Rhys Darby who you should remember as the manager from the HBO series Flight of the Conchords did a Reddit IAMA this week to promote today’s U.S. premiere of his mockumentary Short Poppies on Netflix. We’ve done the hard work for you and summed up the relevant information from the Q&A session. Hopefully, you will learn more than you ever could about the ginger-haired funny man and his current and past projects. (Food for thought: Don’t believe everything you read.)
1. The Flight of the Conchords band meetings started off as scripted and evolved into ad-libbed joke sessions.
2. Jermaine directed two episodes of Short Poppies.
3. Rhys optioned himself as a manager of Bilbo in the Lord of the Rings but Peter Jackson declined his offer.
4. Rhys’ greatest inspirations growing up were Monty Python and the Loch Ness Monster.
5. Mr. Adventure will be Rhys’next standup special.
6. Kristen Schaal is great to work with. Rhys “likes her as a human lady and she is very funny.”
7. When asked if he had thought of doing a solo album, Rhys responded “I’m working on a rap album at the moment.”
8. Some of the guest stars in Short Poppies include Sam Neil, Karl Urban, Bear Grylls and Stephen Merchant.
9. If Rhys were to go back in time he would go Incan and explore their pyramids. He would take a pulled pork roll as a snack.
10. Rhys’ favorite toast topping is crunchy peanut butter.
11. Rhys almost replaced Steve Carell on The Office (American version).
12. Rhys will be making an appearance on an upcoming @midnight.
13. Rhys misses everything about FotC.
14. Rhys’ best advice concerning intercourse is “do it.”
15. Rhys has never been called “Ginger Balls” to his face. Apparently “everyone is too scared and they know he is army trained and will smash them.”
16. Rhys would like to be on another British comedy panel show like QI again.
17. When asked if he prefers acting or stand-up, Rhys responded “Acting, that’s why I put so much of it into my stand up.”
18. Rhys has swam 200 meters.
19. Rhys is a steak and cheese man.
20. Rhys thinks Jim Gaffigan is cool, like a cucumber.
Mentions: Watch Rhys play all sorts of characters in Short Poppies out now on Netflix.