Leigh Hart

Hart was born in Greymouth. He lived overseas with his family for ten years, including four years in Peru.{{cite news |title=About Leigh Hart |url=https://tvnz.co.nz/content/869632/3207286.html |work=TVNZ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210428114405/https://tvnz.co.nz/content/869632/3207286.html |archive-date=28 April 2021 |url-status=dead}}{{cite news|url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501119&objectid=11570094|title=Twelve Questions: Leigh Hart|newspaper=New Zealand Herald |date=9 January 2016}} His family returned to New Zealand when he was eleven. He attended Christ's College in Christchurch before spending a year at the University of Canterbury. After working on the Channel Tunnel for two-and-a-half years in the early 1990s, he returned to Christchurch and then founded the rock band "Wild Turkey" with his brother Greg and friend Matt Johnson. The band suspended activities in 1994 after being briefly jailed in France for visa irregularities and then deported.{{cite magazine |last=Hoare |first=Rose |date=18 May 2008 |title=Way Back When |url=https://www.pressreader.com/new-zealand/sunday-star-times-sunday-magazine/20080518/281560876532271 |magazine=Sunday Star-Times Magazine |department=Sunday Magazine |page=13 |via=PressReader}} Returning to Christchurch, Hart enrolled in film and television school, where he began a satirical newspaper titled The Moon.{{cite web |title=Leigh Hart Biography |url=https://www.nzonscreen.com/profile/leigh-hart/biography |website=NZ On Screen |access-date=16 August 2021}}

In the mid-1990s, Hart moved to Auckland and began working in television production for Greenstone Pictures. He was a writer on early episodes of The Zoo. In 1996, producer Marc Ellis recruited him for a vacant guest spot on a 1996 episode of SportsCafe, in which he appeared as an "international snail trainer."{{cite news |editor-last=White |date=15 October 2004 |title=There's something about That Guy |url=http://www.tewahanui.info/pdfs/6/twn06pg17.pdf |newspaper=Te Waha Nui |publisher=School of Communications Studies |location=Auckland University of Technology |issue=6 |page=17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928035243/http://www.tewahanui.info/pdfs/6/twn06pg17.pdf |archive-date=28 September 2007 |url-status=dead |issn=1176-4740}} He was subsequently offered a weekly role as a sports interviewer and took on the nickname of "That Guy".

From 2002 to 2010, Hart produced and starred in Moon TV, a late night comedy show.{{cite web |title=Leigh Hart Screenography |url=https://www.nzonscreen.com/profile/leigh-hart/screenography |website=NZ On Screen |access-date=16 August 2021}}{{cite web |url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/comedy/news/article.cfm?c_id=154&objectid=10362124 |date=2 January 2006 |title=Leigh Hart (That Guy) Sports Cafe |last=Treacher |first=Aroha |website=The New Zealand Herald |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130223043117/http://www.nzherald.co.nz/comedy/news/article.cfm?c_id=154&objectid=10362124 |archive-date=23 February 2013 |url-status=live}} The show parodied different television shows, and featured interviews with New Zealand celebrities. It was nominated for Best Comedy Programme at the 2005 New Zealand Screen Awards and the 2007 Air New Zealand Screen Awards. A spin-off show presented by Hart, Jason Hoyte and Jeremy Wells, Late Night Big Breakfast, ran from 2014 to 2016, and was revived for an additional season in 2020.{{cite news |last1=Croot |first1=James |title=Late Night Big Breakfast: Proof Leigh Hart and Jason Hoyte are NZ's funniest duo |url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/tv-radio/300130005/late-night-big-breakfast-proof-leigh-hart-and-jason-hoyte-are-nzs-funniest-duo |access-date=16 August 2021 |work=Stuff |date=12 October 2020}}

