As one half of Internet sensations Bondi Hipsters, Nick Boshier has created characters so popular they have leapt onto mainstream television. As the series 2 of Soul Mates airs this month, Nick tells Matt Myers about his love of gay fans, aspirations to be in the Mardi Gras float and his rather attractive hind quarter!
How does it feel to go from Internet Bondi Hipster to Soul Mates television star?
It’s brilliant! I started doing Trent from Punchy and the cartoon Beached Az, which was so Internet, that they couldn’t really have existed on any other platform, and then when Christiaan (Van Vuuren) and I got together to do the Hipsters, I think we always had an ambition to move into television. The fact that a year full of 52 episodes led to TV was a real manifestation of “Fuck! We did it! This is good!” But for me it was also a bit terrifying, because when writing online you can get away with blue murder. You can cuss at a webcam and not have to justify anything. But for TV we thought “Fuck, we’ve now got to justify things and characterise our stories”. But we’re starting to get our head around it!
What do you think was the selling point that won over the ABC?
I think the fact that we had a relatively attractive audience, with a certain age group between 23 and 45 or such, and there was a fifty percent guy/girl ratio. So I could see how that audience appealed. But also I think our Bondi Hipsters work was bigger than a lot of other stuff on line, and they saw our capacity to make something for television.
And you are well aware of your gay audience?
Oh yeah! (Excitedly) In fact, when Christiaan did the Fully Sick Rapper thing, he was in hospital working his webcam – and he’s really a medium-to-tall drink of water – and in that moment, he became this otter figure, like a mini gay icon. The fact that we’ve got a gay audience is the best thing in the world!
Hmm…so how do you know a term like otter? Straight men don’t know about bears and cubs!
I know everything (laughing). Actually my brother is gay, and we had one of those relationships where I was 12 years old and going to his parties. He was like 21, and I saw and learnt things at an extremely young age that had me very clued up on the esoteric terms.
Well, you’d definitely be an otter!
I reckon I would be an otter, yes!
In the last season of Soul Mates, we had scenarios, ranging from the cavemen to Kiwi assassins. What’s in store this time?
We’ve got the cavemen again, but we’ve expanded their world slightly. We’ve brought in a tribe and had a look at the social dynamics…
There’s a few otters in there?
It’s actually predominantly otter, and there’s one cub in there too. In fact I reckon he’s a teacup cub. He’s quite a short dude and…
Wait a minute…so now you’re inventing terms for us?
Yes, teacup cub is the best! I just came up with it! (Laughing). So he’s a teacup cub and we’ve definitely got a bear in there too. Then we have the Hipsters, Kiwi Assassins and we’ve introduced a new story called, for lack of a better word, Tombs, and it’s us with an Indiana Jones spin. But the thing is, we’re the people who built those tombs! So the demigods, royals and slaves sort of thing. I’m this tweaked out eunuch, a kind of weird experimented-on character, and Christiaan is a slave.
There have been so many shows that have developed from within another show, for instance Kath & Kim. What characters would you like to see get their own spinoff show?
I personally think Cavemen has the potential to be a real-life Family Guy-ish kind of thing. We’re not doing an ‘ooga booga’ type of caveman, it’s more a tweaked ‘that’s weird, let’s explore this further’ kind of thing. So we have a pseudo-intellectual pursuit of these fucking silly ideas! But I could really see that scaling up, as well as the Bondi Hipsters, but we’d have to change their format to more of a mockumentary. I also think Kiwi Assassins has the potential.
Bingo! Kiwi Assassins definitely has so many great angles for a full-on show, and by the way, you in those short shorts….they’re really happening! Especially if you want to tap the gay audience!
The thing about those shorts is…well, I have one main asset and that is my hindquarter! So I nominated the little shorts, and also the character of Terry Thinge is quite precise and inadvertently sexy, so those shorts became a bit of a wardrobe thing for me.
It’s a great look, because you’ve also got the Seventies porn mustache. It definitely ticks all the boxes for a series.
Actually to tell you the truth, I kind of also modeled Thinge on astronaut Chris Hadfield, the dude who sung Space Oddity from the International Space Station.
There’s an image of you as Sticks the caveman swinging on a giant cock. Given that and the antics of Thinge and Hipster Adrian, will we eventually see you in a Mardi Gras parade?
Mate, I would do a Soul Mates float in a heartbeat! We could have the Cavemen tribe and a little bar set up for Kiwi Assassins, and then a couch set up for the Bondi Hipsters. Oh it’s done!
Do you think that every human has a soul mate?
