to maximum comic effect.  What begins as a casual rave about the personal benefits of his recently adopted skinny jeans style ends up as an epic episodic odyssey, spanning the external globe and the inner depths of a playful, intelligent, somewhat warped mind.  All the makings of a local legend.

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A park ranger/head of security might not be what you expect as the opening act to Rhys Darby’s 2014 New Zealand Comedy Festival show, but alter ego Bill Napier’s attempt at what he refers to as the easy art of comedy is as amusing as his delivery is dry. From the ridiculous lengths he goes to in researching his first joke, to his revealing poetry, Darby/Napier, in full ranger uniform no less, is yet another example of the former’s ability as a character actor/performer. The same, however, cannot be said about Darby’s supporting act.

It’s understandable that Hedluv + Passman have received mixed reviews in the past. The musical duo’s style is incredibly incongruous with Darby’s act, and it’s not quite clear why they’ve been billed with a comedy show – other than Darby’s generosity at giving them a go in front of such a large crowd. There was an immediate sense of misapprehension from the audience, as we all slowly came to the same realisation following the first song that this was what was on offer for the remainder of act one. While Hedluv + Passman might work in the right setting, The Auckland Civic Theatre as a venue, and the crowd who had come to see Darby, were not it. [More] 

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Returning to the Wellington stage two years after his ‘This Way to Spaceship’ tour, Rhys Darby is firmly cemented as one of New Zealand’s biggest comedians. With recent appearances on major US comedies like Modern Family and How I Met Your Mother only heightening his celebrity, a near-capacity opening night crowd is abuzz with expectation. 

The night begins with Bill Napier, Darby’s humorous alter ego park ranger from Pohutukawa Park. He treats the audience to stories of how being a man of adventure makes him the ideal support for the rest of the show. As a way of warming a crowd up, Bill Napier serves his purpose well (his poem about trees is particularly hilarious), leading us nicely into the main support act of the evening.

Hedluv & Passman are Cornish rappers who walk out in a humble manner; a manner which is at odds with the wonderfully bizarre four song set they deliver. Their opening song, ‘Doing it Drexly’, is an undoubted highlight, leading into raps about swimming and nature. Whilst they are met at first with a fairly bemused response, their energy and lyrics soon win the crowd over, leading into a final number which has the entire audience up on their feet dancing along.

Passman is captivating with his wacky dance moves and Ron Burgundy looks. They are so unique that it is perhaps unfair to compare them to anyone, but there are definitely elements of ‘Flight of the Conchords’ in their performance. 

After a short break we are shown a wacky video introduction of Darby as an old man delivering a message from the long-lost city of Atlantis. Striding out onto the stage to large applause, Darby’s brand of physical humour is in full effect throughout his polished ninety-minute set. From his early material on thieves and skinny jeans through to his stories about encountering gorillas in Rwanda and going to Loch Ness, this is a show which boasts plenty of notable laughs and set pieces assisted by a large projector screen and musical accompaniment from Hedluv & Passman. 

Some of the best parts of the show are when Darby goes off on tangents, saying and doing things he obviously wasn’t intending to but running with it regardless and seeing how far he can take it. A superb example of this comes when he describes being busy in his laundry and his hand movements resemble that of a Rubik’s cube being solved. The results are almost always hilarious.

His material about the whimsical challenges and amusing quirks of his marriage feel especially refreshing and real, something which it would be great to see more of in future shows.   

On the whole though, a Rhys Darby show is one of pure escapism. If you are willing to go along for the adventure with him, you won’t be disappointed. This is a comedian at the peak of his powers and clearly having fun with it. The addition of the Cornish rappers Hedluv & Passman adds an extra layer to the key comedic set pieces in the show, providing a musical accompaniment which allows Darby to shine.

The conclusion to the show, with nods to his most celebrated impression, is extremely fulfilling and ties together many of the seemingly random stories we had previously been told. It all adds up to a crazy and enjoyable two hours of entertainment.

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