In 2010, Hart presented Leigh Hart's Mysterious Planet, which he described as an "epic TV disaster extravaganza". It was a mockumentary series in which he travelled the world attempting to solve the world's greatest mysteries including Bigfoot, the Loch Ness monster, UFOs, the Bermuda Triangle, lost Inca Gold, the pyramids and Stonehenge.{{cite news |url=http://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/3301174/That-Guys-gone-in-search-of-Bigfoot |date=18 February 2010 |title=That Guy's gone in search of Bigfoot |last=Harvey |first=Sarah |work=Stuff.co.nz}} Prior to the show airing, Hart wrote a humorous piece for the New Zealand Herald entitled "That Guy: Let's hear it for the Maori sasquatch", about his experiences attending a conference on Bigfoot.{{cite news |url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=10571417&pnum=0 |title=That Guy: Let's hear it for the Maori sasquatch |date=10 May 2009 |work=The New Zealand Herald |accessdate=14 October 2011}} Hart later said that he had experienced criticism from attendees after the column was published: "Because it's all online they went nuts. They've been tearing me to bits and abusing me [since]. I'm public enemy number one."{{cite web |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501119&objectid=10624833 |date=8 February 2010 |title=Local man of mystery |last=Taylor |first=Cliff |website=The New Zealand Herald |publisher=NZME}}

In 2012 he presented Olympico, a three episode series with Jeremy Wells and Jason Hoyte which lampooned the London Olympics.{{cite web |url=http://www.throng.co.nz/2012/07/olympico-team-prior-to-depature-to-london/#more-55327 |date=9 July 2012 |title=Olympico Team Prior to Departure to London |last=Cunlife |first=Regan J. |website=Throng |publisher=Throng Media}} In 2013 he presented an episode of the documentary show Descent from Disaster, in which he looked back at the Strongman Mine disaster in 1967 which shook New Zealand, particularly the West Coast, and interviews his friends and family who were directly affected.{{cite web |title=Descent from Disaster - Strongman Mine Disaster |url=https://www.nzonscreen.com/title/descent-from-disaster-strongman-2013/overview |website=NZ On Screen |access-date=30 August 2021}} In 2017 he and collaborator Jason Hoyte co-hosted Screaming Reels, an unscripted fishing comedy show.{{cite news |last1=Kerry |first1=Harvey |title=Leigh Hart and Jason Hoyte 'talk rubbish' in new show Screaming Reels |url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/tv-radio/91201235/leigh-hart-and-jason-hoyte-talk-rubbish-in-new-show-screaming-reels |access-date=16 August 2021 |work=Stuff |date=12 April 2017}} It was mistakenly screened by the Seven Network in Australia as a documentary series.{{cite news |title=Aussie TV network accidentally plays NZ spoof fishing show Screaming Reels as documentary |url=https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/entertainment/2018/01/aussie-tv-network-accidentally-plays-nz-spoof-fishing-show-screaming-reels-as-documentary.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180203100254/http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/entertainment/2018/01/aussie-tv-network-accidentally-plays-nz-spoof-fishing-show-screaming-reels-as-documentary.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=3 February 2018 |access-date=17 August 2021 |work=Newshub |date=29 January 2018}}{{cite news |title=Aussies mistake Kiwi fishing parody Screaming Reels for documentary series |url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/tv-radio/100968705/aussies-mistake-kiwi-fishing-parody-screaming-reels-for-documentary-series |access-date=17 August 2021 |work=Stuff |date=29 January 2018}}

