Pax Assadi’s good heckler advice – I Think You Should Leave – Kintsugi
...and other recs this week!
Kia ora, welcome to this week’s newsletter.
Imagine you are an inexperienced stand-up comedian opening for Ewen Gilmour at a packed out rural community hall. From the back of the room, you hear a lady yell out: “mate, get off the stage, you’re not funny”. What do you do?
A: Instantly think of a devastatingly funny comeback and say it
B: Pretend you didn’t hear and continue telling your unfunny jokes
C: Apologise and get off the stage immediately
D: Aggressively challenge the lady to come and say it to your face
Pax Assadi chose option D. While clearly the wrong option, it’s one that has weirdly paid off in the long run because it’s now a very funny story, which you can hear in full on this week’s episode of FIRST!
This week’s new podcasts
On When the Facts Change [Apple | Spotify], Bernard Hickey looked for glimmers of hope amid the housing crisis with a couple of surprisingly optimistic experts.
The Real Pod [Apple | Spotify] got stuck into bathroom week on The Block NZ and an extremely funny retirement village wine tasting challenge on The Apprentice Aotearoa.
On The Fold [Apple | Spotify], Duncan Greive met Qiana Matata-Sipu, founder of Nuku Women and protector of Ihumātao.
Remember When… [Apple | Spotify] remembered three decades worth of first computers and the troubling things we got up to on them.
On Business is Boring [Apple | Spotify], Simon Pound spoke to Dan Necklen from Shotgun about inventing a new type of bike seat so he could take his kids mountain biking, then selling it around the world.
Dietary Requirements [Apple | Spotify] caught up with Beth from Wellington On a Plate to chat about what’s coming up at next month’s festival.
And Gone By Lunchtime [Apple | Spotify] managed to solve all New Zealand’s political issues in a single 40-minute podcast. Impressive!
I Think You Should Leave
Alex says: “I can probably count on one hand the amount of times a TV show has made me laugh so hard that I feared my soul would whiff right out of my body. I Think You Should Leave, Tim Robinson’s absolutely preposterous sketch show, is responsible for at least three of them. The former Saturday Night Live writer, who also co-wrote and starred in the extremely good Detroiters, returned with a second season last night, and I can’t wait to blob out on the couch and watch it all this weekend. I have already heard early reports of "howling" "dying" and "crying" so things are looking good. Here’s hoping it’s more thrilling than the night the skeletons came to life, more breathtaking than choking on a jalapeno popper in front of Caleb Wendt, and goes as viral as mud pie on too small a slice. Don’t know what any of that means? Sorry, now you have to marry your mother-in-law.”
Kintsugi
Alice says: “I recommend the Japanese art of kintsugi. Grounded in the concept of wabi-sabi, a world view centred on the acceptance of transience and imperfection, it’s perfect for clumsy people who break shit all the time (me), people who hate throwing stuff away (me), and, if you want to get a bit deep on it, people who are a little bit broken themselves (no, I’m fine, seriously ). Basically, it’s a way of mending busted ceramics that highlights the cracks rather than trying to hide them, making the broken item even more beautiful and resilient than it was before. Isn’t that nice? I did a kintsugi workshop with Yuka O’Shannessy of Public Record, spending a meditative Sunday afternoon drinking tea and piecing together my smashed Holly Houston ceramic dish. Public Record also sells kintsugi kits so you can mend all your stuff in the privacy of your own home.”
Dynasty Warriors
Sam says: “Dynasty Warriors, which dropped on Netflix last week, is a movie based on a video game series based on a 14th century Chinese novel that loosely fictionalises the Three Kingdoms War, which lasted from roughly 189CE-280CE. Look, it might not sound that interesting, but it’s a super silly and fun action movie with killer fight scenes, Farro ham acting, and some gorgeous (New Zealand!) vistas. Turn your brain off for two hours and indulge.”
Valerie Taylor: Playing With Sharks
The online part of the Doc Edge film festival ends this Sunday, so you’ve only got a few more days to watch any of the documentaries you’ve been meaning to watch. And if you watch only one, I rec Valerie Taylor: Playing With Sharks, which won best New Zealand feature and best New Zealand director at the festival awards. Sally Aitken’s portrait of the original shark lady, who started out hunting them in the 1950s before dedicating her life to protecting them (and getting very close to them), features some very buzzy underwater footage.
Junior Bake Off
Tara says: “My current feel-good TV show is Junior Bake Off on TVNZ OnDemand. It's The Great British Bake Off for kids, and these tiny people are culinary geniuses. They cheer each other on, they're better bakers than most adults, and best of all, they drop their food on the floor and still serve it to the judges. I can't get enough of their shiny faces and kind hearts and it makes me feel better about the future, based solely on a Frankenstein dessert challenge that combines the holy trinity of peanut butter, brownie and meringue. Chef's kisses for everyone.”
An Emo + Pop Punk Mixtape
Sam says: “DJ Digital Dave’s mixtape This is an Emo + Pop Punk Mixtape (And The Title Is Still Too Short) is exactly what it says it is: 63 minutes of pure euphoria, ideal for cooking, cleaning, walking around at a jaunty pace, or simply wading around in your feelings. I can also recommend his mixtape You’re Gonna Need a Bigger Boat: A Yacht Rock Mix, for obvious reasons.”
That’s all for this week! Please reply to get in touch and share with anyone else who might like to subscribe too. See you next Wednesday 👋
