EP 41 - Opeti Vaka

This is the Flavor podcast.

Network, Island Roots Auckland Ways. This one's for the Brown brothers and sisters who want to be one with themselves, their culture, their identity, their roots. This is Island Roots Auckland Ways.

What's up everyone, and welcome back to Island Roots Auckland Ways. Hi. Hello, how are you doing, Alyssa?

I'm good? How are you by? Dying?

Very well because today we have all Betty Vucker and this guy is the man. He's gay actually he's also AM's gang. He's going to tell you all about his Don and Maudy upbringing, as well as how he got started in comedy. So this was twenty eighteen he started stand up and then the rest is saystue pretty.

Much pretty much. We won't hold you back any further because the chat is just so good here it is now. We are so excited today because we have the incredible, very very talented Mildy Tongue and comedian or fifty Bucker with us today. Hey, we always wish we had cool sound effects so we could do something like that.

I'm sorry there was no red cap here, Mirror Fox.

How are you today?

Yeah, I'm good, I'm good a little bit tired, but going pushing.

Through push nice. We had a big weekend here in Auckland.

Yeah, I ended up at four Shells cover lounge.

Nice.

Oh man, I think we need to go out to four Shells. Yes, me and I also have.

Never had to give up from one time in the studio.

Yeah, but down at four sells. Shout out to those guys putting it off for our people. Well, every episode we share what we love about home, so we ever you currently live, where you were born, we were raised, where you feel most grounded. What is home to you and what do you love about it? We'll start off first, and what I love about home this week is this food establishment near my house called two seven five Kai. Oh. Yes,

What I love about home this week obviously Money Dealer two six Cemen is where I've grown up, where I still live. I love hmhmm Fu Kitchen, which is outside South Mall. I probably talked about it on the podcast before, but I went there recently and I had their twitted chicken middle soup and it's just so good. It's like soul food. But I feel like a souper is lighter than something of mushroom sauce. So I don't feel like likest was getting to that. So that's we're all about

Yeah, they've just opened it up. It's so good Vietnamese food.

What about you.

Home at the moment? Is Foxton absolutely school of hard knocks and for me, home is where my family is, my partner and kids. We could be anywhere, but as long as I'm with them, I would feel at home.

So lovely, beautiful.

And there's only five fish and chip shops there. The food's not that great.

Was that like the biggest adjustment that you had to make when you moved to Foxton? The food options?

Yeah, the food options there was one of them. I need to always complain about it. Every time we didn't want to cook dinner. It's like, what are we having fish and chips?

Awesome? Foxton? Where is Foxton for everyone listening who doesn't know where.

It's between living and Palmerston North and the Lower North Island.

Wow, quite remote any Islanders and Foxton.

There's only one other someone girl at my kids' school, so that's that's how rare rare.

We are. Nice people though, down in Foxton.

Yeah, nice people. I played rugby down there about ten years ago.

Oh wow, okay and.

Pretty It was pretty hard because I was one. I was the only Islander on the team. Every time if you made a mistake, you'll hear that racist from Ox like small town.

Yeah, has it gone been there? No racist?

Nah?

I didn't play Rugby anymore.

Just traumatized you there. Oh man, oh well.

Okite, you've just popped up on our radar. But you're not new to comedy. You've been doing it for a few years now. Could you tell us what your journey into comedy and like how long you've been doing it for because I was scrolling through Instagram and I was like here, I was thinking I had discovered someone right at the start of his career. But a bit about it.

Yeah, I first started comedy. My first time on stage was that opened Mic Night in Wellington and at the end of twenty eighteen.

Wow.

And that's so I've did well there and I think my very next gig was a pro gig.

Oh yoah.

I just kept I've just been keeping at it, just keep trucking along. And there's been an interesting journey. It's taking me to some places that I've never thought I would go and visit. I've been to Kitty Kitty. There was a shock for me, like my first time catching up plane because of comedy, a motel, hotel, so like that like gives me my little frills at that time, absolutely what comedy is like. But yeah, I've been doing it since twenty eighteen.

When you first started. I guess, like what got you into the scene? Were always the performative.

