Hit TV3 comedy show 7 Days makes its triumphant return tonight, and among its cast is fan favourite Josh Thomson.
The show, which sees comedians take a sideways look at the week's news, has been on hiatus since the beginning of June.
Thomson, star of award-winning short films Only Son and Brown Peril, along with non-award-winning feature The Devil Dared Me To, reckons tonight is going to be a good one.
"I'm doing 7 Days tonight, it's a cracking show. We've got Madeline Sami, Paul Ego, Jeremy Corbett, Dai Henwood, Ben Hurley, Corey Gonzalez… and me. It'll be an amazing show, it'll be lots of fun," says Thomson.
"There's a lot of hot topics which we'll be talking about. It's tough with the Trump and Clinton thing because everybody in the world is making amazing jokes about it immediately. But we'll be talking about Rio, Pokémon, pest-free New Zealand, and Simon Barnett's car crash rescue."
Thomson admits there's a lot more in the live show than what ends up on the telly, but argues that's a good thing.
"It's a three-hour show, so it does get trimmed. So you're not seeing some horrific amateur production that happens sometimes when I open my mouth.
"It is really fun, 'cause we'll start with a news story and just end up somewhere so ridiculous and the fun part is taking the risk. Is what I'm about to say going to be so ridiculous that people are going to laugh, or will people be going, 'Who is this horrible man?'" says Thomson.
"Some of them - Paul and Dai and Jeremy - are outrageously quick, it's quite annoying actually. And everyone is very clever. I just shout a lot basically.
"I do a lot of weirder stuff because everyone else is so clever - I think it helps it seem a little more rounded if I do odd, performance-based stuff."
The star of Cash Converters and Fresh Up ads, along with various roles on TV shows including Hounds, Terry Teo and Jono's New Show, Thomson is also a seasoned stand-up comedian. Finding humour in awkward confrontations is one of his specialties.
"If I'm out in public and I hear someone arguing, I find it really funny. I'll stand close by and try to absorb as much of their argument. I do a lot of arguments in the show," says Thomson.
It's like the awkwardness about being stuck in a car with a couple fighting that people hate but he loves, says Thomson.
"I don't tend to watch comedians because if they say something really clever I get quite jealous and don't think I can make a joke about the same topic. Like Jim Jeffries on guns - I can't make a gun joke after that," says Thomson.
After living in Grey Lynn for several years, Thomson says moving to a more peaceful suburb has ended up making him grumpy.
"I've moved out west … I used to live about two minutes from where I worked, so now I know why everyone complains about the traffic. It's the worst thing in my life. It is so boring to talk about. It is so awful," he moans, although he doesn't think it makes for good comedy.
"I think traffic's always been there and it's well-worn and I don't think anyone's kicked a goal with traffic-based humour. 'Anyone here from out of town? Probably took a while am I right?'"
Since moving from Timaru to conquer the Big Smoke of Auckland decades ago, Thomson says he's seen the local comedy scene explode.
"Twenty years ago it wasn't there at all. When I started it was very small. You don't have the barrier anymore if you want to make your own content - you don't have to get a TV show, which was impossible," says Thomson.
"Having something like 7 Days is an amazing thing for the comedy industry because before, you just weren't accepted as a comedian - it wasn't considered a real job. But now if you get the chance to be on 7 Days it's like a little commercial for you so you can become validated and more people then turn up to your shows."
Thomson says along with the returning old favourites, a lot of fresh faces will be appearing on the show's new season.
7 Days screens as part of Thank God It's Friday #TGIF on TV3 tonight at 9.30pm.
Newshub.