Mr show pony

Brooke Howard-Smith is married to beauty queen-turned-TV presenter Amber Peebles. Photo / Herald on Sunday

Last year, we saw Brooke Howard-Smith in a new guise. No, not Target host, bar owner, artist, guitarist, sports presenter, poker player, charity MC, married man, though he's still doing all that.

What got tongues wagging was his first foray into acting. In a double-episode of award-winning comedy The Jaquie Brown Diaries, Howard-Smith played himself in a ripper piss-take of celebrity reality shows. A brief storyline recap: as "Celebrity Frontiers" is filmed in the Hunuas, the B-grades stumble on a Maori militant training camp, where actress Claire Chitham and a wonderfully self-involved, sleazy Howard-Smith are taken hostage.

"It was enjoyable," he says of the show, "like an incredibly-scary roller coaster where you're not sure if it's going to come off or not." He laughs. "My wife's smirking in the background, she doesn't want me to get myself in trouble. Always a little worried with interviews, aren't you honey?"

In a croaky voice suggestive of a late night, Howard-Smith says all the right things, sometimes rephrasing an answer in a more eloquent way. There's a sense he's performing, with more than a touch of faux self-deprecation. Then again, there's no denying he's personable, intelligent, speaks his mind. In any case, I'm not going to get to the bottom of "Notorious BHS" (his MySpace name) in the allotted half-hour.

The reason for that allocation is the return of Target: the TV3 consumer-champion show that is still going strong after 11 years. Presented by Howard-Smith and Jeanette Thomas, the 12th season introduces a new question-and-answer slot, What's Up With That, and reprises tried-and-true segments, including the knicker-sniffing, tradesman-trapping Hidden Camera, and Shame on You (where Howard-Smith confronts dodgy business people).

From testing which bikinis fall off in waves to the fat content of premium mince, Target is not just about hidden cameras. Inviting ideas and contact from viewers, the show's neatly divvied up into news you can use. "Combining entertainment and information is compelling," Howard-Smith says. "Often people underestimate the audience, but I think the audience is a lot smarter, or at least wants to learn a lot more ... Target's tapped into that."

Though you'd imagine no one would dare pull a swift one on a Target presenter, they have. Tradesmen wall-mounting his TV "were joking about Target and they ripped me off in the bill. But look, there's very few cowboy tradesmen. We're now focusing more on the professionals: doctors, lawyers, dermatologists ... You know, I have immense respect for Kevin Milne and Fair Go. Both shows have helped a lot of people who had no recourse against big companies. That's what I really want to do, take on the bigger companies."

Last year Howard-Smith researched, wrote and directed a Target story. Eventually he'd like to be behind, not in front of, the camera. "I'm an old man [37]," he says. "If you're a certain age and wearing a squirrel suit..." Howard-Smith has a certain degree of fame. He has a Wikipedia page. His picture crops up in the gossip pages. Stories on his engagement, wedding and honeymoon were published in a women's magazine. He gets stopped on the street. "Target guy, bro. Shame on you, bro," he mimics. "People often feel very familiar with you. I've been asked to breakdance before. Once or twice a year people, maybe tradesmen, hassle me, but not often. It's just a job."

As is his bar, Pony Club. Howard-Smith set up the downtown-Auckland hotspot in 2007 as a permanent venue for the music events he was staging. "It's this strange room underneath a strip club," he says. Pony's also been described as a "decrepit cesspool", a "tired '70s porn den" and as an acronym for Protecting Our Nation's Yuppies. On the other hand, Time magazine voted it one of New Zealand's top three bars. Visitors have included Justin Timberlake, Rihanna, Snoop Dogg, Pete Wentz, 50 Cent, Dizzee Rascal, Tommy Lee and Elle Macpherson.

Celebs aside, not everyone likes Howard-Smith. Says an acquaintance who won't be named: "he's just a big fake showman really. He's charming if it's to his advantage, so he'll probably come across really well." On one online forum, he was in the running for NZ's Most Hated Celeb. Perhaps it's because he's so smooth and successful; perhaps there's something we don't know. "I don't really care so much about what people think," he says. "I hope people have a good impression of me, but if they don't ... you can't preoccupy yourself."

Has he ever Googled himself? Pause. "I don't want to get myself into trouble here, but yeah. But only, generally, to find out if I've done something wrong recently." Understandable. The first Google hit is an outpouring of vitriol from the likes of "Boozedupbilly" and "Pimpho" on a Throng forum following Howard-Smith's memo that Pony patrons not wear T-shirts, not ask for him at the door, and "No girls, no entry". His own missus is Miss New Zealand-turned-TV presenter Amber Peebles. They wed last February, following an elaborate surprise trip to Paris and proposal in front of the Louvre. And yes, being a married man feels different. "It's lovely. We often joke that literally immediately after we got married, I started fiddling in the garden. Now I'm identifying plants by their Latin names."

There are other talents. He's a first-rate poker player. On guitar, the part-Indian is one half of band The Fierce Asian Gang with James Reid from The Feelers; on paper, he's a graphic artist who staged a praised exhibition in June. Says colleague Jeanette Thomas: "I was blown away by his art exhibition. With fingers in so many pies, I don't know how he fits everything into his day ... I don't think he sleeps."

Denying he's a night owl, Howard-Smith says he's down at Pony one or two nights a week. "I've never been a 5am-er. A lot of people think of ADHD as a bad thing. Joking. I just like to find things that keep me excited."

You'll often spy him supping champagne at VIP parties, though he's "indifferent" about being papped at the latter. "I don't know about it, I truly don't. Some people may laugh because I'm so deeply involved in this, but I think New Zealanders are getting a bit too focused on celebrity culture." It detracts, he says, from what's important. "Then again, it's part of human nature to want to know what people are doing. I go for the free booze and food. I'm still a bit of a cheap dude from West Auckland."

* Target's 12th season premieres on TV3, Tuesday at 7.30pm.