Parker performs his comedy special “Give Me One Good Reason Why I Shouldn’t Throw My Phone Off That Bridge” at the ASB Waterfront Theatre on August 23.
Photo: NZ International Comedy Festival
Comedian Chris Parker owes a lot to his phone, but he still feels the need to throw it off the highest bridge he can find.
It is the theme of Parker’s upcoming winter comedy special Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t throw my phone off that bridgewhich he will perform twice at the ASB Waterfront Theatre in August.
Parker has been on the comedy scene for a long time, but his Instagram posts – sometimes featuring impressions of his mother or of him felting forest animals – have catapulted him into a new era of success. He explains his complicated relationship with his phone The Tahis That’s right, Schwalger.
“I’m totally addicted to my phone but I also kind of need it for my work. I’m so grateful that I have quite a big audience here in Aotearoa and I have Instagram to thank for that… this show is a bit of a mental back and forth between wanting to throw my phone off the Harbour Bridge and feeling so grateful for Instagram at the same time.”
Parker wrote the show earlier this year and performed it to audiences across Australia and New Zealand as part of the New Zealand International Comedy Festival – the upcoming encores are part of the festival’s winter special.
He says the show has simply gotten better over time.
“There’s a lot to it. You know, underneath all of that is this general loneliness and isolation that everyone feels, and this desire and need to connect. We do that digitally. So I keep checking my phone to see what my friends are up to. They’re all in London, they’re all in Melbourne making more money,” he laughs.
“That’s why I keep going back to the phone. I’m just trying to fix the relationship so I’m not constantly scrolling and feeling awful.”
Parker says part of the process is developing the show and seeing what resonates with different audiences. He will test the material at smaller performances first and go from there.
“I have a few ideas in my notes app and then I try out those ideas in front of an audience that’s had a few drinks to lighten the mood a little bit, but I very rarely write like that… it’s a lot about storytelling, I write my jokes like that, you know, when you have a really funny story that you tell over dinner, that’s kind of how I do it.”
“You tell it a few times and then you think, if I change something here and increase the tension, I’ll get more out of it, I’ll do something like that… but there’s no better inspiration than a pressing deadline.”
At a gig in Australia, there are about 200 people. In New Zealand, it’s more like 2,000. Parker says audience reactions to jokes can vary, but not for the reasons you might think.
“I think we live in such a global world, everyone is online, everyone has the same references, everyone has seen people swimming in the Seine, everyone has seen Trump, we know everything. I find attitudes are more generational, and now that everyone’s algorithms are really pushing them into certain areas, it’s always interesting what references resonate with people.
“Maybe it’s a little bit because I perform all over New Zealand, in more densely populated areas compared to smaller rural towns. The difference is quite interesting. It’s quite a lot of work to put on the same show and fit it into these very specific contexts.
“That’s where the pressure starts to build when you think, ‘Okay, Hawke’s Bay, I love it, but I’ve never been there, I’ve never done a show here, how are they going to pick this up… but I’m really trying to build a connection.'”
But it’s not enough to nail the comedic material anymore – you also need a strong social media strategy to make it work. Parker has a knack for that.
“The reason I’m doing two shows is because I’m going to film them so I can make little clips out of them. It’s the content cycle, which is you create the material, you perform the show and then you chop it up into 60-second reels that ultimately benefit Mark Zuckerberg. That’s what I’m going to do, but I’m really excited, obviously under a lot of pressure, I’m going to be at my best, I’m going to look amazing because it’s going to live on the internet forever.
“And if you haven’t seen it, I honestly think it’s one of my funniest shows… I’m going to be sad not to watch this show over and over again because I’ve done it so many times now that there are so many jokes in it. It’s cool to be able to film it, there are parts I’d like to put online, but comedy is so much funnier in real life. It’s so much funnier than watching it on your phone.”
Parker appears Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t throw my phone off that bridge on 23 August at the ASB Waterfront Theatre, at 6.30pm and again at 8.30pm. Tickets are available from comedyfestival.co.nz.
