Comedian, actor, and musician Jonny Brugh has spent his adult life entertaining audiences, starting with hordes of drunken students in the 90s. With a 'rich white arse" role in the soon-to-be-released Mum, I'm Alien Pregnant, Brugh is the latest to face a 1News Grill.
Which is most thrilling: acting, performing music, or making people laugh?
Definitely performing music and making people laugh! I like acting in my own stuff, but mostly I take acting jobs to pay the bills. I’m really only cast as the middle-aged rich white arse — which is fun too. I get a lot of pleasure being part of awesome screen projects and watching everyone do their thing on set.
Who is the most underrated person in New Zealand?
Everyone is underrated in New Zealand. No one here earns enough or lands enough work to feel successful.
Working on Educators, I watched people like Kura Forrester do fantastic work. I often think how rich and famous she might be if she worked in the US, where an actor-comic can make serious money and feel successful.
Where and when did you experience your toughest live audience?
I recall being a young, starving comic in the ’90s, performing for huge crowds of drunk students. My duo Sugar & Spice [with fellow comedian Jason Hoyt] would do some fairly risky stuff and get booed us off stage. I loved the absurdity and the rock ’n’ roll nature of it. We were more performance art than comedy. The whole experience of bombing, killing and bombing again toughened my skin. Driving home after hideous bombs with Jason Hoyte, both of us hysterical with laughter and humiliation, is something I cherish. Failure was/is an important part of staying innovative.
What will be the biggest issue on your mind when you vote this November?
Trust.
I'm meeting more people my age who can’t trust anything. I feel a lot of empathy for older men who can’t trust the world they live in. Their own families see them as idiots. It must be horrible to feel that way. I've kinda chosen to just listen now – making some feel bad about it doesn’t help.
What's one movie you can watch again and again?
Withnail & I. Richard E. Grant and Paul McGann in their youth and Richard Griffiths a glorious actor! All three get to sink their teeth into their roles. One of the executive producers was George Harrison from the Beatles!
It’s about two out-of-work actors who escape their filthy flat for a holiday in the English countryside. Uncle Monty (Richard Griffiths) appears with saucy intent causing a hilarious rift in their friendship. It’s wonderfully chaotic, drenched in wine-soaked 'success anxiety’.
Which three adjectives best describe you as a teenager?
Playful, expressive, inquisitive.
With good friends I was playful. I found fun and games everywhere. At school I never understood why some of my teachers would shout at me. I couldn’t understand what they were talking about, so I wandered off to make my own fun.
I made the TV series Educators partly because of the dysfunctional nature of my schooling. I look back at my teachers now and wonder what their private lives must have been.
Who do you envy?
No one.
What's one vice you'd like to quit or reduce?
Smoking.
How would you describe the creative life?
Unpredictable. To be a filmmaker you need to be tenacious.
To young people hoping to be part of that world, I'd say: Don’t take no for an answer. Convince others of your passion rather than your perceived ability. We are all still learning. Convince others by inspiring them with your ideas rather than your ability. Think like a producer: How can I make a project with zero funds? Reach out to those you admire for help – we all like to feel included in exciting things.
As a GenX, which albums encapsulate the 80s and 90s for you?
In the eighties, I loved Led Zepplin, Violent Femmes, The Cure. At 14 I didn't understand love songs, of course we all do as we get older.
In the nineties, I loved bootleg recordings of loud, messy NZ punk bands.
Why should people go to see Mum, I'm Alien Pregnant?
It’s beautiful.
My two favourite comedy actors (and therefore ‘actors’) in New Zealand are Jackie van Beek, my long-time friend and co-creator or Educators; and the wonderful genius that is Yvette Parsons.
Which role are you most recognised for on the streets of Aotearoa?
Deacon the vampire from What We Do in the Shadows, Jared Needham from Educators, and Sugar from the ’90s absurdist comedy duo Sugar & Spice.
Mum, I'm Alien Pregnant is in cinemas from September 10. But for ten days (starting August 28) there will be select screenings around Aotearoa, followed by Q&A sessions with the film's writer and directors. For those times and theatres, check out this site.
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