Analiese Jackson

Some of you may have been fortunate enough to have seen the Ronnie John’s Half Hour, a rather amusing Australian comedy sketch show. If you haven’t seen the show itself, you may have heard of its most popular caricature, Chopper Read (who, as you may well know, is based upon the notorious Australian underworld figure), who is revels in telling everyday, city dwelling citizens to stop having a whinge. More specifically, he recommends that you: “…take off your skirt, grow a moustache and Harden The F*ck Up”. These particular sketches, portrayed by Heath Franklin, became an overnight hit thanks to online channels such as YouTube and have resulted in a cult following of Chopper and his antics (look them up, if you’re interested. They’re crass, but guaranteed to give you a good laugh).

I was rather delighted to hear that Chopper was gracing our shores and made sure to get in early when buying a ticket. This proved to be a smart idea, as the SkyCity theatre was packed to full capacity. Surprisingly, I thought Chopper would attract a wide range of bogans, but rather it was mainly full of young, inebriated Uni students and well dressed middle aged couples, which made me chuckle a bit even before the show have started. Perhaps this was due to the fact that bogans and hardened crims can’t laugh at piss-takes of themselves, suggested my friend later on that night. Perhaps.

The strength of Chopper’s live show lies in the fact that Franklin is incredibly good at interacting with the audience. Engaging in much banter with rowdy audience members (many of whom felt it necessary to yell “CHOPPPPPPPERRRRRRRRRR” in the middle of each sketch), it was easy to differentiate between what had been rehearsed previously and what hadn’t (the latter, as it turns out, being far funnier). His irreverent sense of humour spared no prisoners as he identified wanky businessmen, homeless people who rant, rugby union players and Scottish men (who lose points for wearing ‘skirts’, but win for carrying knives in their socks) as people who need to harden the f*ck up. It might be thought of as tactless by some, but humour is often a form of social commentary and my god, is Chopper right on the money in terms of his observations.

Definitely worth the money (a surprisingly inexpensive $33 dollars for good seats), Chopper is well worth going to see in the flesh. Here’s hoping he returns to New Zealand for next year’s International Comedy Festival and that you too can s.