Type, not yes and no? Like around my family, yeah, around other people, not so much. But I just wanted to. I was like content with life, like I was just chilling, like doing not doing much, not bad, You're just getting by. And I wanted to try something new, and I was taking off things that what would I be good at? What would I be good at? My mum always told me your your stand up comedian, So I thought, give it a give it a try. I went to watch open mic night, and I was watching I was like,

Before the open mic, did you like rehearse? Did you like write down jokes that you wanted to say? Or did you just kind of get up there and ref I wrote.

I wrote six minutes when I was practicing hard out and I was because I'm even at school school speeches and that I never did them, Like I wasn't out there enough person to go and do speeches or family speeches and stuff like that. So I was never says, yeah, I was practicing hard out even YouTube audience. Oh yeah, practice to like the audience that we wasting.

That's so smart.

What was your what did your first shiit cover? Do you remb remember what those six minutes entailed?

My kids? My family? I had some about my dad because it was a week after my thirtieth birthday. Okay, so I had jokes about the birthday and pretty much the same topics, life stories, the same topics that I do now. Yes, it was pretty much the same stuff.

Yeah, so twenty eighteen, now it's twenty twenty four, many many years later. And how do you feel when you go up onto that stage? Are you used to it now?

Yeah, I'm more relaxed like when I first started. When I watch it now, it's like quite speedy. Like I wasn't used to the silence, So when it was quiet, even though people were interested, I always took it as it's not no one's laughing, hurry up to the next jrig, So I try and speed it up to hit that next chrick, to get that next laugh. But now I'm a bit more experienced and stuff I didn't do that anymore.

Yo, And sometimes silence can just people like listening or captivating with what you're saying, like they're waiting for the jokes, and when you're speeding, they're like wait, wait, wait, wait, I'm still like three seconds behind.

Agree. That's why I could never be a comedian. Do you reckon you could be a comedian? I reckon you could.

I don't know.

Maybe I don't know stand up. I'd have to like do what you were doing and like really practiced beforehand though, because I don't think I could just get up there and just be like, hey guys, oh man, well I recently saw you perform at the Comedy Mixtape and immediately I was saying time. I was like, this guy is the bisch Jacks of anyone tonight.

This guy. She came to me and she was like, bro, I found.

This guy for the podcast. So yeah, I think because I like jokes that are funny, but I'm I can be a little bit conservative and so so times when like jokes are really dirty, Like love a dirty joke every now and then, Yeah, but I love like the it's kind of like a wholesome quality to your jokes, like it's I can laugh with it because I can relate, but it's not like super inappropriate. I don't know, does it make sense?

I know what you mean?

Yeah, Like I heard the Australian comedians are like dirty. Oh I've got a mate over in Melbourne and she's finding out because they're real dirty. Yeah, but that's like myself. For me, like a little bit is okay, but it's not that funny.

Yeah, yeah, it's not all.

That's not my kind of joke. Yeah.

Maybe it's like the Islanders. 't us who have been like taught like that. That's kind of stuff. Just keep it at home. I don't know. Yeah, but I guess with performing, is there an aspect of it that you love? Like do you much refer the performing or do you like the riding of the jokes? Like what part of the comedy? Yeah, what part of the comedy process do you like the most?

I enjoy both of them. Writing is becoming more and more of a challenge these days, just because when I first started, it's all new material. Yes, you get it all out, you got your whole life, yeah, with your stories, and then you've got that out and then it's like and now what Yeah? Yeah, But to answer that question. I enjoy both aspects of it. The performing I enjoy it because you get a bit of a buzz when

Do you ever write something and you're like, this is it and then you go for it and you're like, that was really good?

Yeah? I have.

Actually, that's the funniest thing to me when it doesn't land, you know, they have an awkward chuckle to yourself. Yeah, I find that hilarious.

How do you recover in moments like that when it doesn't then do you just laugh at yourself?

Yeah, and just move on to the next year, go back to our material that you know that's going to make them laughing. Just use that.

Have that type of resilience. I would not like.

Saying and no one laughed. I think I would just cry.

