Chopper comedian: 'I've done the F word a few favours'
Twenty years’ ago, Australian comedian, Heath Franklin never imagined he’d be flying around the world “with a moustache in a box".
With his take on the late Aussie hardman Mark ‘Chopper’ Read, Heath Franklin struck comedy gold.
Franklin is bringing his show, Chopper: The Last Hard Bastard on Earth o New Zealand next month.
Chopper holds an enduring appeal for audiences, he told RNZ’s Nights.
Australian stand-up comedian and writer Heath Franklin has been doing his Chopper Read character for over twenty years now.
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“I spent a little bit of time working on construction sites and things like that, and I think the way that Chopper speaks is a reflection of the way that a big part of the population speaks.”
And the enthusiastic, foul-mouthed lingo is a big part of that appeal, he says.
“I looked into swearing. And, you know, there's all sorts of very interesting things about it. One of them being, it's like a secret handshake for class.”
He’s done the “F word a few favours,” he says.
“You’ve got to give it lots of breath on the F and lots of plosivity on the K. You want to hit it hard.”
He once met his alter ego at a photo shoot, it was a “powerfully awkward" moment, he says.
“I do such a panto version, it's Sharpie tattoos. It's an expensive mustache, but it's not real, you know?
“He's missing ears and missing teeth, and he's got proper prison tats everywhere, and he's got about a foot on me as well. He's a big dude.
“I just felt like the Temu Chopper basically, just to stand in front of the real deal.”
Chopper wasn’t much interested in chatting either, he says.
“Chopper was very keen to establish himself as the alpha, which I find weird, because clearly you get a wet wipe and I don't have tattoos anymore. I don't know how you're threatened.
“He was very monosyllabic and very defensive his territory. He didn't open up too much to me. He did give me a signed copy of his rap album.”
After 20 years touring Chopper there are times when he needs a break from the Aussie crim, Franklin says.
“Although I can't take too many breaks, I’ve got a mortgage, and that's the other crazy thing, there's no one out there that else has got the luxury of being like, you know, what? Bit sick of being a brick layer, I might just moonlight as a bloody electrician for a while.
“I think if you go around telling everyone to harden up, you’ve got to take a little bit of your own medicine as well. Sometimes you're like, 'ahh I have to stand up for an hour today and pretend to be someone else. I'm being paid to do dress ups. And that's make me sad'. You’re kind of, like, well get over yourself a bit champ.”
Chopper has resonated with Kiwi audiences and Franklin enjoys touring here, he says.
“It's a lovely country to drive around. Like if you did a driving tour of Australia, you'd be, same tree. I was driving around Victoria last week, it's so flat and it's so dull.”
And there’s more roadkill over the ditch, he says.
“If you’re a carrion animal, it's the right place to be.”
