by Noni Doll
Rhys Darby is doing his first stand-up tour in ten years in 2025, but is he nervous? Absolutely not. After all, even when he’s not doing comedy, he still lives a touring lifestyle.
“It feels like getting back on a bicycle,” he says in his instantly recognisable New Zealand twang. “I already travel a lot for acting jobs. Hotels and airports: I basically live in them. Almost more than home, I think.”
Fortunately for us, a Canberra hotel is but one place he will keenly plant the Darby flag.
“I like Canberra. It feels like a very well-planned city…” he says, before expressing a little bit of disappointment he doesn’t get to spend more time getting to know the places he’s gigging in.
“I kick the night off with some local re-par-tway,” he says, mispronouncing the word for comic effect. “I want to have a look around; it’s very important to me. I love going out after the show, getting a bit of the local nightlife, meeting fans…”
For his new show, boldly titled The Legend Returns, Darby has one big target in his comedic sights: technology.
“I’m touching on the artificial intelligence stuff happening and Elon Musk’s idea that we’ll all have a robot and how ridiculous that is,” he reveals. “The phone’s doing everything these days… and the phone was something I didn’t need!”
However, among the silliness, he says there’s a serious issue at its core. With the potential to negatively affect himself and his industry, he’s more than slightly worried about it.
“The strikes with the writers and the actors—and a lot of it is because of AI—the more we advance down this route, the less creative and human we risk becoming.”
It is ironic, then, that this passion has kicked off his own very human creativity.
“[The show] is my take on, ‘Is it the right choice to go down this route, or can we decide that being human is more important than this tech stuff?’ Because I also do voice work, which might be thrown back at me. ‘You don’t even need to come in now! We’ve got machines that do this!’
“It’s getting quite scary [but] it’s my silly take on it.”
Heavy topics are a regular element of comedy these days, but it’s not one many associate with Darby’s work. As a result, did he feel obligated to include something deep and meaningful in his new show?
“You don’t need an agenda, but people always ask for it!” he says, expressing a shade of surprise. “It’s nice to walk away with something. It’s not smashed into your face, but there’s some thought-provoking,” he explains, somehow ending the sentence on the phrase as a verb rather than the usual descriptor (which, of course, he somehow makes work).
“We can tackle some topic you talk about in the kitchen with friends and laugh about it, going ‘Hahaha… oh shit, we better think about that’.
“But at the same time, there’s pure escapism. I enjoy doing that, too. I dance around, the audience woohoos, then I do some impressions, I improvise… So I can go off on a tangent,” he says, before acknowledging he gets to do something most stand-up comics could only dream of: “There’s a part in my show where I get to sit down!”
While some might say that age could be a factor in his newfound semi-Luddism, Darby—who cracked the big five-oh in 2024—insists that it’s brought him a comfort he wasn’t expecting.
“Initially, I was very upset by turning 50,” he reveals. “You think, ‘Oh my gosh… now I’m OLD!’ The decade of being in your 40s was so much fun. Your kids are older… For me, one’s gone to New York, he’s in his second year of uni—that was weird, but I’ve gotten used to that—and our younger son is 15, so he’s in the final years of school, and we’re helping him through that.
“But since my birthday in March, I’ve been really comfortable with it. We are where we are. I know everything I need to know,” he says. He continues with an air of contentment.
“There’s a certain respect you get from age,” he ponders. “I still feel like a kid. That’s great to have inside you, but a big part of me also enjoys keeping up with global events.”
He pauses to laugh before adding, “As well as having a coffee in front of the fire with the cat on my lap.”
As for his former partners in crime, Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie of Flight of the Conchords (the role of the band’s manager Murray in the show remains one of Darby’s most iconic roles), and filmmaker and actor Taika Waititi, age and schedule means they don’t get to spend the amount of time together they used to.
“We see each other less and less, so it’s really cool when we get to hang out,” Darby says. “The guys from Flight of the Conchords have lived in Wellington this whole time; I’m in LA; Taika’s got a place in LA and Auckland. So, we always try to go out for dinner when we’re in Wellington.”
It’s easier for Waititi and Darby to spend time together, though, given they’re more likely to be on the same continent. “My wife [producer Rosie Carnahan-Darby] and I were looking at houses for him!” Darby states, possibly hinting at a future in real estate. “You know the drill: ‘This one’s a nice one!’ and ‘This one’s too close to ours, so that’s not a good idea…’” he chuckles.
Life in LA is a long way from growing up in New Zealand in the ‘70s, a time spent harbouring a love of British comedy to the point where being a comic actor was all he wanted to do.
“Monty Python; the David Croft catalogue, Dad’s Army, Hi-de-Hi!, Open All Hours, The Goodies… I just watched these British comedy shows over and over. They made me laugh, and I wanted to be one of them. It was just silly comedy and really connected with me.”
Finally, given Darby’s brief stint in the NZ Army in his 20s, it seemed fitting to ask if he had any guidance for those studying at one of the capital’s key institutions: the Royal Military College, Duntroon. Unsurprisingly, his words were full of encouragement.
“Stick with it; you’re on the right path,” he says with pride before adding, “And do what you’re told!”
He then adds that the skills he learned in the service also serve him well in civilian life.
“It’s important to have a hobby so you don’t get too engrossed in the discipline you’re living under,” he says. “When I left, it made me really proud of what I’d achieved and to have developed the discipline to do what I do: turn up on time, be honourable, that sort of thing.”
That’s good advice for everyone.
Rhys Darby brings his show The Legend Returns to Canberra Theatre on Saturday, 19 April, at 7:30pm. Tickets range from $71.60 to $81.85 and are available from Canberra Ticketing | rhysdarby.com
