Late comedian and writer Jon Gadsby was an integral part of the NZ television comedy landscape.

With his longtime friend and colleague David McPhail, Gadsby headlined some of the most iconic comedy shows this country has produced. They first teamed up in the 1970s for hit sketch show A Week of It. The show took pot-shots at politicians, the news, and everyday life. The pair then moved on to the long-running McPhail and Gadsby. Gadsby penned two rural based comedies – Rabbiter's Rest and Letter to Blanchy. He also appeared in movies and hosted episodes of Great NZ River Journeys and Intrepid Journeys.

In this ScreenTalk, Gadsby talks about:

• Being the newbie on ground-breaking comedy show A Week of It
• How mocking religion led to death threats on McPhail and Gadsby
• Why politicians wanted to be on the show and how it captured the public mood
• The origins of the infamous saying ‘Jeez Wayne’
• How Letter to Blanchy reflected heartland New Zealand, and his own upbringing
• Tormenting his cameraman Jacob Bryant on an Intrepid Journeys trip to Myanmar

This video was published on April 2010 is available on YouTube to embed and distribute via a Creative Commons licence.

NZ On Screen: Camera & Editing