Q&A with the self-proclaimed People’s Princess of Aotearoa - Chris Parker

He's found love and got married - so what's next for Chris Parker?

We all know the old adage, “first comes love, then comes marriage, then comes baby in a baby carriage”, but how does the baby have to be of the human variety or can it be a super-cute dachshund instead? Popular comedian and self-titled People’s Princess of Aotearoa Chris Parker, considers this question, and a lot more, in his upcoming show Lots of Love. Editor Ilona Hanne caught up with Chris to find out more before he brings his show to New Plymouth in June this year.

Like any good romance novel, you’ve fallen in love and last year you also got married. So what is next for you?

The show is covering exactly that really - that’s what it is asking. Straight couples have kids. I mean, we can too, but it’s not going to be by accident. So we are really thinking about what is next for us, what does the future look like, and of course right now the future of the world doesn’t always feel that optimistic, so the show takes that idea and has a bit of a lighthearted look at that.

You mention that perhaps a dog is on the cards in the not too distant future for you and your husband. Not just any dog either, but specifically a purebred dachshund. Why that particular breed?

I think I always dreamed of having a dog one day and when I imagined it, it was always a dachshund. If the thing about owners and their dogs looking and being alike however then I suppose we would end up with a giant dog that we couldn’t afford to feed rather than a dachshund. I just feel a dachshund is the perfect little accessory for my little gay life.

You were on stage in New Plymouth in 2021 with your show How I felt, the first, and possibly only ever, live comedy felting show, combining your scarily good felting skills with plenty of comedy. Are you still felting, and more to the point - will you be creating a felted dog collar and lead perhaps for your future dachshund?

I’ve actually put a bit of space between myself and my felting now. I had been wondering during that whole stage, am I becoming some kind of genius felter or am I losing my mind? Now I’ve stepped back from the felt I realise the answer is obvious - I was losing my mind. It was an art for a time, but now I am back to doing what I love most - performing live shows. So no, there won’t be a felted collar or lead.

Even if you hadn’t decided to give up felting to save your mind, you wouldn’t really have had much time for it recently really, as you seem to have been incredibly busy last year with a book being published, the release of your comedy/ documentary special, even a role in the NZ film Nude Tuesday. What made 2022 such a busy year?

Last year was really hectic with the book, TV and everything. As freelance creatives you tend to have several ideas or projects all simmering away and I am so happy, and was so lucky really that several of those ideas and projects simmering away ended up all coming to fruition quite close together. So it was a really busy year, with lots of different things happening, while this year I am fully back to what I love most - performing. After the NZ tour it’s actually our honeymoon, so that’s why I need to sell it so well. Basically the future of my marriage and the success of my honeymoon relies on audiences.

Of course, you are due a honeymoon having got married late last year - how was the wedding?

It was the best day of my life and I am still on a high from it. Actually it was pretty strategic of us really, to get married after a few years together, as it means we are in the honeymoon phase of a relationship eight years in. It really was a big gay wedding. I think in gay relationships the thing is, no one holds you back so when one half of the couple says I want an ice sculpture, the other just says how big? It was a fun, lavish, OTT wedding because that’s what we wanted.

So did you felt a boutonniere or add some jokes to the day?

No, nothing was felted. Actually I really tried to not be Chris Parker the comedian that day, but Chris Parker husband-to-be. It’s quite tricky for someone who is normally in the spotlight job wise to then try not be in the spotlight, but also, to be in the spotlight because it’s our wedding day. It’s about us, and our relationship so that was the focus. In fact the only joke I included all day was in our vows. I vowed to learn my partner’s cellphone number off by heart. Everyone should do that - it is very useful actually, all these forms you get in places, the whole emergency contact number filling in. I used to know my old number from years back, but that doesn’t help me in an emergency, I need my husband’s number, not a random phone number from years ago.

So who should come and see your show?

Everyone. It’s funny, I know it sounds a bit vain to say that, but it really is. It’s funny, and I am always the butt of my own jokes so you don’t need to be scared you will come and get picked on, I don’t do that, I pick on myself. I think right now, we need live comedy, we need to go and see live shows, get off our phones for a night. Yes, I get the irony in saying that as I have done a lot of stuff online in that space, but coming to see a show, it has a different energy and it’s fun. Bring your teenagers, bring a friend. They will enjoy it.

Win: The Stratford Press has a double pass to give away to a lucky reader. To be in to win, simply email editor@stratfordpress.co.nz with Chris Parker in the subject line and include your contact details. Entries close at noon, Friday, June 16, and the winners will be contacted that day. Tickets are not exchangeable.

The Details

What: Chris Parker’s Lots of Love Show

When: June 18, 8pm

Where: TSB Theatre, New Plymouth

Details: Tickets available via Ticketek