On Radio Hauraki Hart and Hoyte hosted a drive-time show called Daily Bhuja, from 2015 to 2019.{{cite news |last1=Henderson |first1=Calum |title=Leigh Hart farewells Radio Hauraki |url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/tv-radio/117077928/leigh-hart-farewells-radio-hauraki |access-date=16 August 2021 |work=Stuff |date=1 November 2019}} Hart also wrote a column for the Herald on Sunday from 2007 to 2011,{{cite news |last1=Hart |first1=Leigh |title=That Guy: Iconic column hit by cost-cuts |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/ithat-guyi-iconic-column-hit-by-cost-cuts/BLCZV4YSLH43EUPKYCDKRU5DMI/ |access-date=17 August 2021 |work=Herald on Sunday |date=15 April 2007}}{{cite news |last1=Hart |first1=Leigh |title=That Guy: Apologies for others not picking up my mistakes |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/that-guy-apologies-for-others-not-picking-up-my-mistakes/UTUUCSWXLZW4BHBNEKTZBIFEC4/ |access-date=17 August 2021 |work=Herald on Sunday |date=15 August 2011}} and worked for the television show Fair Go.{{cite news |last1=Harvey |first1=Kerry |title=Fair Go fights for underdogs 40 years running |url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/tv-radio/tv-guide/100910239/fair-go-fights-for-underdogs-40-years-running |access-date=30 August 2021 |work=Stuff |date=28 January 2018}}

In 2020, Hart appeared on the first season of the New Zealand series of Taskmaster.{{cite news |title=Taskmaster NZ: Team revealed as shows release date nears |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/taskmaster-nz-team-revealed-as-shows-release-date-nears/IZYROBUCFO5HGF4NSAVTWT74DQ/ |access-date=17 August 2021 |work=New Zealand Herald |date=27 September 2020}} A review by The Spinoff said Hart was "the stand-out performer, largely because you can’t quite pin down what he’s thinking or what he’s going to do next".{{cite news |last1=Sowman-Lund |first1=Stewart |title=Taskmaster NZ proves we can do panel comedy as well as the Brits |url=https://thespinoff.co.nz/tv/21-10-2020/taskmaster-nz-proves-we-can-do-panel-comedy-as-well-as-the-brits/ |access-date=17 August 2021 |work=The Spinoff |date=21 October 2020}}

In July 2013, Leigh released his own brand of beer, Wakachangi, brewed by Harrington's Breweries.{{cite magazine |title=Wakachangi Beer Launch |last=Raethel |first=Thomas |date=21 July 2013 |url=https://www.critic.co.nz/news/article/3123/wakachangi-beer-launch |magazine=Critic |publisher=Otago University Students' Association |volume=2013 |issue=16}} It was initially marketed to students having big parties around the country (notably in Dunedin) and sold in 2-litre bottles. Wakachangi was released nationwide at all Liquorlands in 330ml bottles in October 2013.{{cite web |url=http://www.wakachangi.com/news |date=November 2013 |title=Wakachangi Available Nationwide! |author=Staff writer |website=Wakachangi |publisher=Wakachangi Group Ltd. |access-date=22 May 2018}} Hart said the beer had "hardly a true word on the label"; it is said to be "a South Otago beer, with North Canterbury flavours, brewed by a West Coaster, with the ol' misty waters of the Waikato - est circa 1648", and winner of the Moon Breweries beer awards.{{cite web |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501119&objectid=11133094 |date=2 October 2013 |title=That Guy's seriously talking up his beer |author=Staff writer |website=The New Zealand Herald |publisher=NZME}}{{cite web |url=http://stoppress.co.nz/poppress/wakachangi |date=8 July 2013 |title='Quite nice beer'—UPDATED |author=StopPress Team |website=StopPress |publisher=Tangible Media}}