You've had some quiet nights I've had early on in when I was doing comedy, early on in their career. I did a gig. It was a fundraiser for Island based soccer club Okay, and a lot of them were Greek Christians. Oh and I went there and I didn't have much material. I was doing all these Jesus jokes and it was just quiet, like no one was laughing. That was a hard It was a long eight minutes.

That's something about like a comedy sit it's actually not that long, like at least you have a whole hour. It can just be like ten minutes or less.

Then yeah, most of the lineup shows you're doing eight to ten and then headline twenty.

Wow, oh buzz.

So fifteen sometimes you get a fifteen slot or twenty a year.

My gosh, what do you prefer longer or shorter?

Both? I like longer because you get paid more, but like short because it's easier.

Good answer. What have been your some of your career highlights stuff for or BT? Are there any gigs that come to mind and you're like, man, I ate that up. That was one of my faves. Any moments like that.

My favorite gig that I look back and really I'm really happy about is when I performed at the Wellington Opera House. Oh, and my father was there. So my dad came and watched and that's the only show he's ever come and watched, and so he was happier. I know, he was proud of me. So that always sticks out to me that time. And also the final of the Warrington Raw Comedy Quist and my brother came up from Christian to watch and he watched this and I won that one.

That was whoa.

Oh man?

So cool.

Yeah. What what do your family think about you taking up this career path? You said earlier that your mom had suggested it, But how about everyone else? How have they reacted to you being a comedian.

They're all good, They're all good with it, like they're happy and stuff. But I'm sure they're sick of it now, Like every time I'm like, can you drop me off to this gig? When I come up talking and they're like, oh, I'm not again again. But they always wished me luck, like they're like, good luck with your dig tonight, good luck with your dig. My partner, she's sick of it, sick of hearing my jokes?

Because are you practicing these?

Yeah? I was just around the house. Can you be quiet?

I gotta try.

I was gonna say, you are a dad and you don't include some of the stories of your kids and your comedy. Do you ever two such your about them on them?

I get them to time me ladies and gentlemen comestairs, they head start and then yeah, they know most of my sets, like if I sometimes it's swearing in it, and I catch them swearing, like don't swear, like, but you swear in your comedy. No, no, no, just still different different.

Are they a tough crowd or are they easy to make laugh?

They're pretty tough. Yeah, they're pretty tough. They didn't really laugh. They just sit there and stay waiting for times up.

They're like the jokes. How many good do you have?

I've got three. I got a liven year old who's born on the same day as me, nine years old, and a five year old son. So the two eldest girls, and then I got my son.

At the Yeah, I bet there naturally, uh in itself to a lot of material things.

Yeah, yes, mist of it because I just do talk about things I know they yeah, yeah, so obviously I know about the kids. I do a lot of kids story, kids stories around the kids, and also stories when I was a kid.

You were telling us before of Mike that you actually moved to Tongel for a year when you were younger.

Yeah, when I when I was thirteen went there.

Why why were you saying there?

Now? I just wanted to go there.

Oh jeez, you don't hear about that.

I got pushed into it.

So I said, yeah, did you necessarily know what you were getting yourself into by taking that lip of faith?

Not at all? Nothing, nothing but regrets now okay? Yeah, yeah, yeah, I told me a lot in a good life experience.

Would you even make your kids do that?

I would, but I would go and stay within there by themselves.

Yeah. That is very because you hear these stories of people being sent off to the islands and they have to be schooled and the motherland, and then it just really builds character, doesn't it, Because it's very different to go to New Zealand. What what age? I was thirteen year okay, start of teenager? How was that adjustment?

I was, Yeah, I got mocked a lot.

Yeah how did you take that? Were you a little bit shell shocked by at all?

Not really? It was okay, but it was a boarding school. And then I need to get teased a lot because my tongue really was really poor at that time, and I need to get teased for being the mo over seized kid. And until one night I got into a fight with the one of the boys and then after that they left me alone.

We've had quite a few like soundone Maudy on our podcast, but not tongue and Maudy was moving, I guess kind of connected to moving to tonge. But was there an aspect of like either of your ideenities that you were closer to growing up and then like, did you become closer to your tongue inside by moving to tongue or no?

