Prepare to get the giggles as Kiwi comedy queens Rose Matafeo and Laura Daniel chat to Danielle Lagos about their new TV show.
I knew this was going to be a fun interview as soon as the girls walked into the room – and not just because one of them complimented my necklace right off the bat (although I would be lying if I said that didn’t help). It was going to be a good interview because Rose Matafeo and Laura Daniel are Kiwi comedians who have starred in and written for some of New Zealand’s funniest shows – be it in Jono and Ben or with their comedy crew Snort, who perform late-night improv every week at Auckland’s Basement Theatre. Now 23-year-old Rose and Laura, 24, get to use these talents in Funny Girls, a programme about a fictional TV show where a group of men make an all-female sketch show. And with a cast that includes Antonia Prebble and Kimberley Crossman, you know they’ve got some cred to back up the hype.
We love the idea of Funny Girls! Is it based on real-life experiences?
ROSE: “I think a lot of them are based on observations that everyone’s made in day-to-day life, but then we have the opportunity and the freedom to elevate that as comedy, to extend that to the furthest degree and the most ridiculous sense of it. That’s why you’ll get some pretty ridiculous characters with really weird accents; or I play a character who has a mix of American/British/Dutch accents just because I had to make a decision on the day and then I was stuck with accent for the rest of the day and for that sketch.”
How do you come up with new characters for the sketches?
LAURA: “They’re observations of situations but people as well. We have girls in the sketches and we all know someone like that; so the characters are very observational as well.”
ROSE: “We’re lucky enough to have a really great cast, which is a mix of people who do stand-up, improv, who act dramatically, who write themselves – all these women, where they come from, they come to this show able to do comedy.”
You do have an amazing cast – you have Antonia Prebble and Kimberley Crossman on for a start. How did you get them on board?
ROSE: “I want to make it clear that I actually purchased two of Kim’s books so I was really putting money back into the Kim Crossman dot com foundation. So I was really supporting her. I don’t know if I’m a negative person – I have been likened to the sadness character from Inside Out too many times so you know what my vibe is – and Kim is like this bubbly personality who is just so positive and happy and I am this old, haggish witch character… and I do feel bad but I do feel it was comedy and sometimes people get hurt. I got hurt when I met Kimberly Crossman and found out she was one of the loveliest humans ever and I was a terrible person [laughs].”
LAURA: “I remember the conversation we had like, ‘Oh my god, she’s amazing and impossible to hate’.”
ROSE: “And I hate being put in that position of ‘impossible to hate someone’.”
Did she even know about it?
ROSE: “Yeah, but she is an angel who just never talked about it. It’s a long time ago. I think she can understand that people can change – can you write that I’m tearing up in this?”
Or Kim was just killing you with kindness…
ROSE: “I would respect that because that would be awesome. That’s a Taylor Swift kind of a technique and I would be like, ‘Damn, I like that’. Either she is incredibly nice or she’s scheming her revenge; I respect her either way. That’s fantastic.”
You’re good friends who have collaborated for a while. So what are your tips for working with friends?
LAURA: “Don’t live with them and don’t pash them.”
ROSE: “These aren’t hard and fast rules. But if you can just think about it before you pash them… give it a cursory thought.”
Rose, as part of your Speed Dating show you’ve interviewed some great comedy stars this year. Who has been your favourite?
ROSE: “I think it would have to be Bill Hader [Trainwreck] because I was not as intimidated by him as I was by Amy Poehler. With Amy Poehler I just lost my mind. He was just so awesome and he went along with it and he laughed at me and I nearly cried because he was so nice. And he was so nice afterwards about it because he was like, ‘When I heard what this was going to be, I thought it was going to be unfunny but it was really funny’ and I was like, ‘Thank you Bill, thank you so much’ and now I want to marry him. And he’s taller than me so that’s awesome as well.”
LAURA: “Rose is quite tall.”
How tall are you?
ROSE: “1.77m so that’s 5 ft 9 (and three quarters)?”
LAURA: “She’s a nice tall.”
ROSE: “I’m an average New Zealand Woman.”
Yeah, not gigantic.
R: “No, I mean, compared to Kim Crossman I am.”
L: “We are all huge.”
R: “In scenes I have to stand like five feet back from Kim and force perspective like The Hobbit so I look shorter. Gotta know your angles.”
Laura, congrats on the Billy T nomination! That’s amazing. If you win, what is your acceptance speech?
LAURA: “Ummm, I’d probably [scream] ‘Yes!’ really loudly into the mic. But then I’d also thank the other nominees…”
ROSE: “Yeah, but you forget to do that. I forgot to do it even though it was my number one priority.”
LAURA: “I’d probably thank my Snort crew as well because I think they are the ones you always bounce ideas off and we’ve written the show together. It’s been a strong friendship and group of people to work with.”
