Chris Parker is touring next year in Give Me One Good Reason Why I Shouldn't Throw My Phone Off This Bridge.
Chris Parker is touring next year in Give Me One Good Reason Why I Shouldn't Throw My Phone Off This Bridge.
Since he won Celebrity Treasure Island in 2021, comedian Chris Parker has seen his star rise. From sell-out tours to an award-winning TV show, and a constant stream of stage shows, Parker has fast become one of New Zealand’s favourite entertainers.
And he could add a new string to his bow - wedding planner.
Speaking to Paula Bennett for her Herald podcast, Ask Me Anything, Parker said he and his husband, Michael, decided to flip the set-up of their wedding to maximise the entertainment and interest for everyone.
“I find the sort of dramaturgical structure of a wedding wrong,” Parker said. “Because the vows are at the top of the night, everyone’s crying, and it’s like 15 minutes, that little ceremony, and then you have this endless dinner over stuffed chicken or whatever, you’re talking to horrible people that you don’t really have any rapport with, and then you dance on a dance floor to the Grease mega-mix.
“And I just was like, the big moment of like the vows and the rings, that’s the catharsis of the night. So that should be at the end.”
So Parker flipped things, having a big dinner and speeches at the top of the evening, letting his guests get to know each other, and then delivering the big payoff at the end of the night.
It’s not surprising that after a decade in the public eye, performing with the likes of improv group Snort and starring in shows alongside his frequent collaborator, Tom Sainsbury, Parker knows how to put on a good show.
He also knows a thing or two about how to relate to people. His social media presence has blossomed since finding a new legion of fans through Celebrity Treasure Island.
Chris Parker joins Paula Bennett on Ask Me Anything to discuss marriage, kids, and hard work.
However, it’s a relationship he is also coming to terms with, hence his new comedy tour for 2024, bluntly called Give Me One Good Reason Why I Shouldn’t Throw My Phone Off This Bridge. Parker said the initial premise is built around his love-hate relationship with finding an audience through his phone.
“I am so grateful for Instagram in one sense because it’s put me into people’s eyes and introduced me to the world, but the hard thing is, people almost want you to stay on Instagram versus, like, I want to be in the room performing for everyone. So it’s about this push-pull of - are the phones good? Are they bad?”
It’s a balance he is still navigating with himself, his fans, and a little over a year into his marriage.
“The thing I’m learning, or trying to navigate at the moment, is the balance between giving myself out to everyone and then also giving myself to my husband, and then what’s left, like where do I fill my own sort of stocks up and my own cup up to recharge myself?”
Despite that, Parker is not slowing down. Aside from touring next year, Parker will also be bringing back his cult-favourite stage show, Camping, for Silo Theatre, and working on a second season of his hit dramedy Double Parked. The show stars Madeline Sami and Antonia Prebble as a lesbian couple who both become pregnant at the same time.
The show has opened him up to two possibilities for his future. On one side, the creative and production process of making the show is something he is keen to explore again. And then the themes of the show have made him rethink his previously dismissive thoughts on kids. However, the difficulties and process of getting kids mean he’s keeping that on the back burner for now.
“At the moment we don’t even have a dog. The only thing we have to keep alive is one kōwhai.
“We don’t even have any indoor houseplants, and I’m like, this is actually the dream, we’re not responsible for anything. Just you, me and kōwhai. There’s nothing wrong with it. Even then I don’t know if it’s thriving.”
Listen to the full podcast to hear more from Chris on his life in the arts, his first year of marriage, his creative projects next year, and some Christmas advice.
Ask Me Anything is a Herald podcast, hosted by Paula Bennett. Episodes return next year - stay tuned for a special bonus episode in January!