I could go quite deep on this. I think we don’t necessarily have one soul mate, but there was a book I once read by a psychiatrist who would take people back with regression therapy, and he kept finding that individuals wanted to revisit previous lifetimes, and they could recall with phenomenal detail. Long story short, this particular psychiatrist’s thesis was that the thing that binds us to another being in a lifetime is love. So we can bump into the same people throughout our lifetimes because of the binding force of love. In fact, the book is titled Only Love Is Real. So do we have one soul mate? Don’t know. Do we have soul mates that we find time and time again? I believe so.
So, how importance is a ‘bromance’ for guys?
It’s so important for me. I cuddle guys, and I need affection from my guy friends. When I was growing up, there was more the wrestling and face-off kind of thing, but to this day I always cuddle my dad. I cuddle my friends and always have. I have intimate emotional relationships with my guy friends as much as I do with my girlfriends. I’ve got such close affectionate male friends and they are vital to me.
In terms of Aussie comedy, we’ve got some pretty talented performers. Are there any in particular who have inspired you?
Yes, Chris Lilley hands down. I started performing late in life and pursued acting when I was thirty, and at that point Summer Heights High was out. Chris Lilley’s sensibility just resonates with me. He’s a naughty, naughty boy!
I figured you would say him. There must be some sort of similarity?
I would happily be referred to as a poor man’s Chris Lilley any day!
Who is your diva?
As a kid, my mum would play Deborah Harry (Blondie) and I would dance around the house to her. So that was the big one for me, and the other was Madonna. My brother used to listen and dance to her. I grew up with him doing all the pieces from Vogue.
You seem to have a good grasp on cultural identity through the decades. Mods to Hippies, Punks to the New Romantics and Yuppies to, of course, Hipsters! What do you think ‘the look’ will be in 2025?
I don’t think we’ll be able the help technology seeping into our fashion. In fact, we had a bad joke that never actually made it, but our Hipster’s version of that was to create these underpants that were attached to a phone app, that could change the colour tone. For instance, your body might show signs of interest in something before your mind actually clocks it!
That could work well in gay bars. Gone are the days when you had to wear a certain coloured handkerchief!
Absolutely. Certain chemicals would be going off, and ‘ding’! You wouldn’t even need Grindr!
Speaking of dating apps, like Grindr and Scruff, have you thought of putting one of your characters on one?
We have thought of that, because we particularly don’t know what to do with Adrian. He’s more or less closeted, but he’s also so tweaked, he could go either way. So we’re not sure how to reveal his sexuality down the line.
Still on fashion, what happened to the W-Neck that the Hipsters invented? I haven’t seen any in Oxford Street.
No…well we do have a new fashion line coming out with the Hipsters. I can’t say too much about it yet, but it’s a part of the fashion world that so far hasn’t been exploited! But I also think our W-Neck would have to definitely feature in the Mardi Gras float!
Hmm….would I be right in saying your new fashion line has something to do with when the Hipsters invented pants with a reverse fly on the arse? Because that would work really well in the gay market!
It really would, but I’m sure you have a version of that?
No we don’t. You should patent it!
What? You have to go to all the effort of taking down your pants! (laughing). That’s such a hassle!
You’ve gone from Trent from Punchy on YouTube to Soul Mates on the ABC. What advice can you give to those wanting to achieve similar?
I didn’t think about it too hard, I just started making stuff, which I think is part of the beauty of coming into it quite late. I wanted a career change and didn’t want to have to knock on doors or do auditions, so I created my own gig. The entertainment world celebrates doers, so create as much as you can and find your own voice in the process. No matter if you’re a director, writer, performer or producer, just do it. And don’t think it’s too hard or trivial, as people often do.
If you were gay, who would you go for?
I would go for somebody ourdoorsy like a Bear Grylls type. Not necessarily with Bear’s personality traits, but someone who could muster cattle and sleep in the dirt, but also still look great in a suit. Like a resourceful horseman kinda guy! And I’d like someone who can protect me too, because I’m not a fighter. Resourcefulness would be key. I’d want one of those silverbacks who’d be great in an apocalypse! In fact, Harrison Ford would be up there, because he’s a no-nonsense guy and something of a thoroughbred!
So are you a no-nonsense jocks, fitted boxer or freeballing kinda guy?
I was freeballing for the last week, until yesterday. I go through these stages where I forget to wear underpants, and then I start wearing them again and think “Oh yeah, this is great!” Adrian on the other hand has a rather tweaked relationship with his plums, so he always wears underwear.
Well if he ends up with that reverse fly, he’s really going to need them
Exactly! That’s when shit gets real!
Soul Mates screens on ABC1 and iview
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