Yeah, a little bit Like I always because I'm quite dark, I'm not fair skinned like my mother. My mother's the Modi Modi irish one. I always related more to my tongue inside. But then as I got older, I realized, you're just both. Yeah, You're just it's o key to be both. Yeah, And so now I'm a lot more comfortable with my own skin than I was as a teenager, where I felt like I didn't fit in quite with

Yeah. I think that's a similar journy that we have both been on in the past, feeling like not enough of either when actually it's like you are enough of both in it's all good just to be both, you know.

Yeah, it's a beautiful realization. Often, like I feel like if you more than one culture, you'll always ask that question eight are you closer to the side or that side? And you kind of feel like cornered because it's like, oh, am, I supposed to feel closer to one side, But it's all well and good to be well and well attuned to both sides of your car. Yeah, yeah, that's amazing. And your kids are a fruit salidy.

Yeah, they've they've mixed hard up nice.

They're there, the brown kids along with the same one girl. That's amazing. I think it was actually telling us the story off the mic about a tongue and Language Week.

My partner came home from dropping my son off from the kindy and Oh, they want you to come in and do something for a tongn Language Week. I said, what do you mean I volunteered?

You?

I was like, oh, and I had no idea. What was I going to do. I just went there and did that like tongue on alphabet and told some stories about tongue and stuff like that. But it was good. I was glad I did it. But it's like I would never be that person to have to do that anywhere, only in Fox and I wouldn't be.

That those ones got volunte hold.

I was going to say, maybe you're the representation the other tongue and kids need, but the only tong kids are your kids, like they're doing a joke.

Skin.

Is there anyone in the industry who you feel like has really like put you on to help you in the comedy process.

Yeah, you trend your housing. He's done in wanting to and he's helped me a lot. He's put me on a lot of his gigs and even sometimes when he offers me a gig sometimes I say no, but he just reassures me, come on, you can do it. Yeah, and just push me in that way. And also Janay Henry, she's good like I can if I have any problems about comedy or things like that, I can just shoot her a message and she will help me out. And

At a marai okay, And yeah.

We took it there and they absolutely loved it.

I think that's a testament to how much we need you to take space. Yeah and comedy. Yeah, yeah, this space for you guys. Yeah, I love that. Who do you look up to on comedy? Who were your kind of inspirations influencers when you started back in twenty eighteen.

Dave Chappelle, Oh bless, he's my favorite. I like different comedians for different reasons. Like I like Bernie Mack. Yes, like some of his jokes, not so much, but his confidence, say the way he's so confident in his jokes that I really liked that about him.

Yeah, when you were starting comedy. Was there anyone that you were looking to be, Like, I want to emulate that, like the confidence of Bernie Mack and like, I know, the cadence of someone else.

Not really. There was one thing when I first started, a comedian came up to me in caves, Bro, you're so good because you're just your son, because I didn't really start watching stand up until I started doing so good.

Yeah, I think that such a I don't know, not trying to ever be like someone else.

Yeah, you know, just be yourself? Yeah, so important, not being a try hard Yeah I guess. Yeah, you've just been an authentically yourself. You had these life experiences and maybe it is so good that you started not long after your thirtieth birthday because you had like thirty years worth of material to Oh man, that's so good.

You also run a screen printing business.

Yeah yeah, yeah, when did you.

Get into that? And then like, wh do you look for creative your creative inspiration?

So I got into that. I think it was two and sixteen, Yeah, I think. So I wanted to start a T shirt brand, like I was thinking if it was one thing I could do, like a new idea. Yeah, oh yeah, I'll start a T ship brand. I googled how to do it, and screen printer kept popping up, So I googled all the screen printing shops in my area, and I went into the first one and I asked them, Oh, can I work for free in the exchange for some

It's like okay, fine.

Ended up working there for three months and then I told him I'm going to have to go find the job because I need money, and he told me, don't worry about it, you can start working here. So I worked there for about five years.

There's the way to go about things.

I have to try it.

Are you the only screenprinter?

