‘Chef’ and Vicar of Dibley may retire in New Zealand
16 Jul 2008
British stand up comedian and TV ‘Chef’ Lenny Henry and his "Vicar of Dibley’ wife Dawn French are considering retirement in New Zealand.
Currently in the country for his "Where you from?" stage show Henry told media that his family would love to settle down in New Zealand "in about 10 years time."
Though he and French have just bought a "massive, beautiful" house in Cornwall in the South West of England, he says the family would consider ultimately settling in New Zealand.
It’s Henry’s third visit to the country. He spent some time living in Auckland on a previous visit and named Waiheke Island in the Hauraki Gulf as his favourite spot.
Current tour
The British funny man known particularly to New Zealand audiences for his part in ‘Chef’ was in the country en route to Australia for a series of performances. He’ll return to New Zealand for five shows in both the South and North Islands from July 25-31.
His latest show evolved from the TV series ‘Lenny's Britain’ in which Henry toured the UK trying to answer the question, 'Where does British comedy come from?' In his typical stand up comedy style he also tells the story of where he’s been, making a droll tale of his family migrating from Jamaica to Dudley in the English Midlands.
Henry who turns 50 next month says he’s found himself in some pretty strange situations over the years. Among the characters he portrays in the new show are Mr Lister the grumpy Jamaican shopkeeper and Daniel the politically correct un-political soldier.
Comedy icon
Henry is a British comedy icon with an impressive list of achievements that span radio, television, film and drama. He's also in a band with Hugh Laurie.
But he says his wife Dawn French is the better comedian.
"She's a comic genius. I go and see everything she does, if you hear a really loud laugh in the audience - on the Vicar of Dibley - if you hear woo-ha-ha - that's me."
Henry said it's important to try new things to stop his comedy from becoming stale.
"I've done singing, acting. I'm going to try to do some acting in the new year. I'm going to appear in Othello ... Lenny Henry's Othello at Northern Broadside theatre, and maybe I might do a talk show at some point."
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