It’s been a long time since Rhys Darby lived in the land of the long white cloud.
But it’s where he’ll be kicking off his international standup tour The Legend Returns, in March 2025. It’s a joyful return and a milestone after a long hiatus from touring.
It’s a big deal. He’s a big deal. Comedian, writer and star of screen and podcast, arguably one of New Zealand’s most significant exports alongside high quality dairy (and other high quality comedians, like his friend and collaborator Taika Waititi).
Rhys Darby’s 2025 tour dates
- 27th March – Wellington Opera House, Wellington, New Zealand
- 28th March – Nelson Theatre Royal, Nelson, New Zealand
- 29th March – Isaac Theatre Royal, Christchurch, New Zealand
- 3rd April – Bruce Mason Theatre, Auckland, New Zealand
- 4th April – Bruce Mason Theatre, Auckland, New Zealand
- 8th April, 8:15pm – Melbourne Athenaeum, Melbourne, Australia
- 9th April, 8:15pm – Melbourne Athenaeum, Melbourne, Australia
- 10th April, 8:15pm – Melbourne Athenaeum, Melbourne, Australia
- 11th April, 8:15pm – Melbourne Athenaeum, Melbourne, Australia
- 12th April, 8:15pm – Melbourne Athenaeum, Melbourne, Australia
- 13th April, 7:15pm – Melbourne Athenaeum, Melbourne, Australia
- 15th April – Norwood Concert Hall, Adelaide, Australia
- 17th April – Odeon Theatre, Hobart, Australia
- 19th April – Canberra Theatre, Canberra, Australia
- 22nd April – Newcastle City Hall, Newcastle, Australia
- 23rd April – Anita’s Theatre, Wollongong, Australia
- 24th April – Enmore Theatre, Sydney, Australia
- 25th April – Enmore Theatre, Sydney, Australia
- 27th April – Regal Theatre, Perth, Australia
- 28th April – Regal Theatre, Perth, Australia
- 30th April – Princess Theatre, Brisbane, Australia
- 1st May – Princess Theatre, Brisbane, Australia
- 2nd May – Princess Theatre, Brisbane, Australia
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And yet the only thing my Kiwi friends were desperate for me to ask about? Kiwi food: his thoughts on ‘asparagus rolls’ (“I think they’re weird and fun and I’ll have more than one.”), Kiwi dip (“Love it. Top marks, and hard to get here because you’ve got to have the special soup mix.”) and his Longest Drink In Town milkshake syrup of choice (“Toss-up between creaming soda and caramel. Creaming soda’s nostalgic because that reminds me of my mum. If we’re out, I’d always get a creaming soda milkshake.”) A test from countrymen of his continued New Zealandness, perhaps.
He’s based in LA now, and when we talk, Darby’s been on a series of gigs in the US, constructing material. It’s been 10 years since his last global tour, but he said it feels like getting “back on the bicycle”.
“It’s easy,” Darby said. “Last year I did a 25-year celebration tour, a ‘best of’ show in the UK. That and a couple of shows in New Zealand kind of re-whet my appetite because I’ve been concentrating on acting for the last decade. I forgot how fun it is to be in a live environment, just feeling the energy of the audience. I thought gosh darn it, let’s do it again!”
His new show, drawn from a decade of notebooks and on-stage creation, has been refined into a reflection on the rapid pace of technology and the future of humanity and creativity.
“It’s all about AI, robots and technology,” he said. “The thing that’s hit me in the last ten years is how quickly things have changed. We’ve got these ‘large language models’ and artificial intelligence, whether you like it or not they’re on our phones, they’re everywhere. And they’re telling you, oh let me help you with that, I’ll do that for you, and you say wait, wait, I want do my own stuff, thank you!”
“Turning 50 this year was also a big one for me, it’s a milestone and I’m kind of tackling being an older guy trying to stay relevant. Do I keep up with all the AI stuff? Do I as a creative want to fight it or not? If it’s happening now, where are we in five, ten years, and should the creative side of humans stop it from diminishing us as a species, which I feel some tech does tend to do. There’s the social media side that’s keeping us together and enabling humanity to bond closer in some ways. But then there’s the other, toxic side of that coin… Are we heading down the right track?”
His thought-provoking curiosity has a regular outlet in his long-time podcast, The Cryptid Factor, dedicated to cryptozoology and the unexplained. While he’s a cryptid enthusiast with a soft spot for El Chupacabra, the goat sucker (“We actually found one! This lady called Phyllis in Austin Texas captured one and got it taxidermied. It’s a freaky, freaky little creature.”), cryptids are unlikely to make an appearance in stand-up (“It doesn’t seem to work.”)
And for all that his topics of AI and technology are almost anxiously relevant to the present moment, Darby said he generally steers clear of controversial current event subjects in his routine.
“I stay away from all that because I just try to give people their happy joy,” he said. “Comedy of silliness.”
It’s that signature silliness of storytelling, physical comedy and an impressive library of sound effects that defines his standup.
“If I dug deep enough, the root of that would probably be things like Spike Milligan, the Goon Show, Monty Python,” he said. “I like doing multiple characters in a story. I’ve always been able to do sound effects, as a kid playing with my toys, doing the sound of sirens and helicopters, the list goes on. Once I heard them amplified through a microphone back in the early days, I realised the audience loved that, it sounds really cool. It became my thing by happy accident.”
Darby finds qualities of his comedy that are broadly, culturally Kiwi – those same aspects that global audiences have found so charming in New Zealand-led works like Flight Of The Conchords.
“I think there’s a kindness element to my comedy,” he said. “A very low-fi, innovative nature to the characters. That kind of Murray Hewitt-esque vibe of living on a very low budget and loving it. I think the New Zealand psyche is making something out of nothing, and taking on the world. The little guy who’s punching his way out. Also the silly nature of my style, which could be taken as a British thing. I think the New Zealand version comes with a much drier sense of humour, self-deprecating.”
Darby’s first The Legend Returns show in Wellington on 27 March starts three busy months performing across New Zealand, Australia and the UK. It could be a daunting prospect after all this time, but he’s visibly excited.
“I’m really looking forward to the whole thing, and meeting the fans,” he said. “I just gotta get on the road, get into those big theatres and make people laugh.”
Get tickets to Rhys Darby’s tour dates here.