And foxed and fox and I think, So, I've just got all my equipment in the garage and I've just been doing my own T shirts on the side. But I haven't seen anybody else doing screen printing. I know there's a couple that do heat press.

Oh yes, but not screen printy. Shall we create some T shirts?

We can do a collection?

Yea made?

And moving ahead? What are your goals and aspirations with your comedy?

I just want to get to the point where I can live off comedy absolutely. Yeah. So I could quote an antifier and just do comedy. That's yeah, that aim for me at the moment.

That's a big goal. And I feel like the progression for comedians is that they do something like Celebrity Treasure Island. But you're just talking about would you want to go on a show like that ct.

I, of course, yeah, it will be a good experience.

Yeah, you do have your charity picked.

I'll do something for kids without fathers something like that. Yes. I feel like my dad was around, but he wasn't the best role model for me, and I feel like the lack of our relationship really that wasn't easy my teens early teens and teens, and I wouldn't want another kid to go through this to trying to help them at that point of their life. Yeah, do something like that.

There's so many cool like organizations out there who are doing that kind of work. Yeah, so impactful and influential.

So TV incid if you're listening next season, c T I opened the Endless. The biggest fan of literally would be.

Your charity maybe of course. Yeah, supporting l g B t q I plus Pacific communities in Auckland and rural areas. But I don't know. There's so many. Yeah, there's so many. But that's my infect for now.

See see I I couldn't do that show.

I feel like you could. It seems like.

The challenges and the rice and beans. I can't do that. I love.

Yeah, that's.

I would want to do, like a show like The Block. I could see us on the Block. Yeah, I love a little home reno situation.

Do you think you and your partner could do the Block?

She always talks about it. We should, thought we should do it, but I didn't think I'm very useless doing dry stuff. I started and then about five minutes and I'm like, I can't do this. She takes over. She's she's quite good at doing that kind of stuff.

I feel like living in lockste living in Foxton. You guys would be on like, what's it called country calendar. Yeah only tongus. We are going to move on to our rapid fire now now o pity. This is a game that we've come up with called funny Joker. We want you, as a comedian to judge our jokes or in fact, how dry our jokes are. So Alice is going to say a joke. I'm going to say a joke, and you just have to judge which one's being. Okay, okay,

I'm laughing because it's dumb. What did the c say to this end? What nothing had just waved? Okay? Quality specifically, Oh.

I don't have a joke, per se. I have a story. Okay, So the story is card I'm a bed driver.

Oh wait, you're doing like legit?

Okay, this is this is a set, so everyone for coming to my comedy sat Okay, So this is a story I like to call I'm a bed driver. So I have been saving for more than a year. Actually, I've been saving for a car because I crashed my last car and it was a beautiful car, Mitsubishi Lancer. Got into a car crash like at the airport Auckland Airport, which is like the busiest place in the city, and I crashed into this rich white guy who was screaming at me. And luckily I had insurance, but I had

Yes, And then you keep going, I didn't see him, I.

Don't see him. I don't see him, and then yeah, that happened. And then I've crashed like three times since then, so that's called I'm a There was a long story in conclusion, sugar daddies, if you're going to come through, I need a chauffeur. Thank you so much. Okay, okay for you to judge.

A long winded story or just a straight to the point joke, Mary, very very.

Good.

Yes you want to pick a way, I.

Have to go with street to the point.

Thank you for I win every game.

Yeah yeah, I think yeah, so not talented as a.

Photographer or comedian, one job.

Thank you.

Thank you so much for joining us and for judging us this way. Can now people find you on like social media and stuff.

On Instagram and the score vaka and that's probably just the place to find me or foxing or foxing the turks factory, working working away from Richard.

That's the storyline that we're going to be pushing.

Well, thank you so much for joining us today, my friend. It's been a pleasure.

Thank you, Thank you guys, thank you so much.

And that is the end of Island Roots Auckland Ways this week. We'll see you on the socials at Island Roots Auckland Way.

That's right. I'm on the Instagram and TikTok to me and message and I might reply our.

Social media queen trying otherwise.

We will catch you guys next week, next Thursday.

Bye bye