Australian comedian Heath Franklin is touring the country with his new show, Repeat Offender, as his criminal alter ego, Chopper. We caught up with him on his way south.
A I had no idea it would be this big, or any big, or anything at all. One day I was doing it in a rundown theatre at uni and the next it was on national TV. That's when I suddenly realised that if he wasn't watching he would find out sooner or later.
Q Why Chopper?
A Because he is charming, and violent, and apologetic, and slightly mythological, so I can draw on any of those seemingly conflicting and diverse traits whenever I like. Also, his life and the perception of his life are significantly more interesting than mine.
Q Did you ever meet the real Chopper?
A Yes. It was for a photo shoot, so they wanted me to dress like him and I think as a general rule you should never meet anyone dressed as them. Try it sometime.
Q What did he make of you?
A He was begrudgingly supportive. He did recommend that I cut my ears off to do a ''proper'' job' of it.
Q Did he have a sense of humour?
A It was not particularly evident that day, he did say that ''impersonation is the highest form of flattery''. I don't know where satire fits into the flattery spectrum, though.
Q Despite the fact New Zealand audiences are unlikely to be as familiar with the real Chopper as Australians are, the humour appears to travel really well. Why is that, do you think?
A I think Australians and New Zealanders have [or at least had] very similar senses of humour. I try to make sure that you don't have to be an encyclopaedia of Chopper's life to enjoy the shows as well. I try not to question the wonderful response I get over here, just enjoy it for the most part.
Q New Zealand's funniest ever man, John Clarke, moved to Australia where I understand he's done tolerably well for himself (you can send him back whenever you like). Do New Zealanders and Australians share a common sense of humour?
A Yeah, I think we both used to have very dry, bleak senses of humour. New Zealand probably more so these days. They are both pretty rugged climates in a lot of ways and I think you need to be able to find a way to laugh at floods and droughts and all the natural calamities our countries throw at us. That said, I think Australia has been a bit too comfortable for too long and we are starting to lose that.
Q Are Australians funnier?
A No. There are more of us trying, but I don't think you could say we're funnier.
Q Is having a sense of humour an even more essential cultural requirement for Australians than New Zealanders?
A I kinda touched on this above, but I think Australia really needs to stop taking itself so seriously at the moment. There is a correlation between hardship and a sense of humour, I reckon.
Q Have you toured Chopper further afield?
A I've been to the UK. I'd love to go to Canada, I keep hearing about Chopper fans in Canada. I don't know how that happened but I can't wait to find out.
Q How was he received in the UK?
A It was good. A lot of expats saw me in the UK but I think for the locals it was a bit of an antipodean freak show, like thawing out some sort of colonial caveman and showing it off to the nobility.
Q Chopper works himself up into states approaching apoplexy during your shows, is that pretty exhausting?
A It's a little bit tiring but I am at work. It's less exhausting than some of the jobs I had before this one. Like carrying scaffolding for 12 hours a day.
Q Is it cathartic? Are you the rest of the time the most chilled dude on the planet?
A It is cathartic. I love a rant, I think people mistake it for maliciousness or cynicism but it's really self-applied therapy. Frustration seems to be a common state for me so it's nice to have a bit of a high-powered whinge about something that is grating. Once you can get an audience to laugh at one of your problems it seems to be mitigated somehow. It's not just an annoying experience anymore, it's the origin of some material you love.
Q You are doing more comedy as yourself these days, is that liberating?
A It's nice to have that second outlet. There are things I can say as me that I can't say as Chopper and things I can say as Chopper that I would never get away with saying as me.
Q What has it allowed you to make fun of that Chopper would never touch?
A My personal life mostly, being a father, touring etc. Chopper stand-up is full of bravado and fiction while stand-up as me is slightly more self-deprecating, vulnerable and closer to reality.
Q After Groucho Marx, do you have the second-best fake moustache in comedy?
A I have the second and the third. I always travel with a spare. No-one wants to see bald-faced Chopper just because Heath left one in a hotel somewhere.
Q Your tattoos appear to be rendered with equal skill on both arms. Are you ambidextrous?
A I'm ambidextrous when it comes to sharpie/vivd tattooing. I don't know why but I ended up with all the complicated stuff on my right arm so my left hand has to do the hard work. I make a very stupid concentration face when I do my right-arm tattoos.
Q You seem to fit in fairly seamlessly on 7 Days, but is it a disadvantage that you might miss the odd reference to local goings-on?
A Sometimes that naive incredulity is just as helpful in dissecting a topic. I kind of get everyone to rewind to the root of the topic, which I hope exposes more of the ridiculousness of the story. Everyone on the show is always really generous about making sure I'm included, but I'm very comfortable there now.
Q Is Dai Henwood entirely computer-generated?
A Yes. 3-D printers are amazing things. I would like to take a copy of him home on a thumb drive.
Catch him
Heath Franklin, as Chopper, performs Repeat Offender at:
• Queenstown Memorial Centre, June 4
• Dunedin Regent Theatre, June 6all about it
