Josh Thomson - Funny As Interview

Josh Thomson has flexed his comic muscles on 7 Days, The Project, and in award-winning films about upstart badminton players. Plus he directs and edits too! In this interview Thomson covers ground including:

• How, as one of the few Tongans growing up in Timaru, he was blown away seeing other Polynesians on TV's Skitz
• Pestering his music teacher for a role in the school play — and how his acting career later got sidetracked when he realised stand-up could get help him get girls and free beer
• How free bread launched his long creative bond with creative collective The Downlow Concept, which spawned short films Brown Peril and Only Son, and 2017 movie Gary of the Pacific
• His role relating news to audiences, as "the village idiot" on The Project
• Working with legendary director Geoff Murphy on sitcom Welcome To Paradise

This interview was recorded for 2019 TV series Funny As: The Story of New Zealand Comedy. All audiovisual content is copyright to Augusto, and may not be reproduced. Publication of Funny As extended interviews made possible with funding from the NZ Lotteries Grants Board.