Hawkes Bay Today
  • Hawke's Bay Today home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology

Locations

  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Havelock North
  • Central Hawke's Bay
  • Tararua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Dannevirke
  • Gisborne

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Hawkes Bay Today / Lifestyle

Aussie comedian a laugh a minute

By Amy Shanks
Hawkes Bay Today·
19 Nov, 2014 02:15 AM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save
    Share this article
Kevin "Bloody" Wilson built a career on sharing stories and finding hilarity in everyday situations.

Kevin "Bloody" Wilson built a career on sharing stories and finding hilarity in everyday situations.

Kevin "Bloody" Wilson is not afraid to use the f-word, or flout political correctness.

The crude Aussie's fair dinkum persona is the foundation for a career that has spanned 30 years, leaving few topics untouched.

It's proved such a successful model he wonders why others haven't followed in his footsteps, citing Flight of the Conchords as his closest competition in the singing comedian stakes.

Wilson last crossed the ditch two years ago and is looking forward to ruffling a few feathers in Hawke's Bay during a show at Napier Municipal Theatre next Wednesday.

In the country on a 10-date tour titled First of the Final Farewell Tours - Perhaps, he's promising new material, including songs from his album Wrong Wrong Wrong, released late last year.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

He could also confirm set-list favourites such as D.I.L.L.I.G.A.F, I Knew the Bride (When She Used to be a Mole) and Living Next Door to Alan would appear.

But there's no predicting exactly how the performance will pan out - he prefers to play on the mood of the crowd.

"It's a shared thing, the show itself is very much up to the audience; they don't take a lot of prodding in New Zealand," Wilson said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"I will never forget the songs that introduce me to Kiwi, like Hey Santa Claus. I tend to believe that when New Zealand and Australia first settled, when we first stuck a flag in the soil, there was a lot of hardship and I reckon that our humour developed from that hardship, it's an irreverent type of humour."

While he was accepted on stages here, it did take a bit of work to crack the exterior of audiences in England and America who were "surprised" by his lack of boundaries.

Despite the initial shock, Wilson continued to do what he does best - share stories and find hilarity in everyday life.

"I don't give offence, I take offence, I don't mould anything to suit anyone I just do the same songs and people say, "hey, how do you get away with that s***?"

Kevin Bloody Wilson's story is one of legend, which began when he recorded songs on cassette tapes for friends telling of his experiences working in the Kalgoorlie mines.

By the early 1980s, he put together a tape called Your Average Australian Yobbo - which landed in the hands of tens of thousands before being transferred to LP.

Fast-forward three decades and Wilson is a household name throughout Australia and the world - a long way from being arrested for performing his politically incorrect songs in public.

Wilson puts his innate sense of humour down to growing up in a small mining town where he was forced to "fight or make them laugh ... I definitely wasn't the fighting type."

Three years ago, Wilson was nominated for Australian of the Year; today, his record sales are nudging the four million mark. All of his CDs and DVDs have achieved gold status globally, with many reaching platinum.

Over the years, his audience hasn't changed so much as expanded to include a new demographic, one he wasn't entirely sure would like him in the beginning.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"I believed it was only for the blokes, next time I would go back to a venue I would see they had their wives with them, they had the cassette at home, that was quite a big change.

"Now you may find three generations of the same family in the audience."

- Tickets start from $64.90 plus booking fee, available from ticketek.co.nz

Win
Vibe has three double passes to give away to the 8pm show at Napier Municipal Theatre next Wednesday. Send your name and a daytime contact number to competitions@hbtoday.co.nz with Kevin in the subject line. The cut-off date will be Monday lunch time and names will be on the door.

Save
    Share this article

Latest from Lifestyle

Hawkes Bay Today

Top drop: Hawke's Bay Merlot crowned best in world at global awards

Lifestyle

Volunteering goes digital: Hawke’s Bay charities embrace remote roles

Watch
Lifestyle

How John Scott’s design philosophy shapes a new generation of architects


Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Lifestyle

Top drop: Hawke's Bay Merlot crowned best in world at global awards
Hawkes Bay Today

Top drop: Hawke's Bay Merlot crowned best in world at global awards

NZ wineries won three out of nine international trophies at an annual wine contest.

05 Jun 03:34 AM
Volunteering goes digital: Hawke’s Bay charities embrace remote roles
Lifestyle

Volunteering goes digital: Hawke’s Bay charities embrace remote roles

Watch
11 Apr 05:00 PM
How John Scott’s design philosophy shapes a new generation of architects
Lifestyle

How John Scott’s design philosophy shapes a new generation of architects

05 Apr 05:00 PM


Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

06 Jul 09:47 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Hawke's Bay Today e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Hawke's Bay Today
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • NZME Events
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP