Rose Matafeo
Appearances
Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!
WWDTM: Rose Matafeo
Oh, yeah, but as you say, I started when I was 15, so it was kind of child labor vibes. I was thrown into the comedy mines to start stand-up as a teenager. Yeah, I started quite young. There's not many people in New Zealand, so I think I just, you know, they eventually give you an award if you keep at it long enough. Right.
Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!
WWDTM: Rose Matafeo
Yeah, well, she did. Jacinda Ardern. She was the minister of arts and culture. So it did make sense that she kind of knew some of us and she did do a sort of monologue that we did improv comedy based on. So I know it's horrible to make generalizations, and New Zealand is a large place. It's a metropolitan capital of the world, all of that. But it is true that lots of us do know each other, yeah.
Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!
WWDTM: Rose Matafeo
And I've met her a few times. It's really cool. I mean, when your prime minister is doing monologues for you in a 100-seater, you're like, yeah, that country's quite small, isn't it?
Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!
WWDTM: Rose Matafeo
You think that's a joke. That's kind of true. My nan would come to my shows all the time to the extent where she would start coming back to shows with heckles for jokes that she had heard before.
Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!
WWDTM: Rose Matafeo
No, she's really not funny at all. She won't be listening to this, so that's good. No, she's very funny. But in that way, they don't really know that they're funny. What's very sweet is my grandmother is so lovely and sweet that the heckle that she came up with for one of the jokes was, I think I was mocking her for the way she pronounces.
Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!
WWDTM: Rose Matafeo
For some reason, a certain generation pronounces muesli as moosley. And I was really ripping into her for that because my comedy is cutting edge.
Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!
WWDTM: Rose Matafeo
And then she's the kindest person that her heckle was, well, next time I'll make you something else. Her version of absolutely taking me down was just offering me another breakfast option.
Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!
WWDTM: Rose Matafeo
I've never had... Not many people are like, you know, hey, great to watch the special, you know, blah, blah, blah. You usually get those kind of comments. I have never got a public reaction as big as the fact that I have accidentally worn... University of Minnesota shirt that I found in the middle of Malmö in Sweden in a second-hand shop.
Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!
WWDTM: Rose Matafeo
And I was like, that's a cool yellow t-shirt with my last name initial on it. I'm going to wear that. I won't be living that down for a while. Go Gophers, I guess. Golden Gophers. They're called the Golden Gophers. Go Golden Gophers. You best believe I was straight to the Wikipedia page to see if there had been any massive controversies at the University of Minnesota shirt.
Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!
WWDTM: Rose Matafeo
Maybe I could get an honorary doctorate or whatever. I've never been offered one of those. So maybe the University of Minnesota can step up and offer one of those little hats or something. I just want to wear that little hat that people tend to wear. I don't know.
Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!
WWDTM: Rose Matafeo
I was asked, alongside Mike Wozniak, to be the taskmaster, who's the person who gives out the points and sort of judges five children, gives out points. That's a hard job. I had to really figure out how to do that.
Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!
WWDTM: Rose Matafeo
Oh, and you know what? I'll say, when I did the pilot for the show, I was like, Carmen, They're going to do this. They're just gorgeous. Children of the future. I want to kill their spirits young. And after about two episodes of it, I was like, this is easy. This is so easy. I don't care anymore. Those children are lovely and they're cute, but they fight back.
Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!
WWDTM: Rose Matafeo
You know what is weird? What? I think I know the answer to this question. Yes. Because I am fascinated by her. I think it is B. Here's the funny thing.
Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!
WWDTM: Rose Matafeo
That's a classic Liz move. It really is. That's really gutting that I got that wrong. I feel bad. I feel sick. I feel scared. And I feel, yeah. Yeah. Here's your next question.
Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!
WWDTM: Rose Matafeo
Oh, dirty dog. If that's true, I'm going to go C. And you are right. That's what happened.
Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!
WWDTM: Rose Matafeo
Yes. All of these are spicy options. They are. No, I'm actually going to go with B because I feel actually that Glenn Wolf is a PR hound. He's probably doing it for the fame and he's going, why not? Let's get in the Guinness Book of World Records. Let's get that photo and I'm going to die in style. You are exactly right.