By David Farrier
It has been another mammoth year for New Zealand comedian Rhys Darby.
He moved to America to film a sitcom, made a new stand-up DVD, wrote a book, and now there is talk of a Flight of the Conchords film.
He has still found time to come home for Christmas where he filmed his DVD and will release it first.
Still jetlagged, he says the strangest part of 2011 was when his American sitcom got canned three episodes in, despite pulling in eight million viewers.
The cast and crew were told of the decision during their lunch break.
“At the end of that meeting they said ‘right! Back downstairs! We're going to finish filming this episode!’ They could have told us after we'd filmed. I'd just checked my hair, it was great!”
Darby relocated his young family to Los Angeles for the show and in-between filming and changing nappies, found himself obsessing over the Mayan prophesy of the world ending in 2012.
He says our only hope will be escaping on spaceships.
“So I’ve decided to write a book about my life so far. Plus advice. Plus how to get on one of these spaceships. And 26 illustrations. I was going to go for 30, but thought I’d go four shy of that.”
Darby told me the working title of his first book is ‘This Way to Spaceship’.
Of course, the imminent end of the world means there is not much time to make that Flight of the Conchords movie, based on the series that launched Darby's international career.
“It was a magic connection that we all knew we'd come back together and I can say we've decided it will happen, it is just a matter of when.”
But before that he is off to London to star in a new mystery television show.
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