Rhys Montague Darby
(born 21 March 1974) is a stand-up comedian from New Zealand, known for his energetic physical comedy routines, telling stories accompanied with mime and sound effects [1] of things such as machinery and animals. [2] Darby was nominated for the Billy T Award in 2001 and 2002. [3]
Darby is probably best known for playing the band manager of Flight of the Conchords in the BBC radio series (as Bryan Nesbitt) [4] and HBO television series (as Murray Hewitt).
He appeared on a British children's television program "The Slammer" during the first season of the show.
He is also doing several advertisements for the cellphone company 2degrees.
He appeared on Soccer AM on the 18th of October 2008 and on Never Mind The Buzzcocks
on the 23rd.
The DVD of his live performance Imagine That! has gone platinum in New Zealand.
Rhys has also recently appeared on New Zealand sports comedy skit show Pulp Sport, and plays the character Angus in the British film The Boat That Rocked.
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RHYS DARBY TICKETS
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Biography
A former soldier (signaller trained in morse code), he left the New Zealand army in 1994 and went to university to become a reporter.
[5] In 1996 he formed a comedy duo,
Rhysently Granted, with Grant Lobban.
[6] After winning an open mic contest at Southern Blues Bar in
Christchurch they began performing at local venues.
[7] Rhysently Granted performed at two international comedy festivals which led to Darby moving up to
Auckland to seek more solo stand-up experience.
[8] After performing his first solo show at the
2002 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, where he first met Jemaine Clement and Bret Mckenzie, Darby moved to the UK to pursue his career further.
[9]
In 2004 he appeared in the Flight of the Conchords BBC radio series as the band's manager Brian Nesbit
Darby plays Murray, the band's manager, on Flight of the Conchords TV show. He also provided vocals for the track
Leggy Blonde
on their
self-titled first album and also in the second series of the show on the track 'Rejected' during the episode
A Good Opportunity.
Darby played the role of Norman, the boss of Jim Carrey's character in the film
Yes Man
.
[10] In July 2008 he appeared in a
Nike advertisement featuring
Roger Federer, he played an impostor posing as Federer's coach.
[11] [12]
Rhys Darby's hair colour is self-described as
Electric Copper
in the episode of
Flight of the Conchords
entitled
Murray Takes It to the Next Level
. He also refers to this in his stand-up show
It's Rhys Darby Night
which he performed at the
Edinburgh Festival Fringe from 6–15 August 2009.
[13] He is 5'10" and has hazel eyes.
Darby played the role of Angus in the Richard Curtis film
The Boat That Rocked [14] released in the UK on the 1st of April 2009.
Lately, he has been in New Zealand filming T.V. ads for NZ's new mobile network
2degrees and appearing in NZ shows Rocked the Nation 2, Jaquie Brown Diaries and Intrepid Journeys. He has also branched out in to producing live comedy with his wife. At the NZ INternational Comedy Festival they produced shows for local legends Brendhan Lovegrove, Jeremy Corbett and Paul Ego. He became a climate ambassador for Greenpeace in its Sign On climate campaign
[15] and published a poem on in support of the campaign.
Personal Life
Rhys lives in Auckland, New Zealand with his wife Rosie Carnahan-Darby. The couple have one child; Finn, born in 2006.
[16] he has size 11 feet and his favourite colour is green.
Filmography
Television
Year
| Titles
| Role
|
2009
| Intrepid Journeys
| Himself
|
2009
| ROVE
| Himself
|
2009
| Thank God You're Here
| Himself
|
2009
| Spicks and Specks
| Himself
|
2009
| Rocked the Nation 2: 100 NZ Pop Culture Moments
| Himself
|
2008
| The Comedy Store Live
| Himself
|
2008
| Yo Gabba Gabba
| Himself
|
2007 - present
| Flight of the Conchords
| Murray Hewitt
|
2006
| The Slammer
| Himself
|
2005
| Mighty Truck Of Stuff
| Himself
|
2001 - 2002
| Billy T Award
| Himself
|
1999 - 2000
| Pulp Comedy
| Himself
|
Films
Year
| Titles
| Role
|
2010
| Coming and Going
|
|
2009
| Diagnosis: Death
| 'Specialist'
|
2009
| The Boat That Rocked
| Angus
|
2008
| Yes Man
| Norman
|
References
- Rhys Darby's review : Chortle : The UK Comedy Guide
- The Apiary - Inside With: Rhys Darby By: Keith Huang
- http://rhysdarby.com/download/Rhys_Darby_Biography.pdf Rhys Darby Biography
- BBC - Radio 2 Comedy
- Performance in University Comedy Show
- "Mrs Whippy" song by Rhysently Granted
- Rhysently Granted performance in Christchurch bar 1997
- May 2000 Stand-up Performance
- http://rhysdarby.com/download/Rhys_Darby_Biography.pdf
- Darby joins Jim Carrey movie : News 2007 : Chortle : The UK Comedy Guide
- Roger Federer's coach 'revealed' in Nike advert - Telegraph
- Video of Darby's Nike advertisement
- http://edinburghfestival.list.co.uk/event/10001823-rhys-darby-its-rhys-darby-night/
- "The Boat That Rocked" complete cast list
- Sign ON campaign
- Rosie Carnahan on MySpace