His new Mr Adventure tour kicked off today (April 17) and is taking in the length and breadth of New Zealand.
TNT took the chance to find out more, and to ask if we will ever see Murray again…
We must confess, we miss Murray. Do you miss him too?
I do miss playing him. It was a lot of fun. It was a very exciting time in my life. Things were really taking off and we were having all this success on a fantastic network in America. It was all a bit dreamy, looking back. Murray was a character that felt very natural to play. I just sort of plucked him out of nowhere. I suppose he was inspired by the multitude of bosses I’ve worked for; I think a bit of a throw-back to my military days are definitely in there. Some of the guys who used to tell me what to do and really had no idea what they were doing (laughs). He’ll always be close to me, that character, and the three of us get together to reprise those roles and do a little skit here and there, for charity events and things like that.
There was talk of a film…
There has always been talk of a film – it’s one of those mythical things (laughs). I think there will be a point in the future, when things calm down a bit, and we’ll get together and possibly do that. Never say never… but don’t hold your breath
Do you often get asked to ‘do Murray’ as it were?
Not in my live stand-up shows, because most people who come to those know what I do is very different. But I get requested to play him for various projects.
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Do people shout “ginger balls” to you on the street?
No, I’ve never had that – I get the odd “Murray!”. The funniest one was when I was on safari in Tanzania. There I was looking at giraffes and things like that, and I heard “Murray!”, and there was this Land Rover full of Americans looking through their binoculars at me (laughs).
For your new show you are rocking a ’tash. What with Murray’s goatie and now the lip fur for Mr Adventure,do you find your facial hair gives you comedic powers?
Yeah it does. It’s all about the hair really. I’ve got big, thick hair – a lot of people used to think my hair was a wig when I did The Conchords because of the way they combed it; it looks like they just bought something and plonked it on there. It was refreshing to get rid of the goatie, and the moustache makes me feel more adventurous. And I like any excuse to look like a dork (laughs).
You’re touring New Zealand in May and the UK in July. New Zealand is, of course, your home country, but the UK is arguably where you found initial success on the comedy circuit – where do you feel most at home when on stage?
That’s a good question. It probably is the UK for me because I spent a good seven years there and that’s where I really cut my teeth in stand-up. So, yeah, the UK audiences are probably my true homies.
Tell us about Mr Adventure…
Over the last few years I have been on a number of adventures and I looked back and thought, ‘Wow, I should tell some of these stories.’ I’ve been to Africa a few times, trekking for mountain gorillas, I’ve been up Mount Kilamanjaro. I’ve been to Loch Ness twice. There I stayed with a new-age, raw-food-eating Buddhist couple who introduced me to UFO spotting. They were possibly shooting stars or satellites, but I got swept up in the whole thing; some of them moved in such a fashion that you would question, ‘Are they something else?’. The woman also told me she had seen the Loch Ness monster twice, so I will put that in the show.
Our readers are travelling types – what tips would Mr Adventure give them?
To go off the beaten track. Follow your nose. Go to places that have been recommended by Lonely Planet and so on [“or TNT” we interject] or TNT more importantly! (laughs) – but it’s meeting the locals that is going to lead to new adventures. They want to meet people from other places of the world, tell their stories and lead them in different directions – if you listen, you will have a different experience to the one you would if you just did the tourist thing.
Mr Adventure will tour New Zealand until May 31. To book, click here.
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