What We Talk About

You can learn a lot from Youtube, and Joel Hansby has. Or at least a little bit about a lot of different things. Hear Joel talk about various obsessions and how Youtube has fuelled them all. See Joel perform in Dorkward with Josh Davies at Ivy Bar in Wellington and Q Theatre in Auckland. Tickets from comedyfestival.co.nz

When we approached James about performing at What We Talk About, he had two ideas for obsessions, Pokemon or his porn addiction. While we love Pokemon, we could not help but ask him to talk about his porn addiction. See James Roque in James Roque Wants to Show you Something, at Q Theatre this week, and in Frickin Dangerous Bro’s Money in the Bank at Basement Theatre this week and BATS Theatre next week.

Shetland is a tiny set of islands a fourteen hour ferry ride north of Scotland and is Marjolein Robertson’s home. She has been in New Zealand touring her show Relations in the Fringe Festivals and we were lucky enough to share a venue with her at Auckland Fringe and have her talking about her obsession with Shetland Folklore on our podcast. You can see Marjolein Robertson on BBC’s The Social talking about Shetland Life.

Hamish Parkinson doesn’t have any long running obsessions but his short lived obsessions have led him to some odd situations. Hear Hamish talk about running into racists on the beach and his pretty bird collection. See Hamish in Fuq Bois in the New Zealand International Comedy Festival. Tickets from comedyfestival.co.nz

Most people don’t want to known as having an obsession with celebrities, but Alice Snedden isn’t most people. Listen to Alice talk about the lengths she’s gone to encounter celebrities and try to understand the level of her obsession.   See Alice in Self Titled in the New Zealand International Comedy Festival. Tickets from comedyfestival.co.nz

It was incredibly easy to book Chris Parker to speak at What We Talk About because Chris will never turn down an opportunity to be on stage. Why? Because Chris loves attention. He has loved it his entire life, so listen to this episode and help Chris fulfil is ongoing goal of constant attention.  See Chris in D.O.C.ing by Parker and Sainsbury in the New Zealand International Comedy Festival at Basement Bar in Auckland. Tickets from comedyfestival.co.nz

It is not am exaggeration to say philosophy has changed Ray O’Leary’s life. Ever since he was a teenager it has interested him, and he followed that interest through to studying it at university, despite his parents disapproval. Hear how philosophy hooked Ray, and how he has applied it to his life to make him who he is today. See Ray’s Billy T Award Nominated Show ‘A Pessimist’s Guide to Optimism’ in the upcoming New Zealand International Comedy Festival. Tickets from comedyfestival.co.nz

If someone explains to you the plot of Doctor Who, you might not think it seems that interesting, but it’s huge cult following will tell you otherwise. Hear Josh talk about what makes Doctor Who so amazing, and why it has stuck with him as his favourite TV show for so long. See Josh Davies perform in the NZ International Comedy Festival in Dorkward with Joel Hansby. Tickets available at comedyfestival.co.nz

We all have a special place in our heart for the television we grew up watching, but it usually doesn’t quite go as far as Paul’s obsession. Hear him talk about his favourite weird families from 1980s sitcoms and sing the theme songs from memory. See Paul in Talk Show and Tell an alternative comedy showcase the first Thursday of every month at Golden Dawn in Auckland. 

At the same time most children were fascinated by cartoons, Baz Macdonald was fostering his obsession with Jeff Wayne’s disco funk masterpiece musical version of War of the Worlds. This opened up a whole world of weirdness that has seen Baz through to adulthood. Recorded at a fundraiser for Youthline and the NZ Mental Health Foundation. If you enjoyed this episode please consider donating. We had technical difficulties on the night so please excuse the audio quality.  

Sometimes you need something to remind you about how terrible people are. Lucky for Aaron Pyke we have the stuff.co.nz comments section. Hear Aaron talk about the origin of this obsession and his favourite types of comments now.  Recorded at a fundraiser for Youthline and the NZ Mental Health Foundation. If you enjoyed this episode please consider donating. We had technical difficulties on the night so please excuse the audio quality.

There isn’t much that Jess Brien loves more than Home and Away. It’s made her friends, dominated her social media and taken up a lot of her life. She has learnt to embrace her obsession and has come out to her friends and family as a Home and Away lover. Hear the extents of Jess’ obsession and what it is about it that draws her in.  We had technical dificulties on the night so please excuse the audio quality. 

Pip has been told throughout her life she needs to cheer up. She’s spent years researching happiness and what it can do for you and how to attain it, and she has finally found the answer.   Pip Adam is the author of the short story collection Everything We Hoped For, which won the NZ Post best first book award in 2011, and the novel I’m Working on a Building, and is the host of Better Off Read, a podcast about reading and writing in New Zealand. You can get her books from Victoria University Press, and you can listen to her podcast at betterreadnz.wordpress.com

John Summers’ money obsession isn’t with saving money, or making money, he doesn’t have much interest in those things, it’s with not spending money. Hear John talk about where this obsession came from, and how it impacts his life today.  John Summers is the author of the excellent book of personal essays, ‘The Mermaid Boy’, published by Hue & Cry Press in 2015. He won the non fiction award in the 2016 Sunday Star Times short story competition for his essay ‘Missing’ and was one of the recipients of the 2017 D’Arcy Writers Grants. 

Dame Donnatella Holmes, one of NZ’s top actors and television hosts is often forgotten. But Laura Robinson hasn’t forgotten about her. Hear Laura talk through Donnatella Holmes’ career and learn about this unforgettable NZ Celebrity. Laura Robinson is the head writer and creator of the suburban wellington web series BURBS. You can watch the first season of BURBS at www.burbs.tv and you can support their second season by contrubuting to their pledgeme campaign

German is not often appreciated as a language, it’s been described as ugly be many famous writers, and the country has a history that is not often romanticised. Despite this Henrietta Bollinger has grown an obsession with German and Germany. Hear her talk about what it is that obsessed her, and why it’s important to love learning foreign languages.  Henrietta Bollinger is a playwright , a poet and an accidental sociologist. Her plays have been staged in New Zealand, Australia and England.  Her most recent writing has been for Salient, discussing current disability issues in the column Token Cripple.

There’s nothing better than a true underdog story, and that’s why Joseph Moore loves the Wellington Phoenix. The ups and downs of the Wellington Phoenix have mirrored the ups and downs of Joseph’s own life, and he’ll go to the ends of the earth to support him.  This is the final episode of season 3 of What We Talk About, recorded live at Montecristo during the New Zealand International Comedy Festival in Auckland. We’ll be back with more new episodes before the end of the year. 

There’s nothing Brynley won’t do to get free stuff, even if it makes no sense. She takes full advantage of free samples, entering every competition available and the even occasional theft. Hear Brynley describe her obsession for free stuff, how it’s affected her life and some of her best hauls.

The words ‘renaissance man’ is used to describe a person who’s expertise span several fields, and gets thrown around a lot undeservedly. When Jonny Potts calls Cliff Twemlo a renaissance man, he’s absolutely correct. Cliff was a nightclub bouncer, film maker, library music composer, extra, body builder and novelist, and renaissance man is perhaps the only way you can possibly describe him. Hear Jonny describe Cliff’s history and what it is about Cliff Twemlo that obsesses him.  Jonny is our second return speaker in What We Talk About, listen to his first episode featuring his obsession with Whanganui in episode 11. 

Melanie Bracewell has been playing Neopets for most of her life. Hear her talk about stories from her Neopets past, Falling out with Neopets friends and how to come up with the perfect Neopets username.