Rhys Darby

Rhys Darby , Darby performing with Flight of the Conchords in June 2007 Born Rhys Montague Darby, (1974-03-21) 21 March 1974 (age 39), New Zealand Nationality New Zealand Occupation comedian, actor Spouse(s) Rosie Carnahan Children Two Sons Website www.rhysdarby.com Rhys Darby (born 21 March 1974) is an actor and comedian from New Zealand, known for his energetic physical comedy routines, telling stories accompanied with mime and sound effects of things such as machinery and animals. Darby was nominated for the Billy T Award in 2001 and 2002. He also won the 2012 Fred (Dagg) award at the New Zealand International Comedy Festival, for Best NZ show. Darby is best known for playing Murray Hewitt, the band manager of Flight of the Conchords in the HBO television series, a role he originally played in the BBC radio series under the name Brian Nesbit. Life and career edit: A former soldier (signaller trained in morse code), he left the New Zealand Army in 1994 and began studies at the University of Canterbury. In 1996 he formed a comedy duo, Rhysently Granted, with Grant Lobban. After winning an open mic contest at Southern Blues Bar in Christchurch they began performing at local venues. Rhysently Granted performed at two international comedy festivals which led to Darby moving up to Auckland to seek more solo stand-up experience. After performing his first solo show at the 2002 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Darby moved to the UK to pursue his career further. At the same time, fellow Kiwis and friends Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement were dipping their toes in the waters at the Edinburgh Fringe. In 2004 he appeared in the Flight of the Conchords BBC radio series as the band's manager Brian Nesbit alongside comedy stars such as Rob Brydon, Andy Parsons and Jimmy Carr. Darby plays Murray, the band's manager, on Flight of the Conchords TV show. He also provided vocals for the track Leggy Blonde on their self-titled first album and also in the second series of the show on the track "Rejected" during the episode "A Good Opportunity" along with tenor Andrew Drost. Darby played the role of Norman, the boss of Jim Carrey's character in the film Yes Man. In July 2008 he appeared in a Nike advertisement featuring Roger Federer, he played an impostor posing as Federer's coach. He appeared on a British children's television program The Slammer during the first season of the show. He is also doing several advertisements for the mobile phone company 2degrees. He appeared on Soccer AM on the 18th of October 2008 and on Never Mind The Buzzcocks on the 23rd. The DVD of his live performance Imagine That! has gone platinum in New Zealand. He regularly returns to New Zealand to appear in comedy shows such as Pulp Sport, 7 Days and The Jaquie Brown Diaries. Rhys Darby's hair colour is self-described as Electric Copper in the episode of Flight of the Conchords entitled Murray Takes It to the Next Level. He also refers to this in his stand-up show It's Rhys Darby Night which he performed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe from 6-15 August 2009, The Bloomsbury Theatre in London from the 27 July - 1 August and toured around New Zealand with in October and November that year. Darby played the role of Angus in the Richard Curtis film The Boat That Rocked released in the UK on 1 April 2009. This film was released in some countries in November 2009 under the name Pirate Radio. In 2009 whilst home in New Zealand he began filming T.V. ads for NZ's new mobile network 2degrees and appearing in NZ shows Rocked the Nation 2, Jaquie Brown Diaries and Intrepid Journeys. He has also branched out in to producing live comedy with his wife and their company Awesomeness International. At the NZ International Comedy Festival they produced shows for local comedians Brendhan Lovegrove, Jeremy Corbett and Paul Ego. He became a climate ambassador for Greenpeace in its Sign On climate campaign and published a poem on Youtube in support of the campaign. In 2009 Darby became a part of the New Zealand TV ONE series Intrepid Journeys Season 5, touring the African country of Rwanda. As of October 2009, Darby is co-hosting a Cryptozoology themed radio show with New Zealand journalist David Farrier on New Zealand radio station 95bFM called the Cryptid Factor. Darby took the title role in the Roughcut TV pilot "The Amazing Dermot" was aired on the UK's Channel 4 in 2009. In January 2010, Rosie announced the birth of their second son, Theo. In 2010, Darby appeared as a recurring character role as an enthusiastic interviewer in a series of ads by Hewlett-Packard Company. On 10 August 2010, Entertainment Weekly claimed that Darby was in consideration to have a part in the television series The Office replacing Steve Carell's character when the actor left at the end of the 2011 season. Darby confirmed on The Kevin and Bean Show that NBC did not negotiate further for the role and he is now involved in a pilot for CBS. In May 2011, he also filmed a pilot for a Channel 4 sitcom in the UK, The Fun Police. This was broadcast on 16 September. In 2011, Darby and family moved back to the US from NZ for Darby to take a role in the short lived CBS sitcom How to be a Gentleman with David Hornsby, Kevin Dillon, Mary-Lynn Rasjkub. He also fronted a promotional video for NZFact, an organisation owned by the MPAA that lobbied for the NZ "three-strikes" internet downloading law (section 92A) which threatened New Zealanders for downloading copyrighted music. This law change was strongly objected to by many New Zealanders, despite being approved by both the Labour and National political parties. Darby justified his appearance on this DVD saying: "I recorded something saying you should not pirate DVDs. That is it. I haven't done anything wrong." Darby's second DVD "It's Rhys Darby Night!" was released in NZ on 12 December 2011. Darby has also written a self-described "autobiographical space novel" entitled "This Way to Spaceship", which was released on 12 April 2012. On May 20, 2012, Darby was awarded the Fred Award by the New Zealand International Comedy Festival for his show of the same name as his book. His show This Way To Spaceship is being released on DVD in late 2012. Filmography edit: Television edit: Year Titles Role 2007-2009 Flight of the Conchords Murray Hewitt 2009 The Jaquie Brown Diaries Terence Ben'et 2009 Comedy Showcase The Amazing Dermot Dermot Flint 2010 Radiradirah Multiple Characters 2011 How to Be a Gentleman Mike 2011 Comedy Showcase The Fun Police Leslie 2012 Jake and the Never Land Pirates Percy Films edit: Year Titles Role 2008 Yes Man Norman 2009 The Boat That Rocked (Pirate Radio) Angus 'The Nut' Nutford 2009 Diagnosis: Death 'Specialist' 2011 Coming and Going Lee Leonetti 2011 Love Birds Doug Television Appearances edit: Year Titles Role 2001-2002 Billy T Award Himself 2005 Mighty Truck Of Stuff Himself 2006 The Slammer Himself 2007-2008 Sounds Like a Laugh Himself 2008 Yo Gabba Gabba! Himself 2008 The Comedy Store Live Himself 2009 Rocked the Nation 2: 100 NZ Pop Culture Moments Himself 2009 Spicks and Specks Himself 2009 Thank God You're Here Himself 2009 ROVE Himself 2009 Intrepid Journeys Himself 2009-2012 7 Days Himself 2010 The Qantas TV and Film Awards Host 2011 A Quiet Word With ... Himself 2011 The Rob Brydon Show Himself 2012 Mad Mad World Himself 2012 Sunday Brunch Himself 2012 The Comedy Marathon Spectacular Himself 2012 QI Himself

Source: Wikipedia

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