By Luke Voogt
Cat cafes, leaf blowers and political correctness – it’s all on Chopper’s hit list when he comes to Corio for new show Bogan Jesus.
“It’s all the stupid things humans do,” said Heath Franklin last Friday, on inspiration for his long-time alter ego’s many targets.
“If you keep your eyes open long enough something comes along and you think, ‘what the hell is that?!’”
After running for Prime Minister of Anzakistan – New Zealand and Australia without the “s**t bits” – Chopper returns for a go at an even bigger challenge.
“I think at that point we’d had five or six prime ministers,” Franklin said.
“I thought, ‘look, no one else is going to do this right, so I might as well.’ This it’s time religion.”
With new “divine powers” Chopper goes through his ten commandments to harden up.
Franklin, 37, has impersonated Mark ‘Chopper’ Read for more than a decade based on Eric Banner’s film portrayal of the notorious criminal in 2000.
“The things that came across in the Eric Banner film for me was the fact that he was quite likable… and a total psycho,” he said.
“I’ve managed to tone the psycho down for comedic purposes.”
Franklin uses the hard-nut persona of Chopper to go after political correctness.
“I think he has a knack for simplifying things that don’t need to be overly complicated,” he said.
“I try to rip the piss out of people for the decisions they make, not who they are – if you’ve decided to buy a leaf blower I think you’re a dickhead.”
Chopper was more three dimensional on stage compared to his three-minute TV spots on the Ronnie Johns Half Hour, Franklin said.
Franklin won the comedian’s choice award at the Melbourne Comedy Festival this year for Bogan Jesus.
He had put more work into Chopper over the years than any other show, he said.
“Anyone with a face hopefully will enjoy this show, obviously it will contain a bit of swearing,” he said.
“I think if you don’t enjoy it… I don’t know how to help you.”
Nearly every audience he played to had someone with a Chopper anecdote up their sleeve, he said.
“If anyone has ever met Chopper in any shape or form, they’ll tell me about it.
“Everyone has a neighbour’s mum’s friend’s boyfriend’s dog that has met Chopper.”
Franklin has two children who are both too young for Chopper’s antics.
But they have seen their father on stage for a kids show alongside fellow comic Harley Breene.
“If you asked my kids what I do for a living, they would probably say I’m a happy pirate,” Franklin said.
“Whereas if you asked anyone else they’d probably say I’m the guy who swears a lot.”
Bogan Jesus comes to Gateway Hotel on 27 October as part of Franklin’s Resurrection tour.
“Come on down to the show or I’ll come around to your house and put Lego in your pet’s eyes,” he said.
