Miles Allen was a struggling actor in LA when his Breaking Bad impressions went viral, making him one of the hottest tickets at this year's Comedy Festival. He talks, in many voices, to Chris Schulz.
His favourite character is Jesse Pinkman. His favourite episode is "Ozymandias". And his favourite quote is: "Yeah b***h! Magnets!"
Meet Miles Allen. He's a self-confessed "Breaking Baddict". And, thanks to an unlikely sequence of events, he's turned his addiction to the zeitgeist-grabbing TV show about a cancer-stricken teacher-turned-methmaker into a career in comedy.
Here's how he did it: Allen was a struggling actor in Los Angeles settling in for the Breaking Bad finale when he broke out his best impressions of Walter White and Pinkman for a friend.
"I had been growing my beard out. I hadn't showered. I looked haggard," he says.
"My friend was like, 'Miles, these are great impressions. You just look so homeless right now. I feel like we should film you as a homeless guy doing Breaking Bad impressions for food'.
"I was like, 'That sounds like a stupid idea. Let's do it'."
The next day, they filmed a shirtless Allen doing pinpoint impressions of four Breaking Bad characters on the side of the road while begging for a sandwich, put the video on YouTube and watched it go viral. It has had 1.5 million views to date.
That success has morphed into Allen's One Man Breaking Bad show, which has been on the road for a year now, reaching New Zealand with a seven-night run as part of the Comedy Festival on Monday.
Taking in key scenes, quotes and factoids from the show's five seasons, Allen voices everyone, including Walt's wife Skyler White, hitman Mike Ehrmantraut and - more controversially - Walt's disabled son, Walter jnr.
"He's one of the hardest, not because of the difficulties impersonating him but because of the stigma that comes with him," Allen says.
"Everyone gets very sensitive about people with cerebral palsy. People say, 'Oh he's ridiculing people with cerebral palsy'. But I'm not at all, and I'd actually argue that not impersonating Walt jnr would be a greater act of discrimination than to just impersonate him and treat him like any other character."
Yes, his show is a homage - but it's also a parody. And it's attracting big crowds. Allen's performed One Man Breaking Bad for a year now, including tours across Australia and Europe. When TimeOut talks to him, he's fresh off the stage from a 1000-seat sellout in Liverpool.
He's also heard rumours that the star of Breaking Bad spin-off Better Call Saul, Bob Odenkirk, wants to attend an upcoming show in Los Angeles. Performing for the show's cast and crew, including creator Vince Gilligan, is a "pipe dream" he has.
"The show's a huge love letter, a huge thank you to them, for giving Breaking Bad to the world," he says.
But when Allen's "Baddiction" first started, things weren't going quite so well. He was yet another actor trying to catch a break in Los Angeles. And he wasn't having much luck.
"I had all this free time. I'd just finished university. I didn't have any homework. I was unemployed. I'd just moved to Los Angeles so I thought the best use of my time was on the couch bingeing on television. That's when I watched the first episode of Breaking Bad."
Like users of Walt's blue meth on the show, he was quickly addicted. He watched four seasons in a month, then ploughed straight into the final season. "I was totally hooked by that show."
After his video went viral, Allen used his background in stand-up comedy and theatre to create a show based on his impressions. It's narrated by his favourite character, Jesse, and Allen's prone to infusing his interviews with Jesse-speak, including occasional use of the words, "Yo," and "B***h".
"He's such a fun character to impersonate, and I think he's also one of Breaking Bad's most complex characters. At first he's a deadbeat but they layer him so much that we start to sympathise with him, even more than Walt."
Allen's show has changed over the year he's been performing it, and he admits to feeling "a huge weight" to satisfy fans who want to see their favourite moments acted out on stage.
But it's not just for those "Baddicts" who've seen every episode - Allen insists his show's for everyone, even if you've never seen it.
"I always ask the audience, 'Who has never seen Breaking Bad?' and I'm always so surprised - there are always hands. So many times those same people come up to me after the show and say, 'That was brilliant. I loved it. I really want to go and watch the show now'.
"That's brilliant. That's exactly what I want to instil in someone who hasn't watched the show: go watch it. It's amazing."
What: Miles Allen in One Man Breaking Bad Where and when: Herald Theatre, Auckland, May 4-9 as part of the Comedy Festival.
