“Talking nonsense” pays off for the team at 7 Days.
7 Days stalwarts Jeremy Corbett and Paul Ego look at the influence their show has had on comedy in New Zealand. Kerry Harvey reports.
It might be called 7 Days but New Zealand’s longest-running comedy series is no seven-day wonder.
“It’s exceeded my expectations,” says Jeremy Corbett, who has presented the panel show since it first screened in August 2009.
“I thought it would be good – thought it would have some legs on it given the success of panel shows in the UK – but it really has exceeded expectations which is fantastic.”
Corbett’s job is to wrangle two panels, led by fellow funnymen Paul Ego and Dai Henwood, as they put their own particular spin on the news of the week. Regular guests include Ben Hurley, Steve Wrigley, Jeremy Elwood, Urzila Carlson, Jesse Griffin, Madeleine Sami and Michele A’Court.
However, even with the show going into its ninth year on air, Corbett does not take its longevity for granted.
“(Nine years) is what a New Zealand government gets. Who knows, we might get voted out after that,” he says, not entirely joking.
The uncertainty of life as a comedian was brought home to him last year when some media commentators questioned why, after more than 250 episodes, 7 Days was still receiving more than $1 million annually towards its production costs from New Zealand On Air.
“There’s some logic in saying when a show becomes successful it should be able to stand on its own two feet,” Corbett acknowledges.
“I get the idea that the New Zealand On Air funding should get it started and then it should go unfunded. But I also know the
reality is without that funding we would probably grind to a halt.” He believes 7 Days has done wonders for the New Zealand comedy scene. “Stand-up comedy around New Zealand is in a wonderful place at the moment because of shows like 7 Days and it’s also spawned others. “I think you get far more than just your 30 minutes of 7 Days for your buck.” It is a view that his long-time friend and fellow 7 Days member Paul Ego shares. “7 Days has been great for comedy in New Zealand,” he says. “It’s introduced a lot of Kiwis, who wouldn’t (previously) go and see live stand-up or don’t get a lot of live stand-up in their towns, to comedians they wouldn’t otherwise see. “Now, when they do tour, they go, ‘Oh, it’s that guy off 7 Days.” Both men say being a comedian is seen – almost – as a proper job these days.
“When I started it certainly wasn’t,” Corbett says. “Most of us lost money, considerable amounts of money, but we were in it for the love of doing it.”
He adds being a comedian is not so much a choice as a compulsion.
“We just like talking nonsense. The style of nonsense has changed a little bit over the years, but it’s still talking nonsense, so it’s wonderful that people can make a living from it,” he says.
“I’m a bit like the dad of all the comedians. When someone says, ‘I’m going to do comedy’ I go, ‘Yeah, what are you really going to do? What’s your Plan B?’
“For me, to do the show I’m doing now was a dare-to-dream situation when I was younger man.”
It’s a sentiment shared by Ego who, like Corbett, came to professional comedy after years working other jobs.
“There are comedians who are making a living just from touring the country and doing live gigs,” he says.
“You can make a living – I don’t know if it’s a massive living – but you can earn money from gigging, which is a dream come true if you want to be a comedian.” But he has a word of caution for newcomers.
“I never advise kids to pursue it as a career. If it becomes a career that’s fantastic but it is still a very small industry,” he says.
“I think with any of these performance things, you’ve got to do it because you love it and anything else that comes off the back of it is a bonus.
“If you’re doing it to make money, that’s the wrong approach. You are always going to be disappointed.”
“We just like talking nonsense. The style of nonsense has changed a little bit over the years, but it’s still talking nonsense.” – Jeremy Corbett