He’s young, she’s Brown, they’re both gifted. At least that’s what their Mum’s say. YGB is an independent company comprised of Jaquie Brown & Gerard Johnstone. That means they are too poor to afford an office and do most of their high profile business meetings in Jaquie’s car.
Jaquie and Gerard have been friends since working together at C4. He was a promo director and she was a TV presenter. Together they share a love of comedy and a healthy interest in making TV where Jaquie can showcase her peanut shaped head, and Gerard’s overt homages to bad 80s TV shows.
Disappointed with the lack of press coverage about their fascinating working relationship, they have decided to interview themselves instead.
Jaquie Interviews Gerard
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Hey Gerard. How is your back today?
Fine until you brought it up. -
Gerard, how did we come up with the idea for the show?
You said ‘Hey why don’t we make a show together?’, I said, ‘Okay what about The Jaquie Brown Diaries’. -
What do you think is the biggest thing people get wrong about the show?
That the creative genius behind it must look like Sloth from The Goonies, why else would they never want to interview him. -
Do you dream about my face because you stare at it so much when you are editing?
Well I did have this dream one time where we were boyfriend and girlfriend and I had to fight a bunch of thugs to defend your honour. It started out like West Side story but then you morphed into one of the thugs and I ended up strangling you with your own hoodie cord. But you were asking for it. -
Do you have any fave bits from the show?
Yup, episodes 1-4, cos those are the only ones I’ve finished. -
Describe what it’s like shooting the show?
Ball cancer. -
How do you come up with the storyline ideas?
I look at my watch, then at the calendar, then I look at my bank account. -
Do you think you are hard to work with?
I’ve never thought about that, I’ve always been too busy criticizing other people. -
Why do you drink Lattes and not something more manly like a long black?
Cos a Latte comes in a bigger cup. -
How can you tell if you’ve pushed me too hard?
You refer to me as ‘Dude’.
Gerard Interviews Jaquie
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What’s your problem?
Apparently I look like a boy. -
Describe your acting method?
I’m not good enough to have a method. I just get them there words up in my brain and try and live the moment and not get put off. -
If you could watch another sitcom with a NZ personality playing themselves who would it be?
None, because I’d be too busy shouting at the TV and going on about how that idea had already been done. -
When did you come to terms with the fact that you are essentially quite weird looking?
About the same time I realised you were a dick. -
What’s your best and worst experience on the show?
I’d say the best and worst have been the stunts and physical things I’ve done this series. It’s been really physical. Every night I’d come home bruised and battered. From nearly getting killed rolling under a closing garage door, to face planting into thick freezing mud in the middle of winter. But the worst was when we ran out of my favourite oaty biscuit on set. That was bad. The best is pulling it off and of course seeing it all come together in the edit, that’s the best bit. -
Describe what it’s like shooting the show?
It’s utterly exhausting. -
What does your mum think about all the unsavoury content and themes?
She’s pretty cool, but I do worry about offending her so try and alter the script so I don’t blaspheme so much. Every time I say ‘Christ’ or ‘Jesus’ or ‘Oh my God’ I feel really bad. You write that in a lot you know. -
What do you think you’ll end up doing when the show is over?
Probably get quite fat and write a book about getting quite fat. -
Why do you fart into a coffee cup and tell me you’ve brought me a nice hot latte?
Because my farts taste better than the coffee in parnell and you know that’s true. -
What’s the question you hate getting asked the most?
How similar are you to ‘Jaquie Brown’ on the show?