• SportsCafe (screened 1996–2006 and 2008, starred 2001–2006 and 2008)
• Moon TV (2002–2010)
• The Great New Zealand Spelling Bee (2006)
• Shock Treatment (2006), with April Bruce (one episode){{cite web |url=https://www.noted.co.nz/archive/listener-nz-2006/waste-not-want-not/ |date=25 March 2005 |title=Waste not, want not |last=Wichtel |first=Diana |website=Noted |publisher=Bauer Media |location=Auckland, New Zealand}}
• Pulp Sport (2007){{citation needed|date=August 2021}}
• That Guy's World Cup (2007) on TVNZ OnDemand{{cite web |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=10458553 |date=18 August 2007 |title=Tune in to me for World Cup |last=Hart |first=Leigh |website=The New Zealand Herald |publisher=NZME}}
• Leigh Hart's Mysterious Planet (2010)
• Rugby Mundo (2011): a 12 episode comedic 2011 Rugby World Cup show.{{cite web |url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/rugby-mundo |year=2011 |title=Rugby Mundo's World Cup Finale |last=Hart |first=Leigh |website=Stuff |publisher=Fairfax New Zealand Ltd.}}
• Olympico (2012) on Comedy Central NZ
• Descent from Disaster (2013) (one episode)
• 7 Days (2013–present)
• Late Night Big Breakfast (2014–2016) with Jason Hoyte and Jeremy Wells, on TV One (Season 1){{cite web |url=https://thespinoff.co.nz/features/18-09-2014/late-night-big-breakfast-season-one-obituary/ |date=18 September 2014 |title=Late Night Big Breakfast: Season One Obituary |last=Greive |first=Duncan |website=The Spinoff }} and WatchMe (Season 2).{{cite web |url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/tv-radio/76435622/tv-review-late-night-big-breakfast-like-mike |date=2 February 2016 |title=TV Review: Late Night Big Breakfast, Like Mike |last=Pegler |first=Pattie |website=Stuff |publisher=Stuff Limited}}
• The DNA Detectives (2015) on TV One (one episode){{cite web |url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/tv-radio/74447842/tv-review-the-dna-detectives |date=26 November 2015 |title=TV Review: The DNA Detectives |last=Bowron |first=Jane |website=Stuff |publisher=Stuff Limited}}
• Rude Tube (2016) episode "Feasts of Fury", where his short "Fastest chef in the world 1" was ranked 16.
• Terry Teo (2016) on TV2 (one episode) as "Tom Hagar"
• Hamsterman from Amsterdam (2016) on WatchMe, a spinoff of the Moon TV character.{{cite web |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501119&objectid=11613932 |date=31 March 2016 |title=Leigh Hart: The man making a mockery of TV |last=Schulz |first=Chris |website=The New Zealand Herald |publisher=NZME}}
• Screaming Reels (2017)
• Taskmaster (2020)
• Jono and Ben at Ten.{{citation needed|date=August 2021}}

Hart is a regular speaker and M.C. at public events. In 2011 in Shanghai, he helped raise nearly half a million dollars for the Christchurch earthquake relief fund.{{citation needed|date=August 2021}}

• You Move You Die (2007) as a police officer.{{citation needed|date=August 2021}}
• Gary of the Pacific (2017) as a pilot.{{cite web |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501119&objectid=11820970 |date=19 March 2017 |title=Movie Review: Terry of the Pacific |last=Casey |first=Alex |website=The New Zealand Herald |publisher=NZME}}
• Scott's World of Cheese {{citation needed|date=May 2018}}

• ANZ Bonus Bonds (screened 2006–present){{cite magazine |last=Cone |first=Deborah Hill |date=November–December 2006 |title=New Boys on the Box |url=https://idealog.co.nz/venture/2006/11/new-boys-on-the-box |magazine=Idealog |issue=6 |pages=34–43 |issn=1179-3465}}
• Hellers Bacon (screened 2006–present){{cite web |url=https://www.nzonscreen.com/interviews/leigh-hart |date=26 April 2016 |title=Leight Hart: On TV comedy and his distinctive voice |last=Whiteside |first=Andrew |website=NZ On Screen }}
• No 8 Rugby Internet Campaign{{citation needed|date=August 2021}}
• National Mini Storage (2014–2018){{cite web |url=http://stoppress.co.nz/poppress/taxidermists-guide-selling-house |date=20 February 2015 |title=An ocelot in the fridge |author=StopPress Team |website=StopPress }}

{{Reflist}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20060116204833/http://www.moontv.co.nz/ Moon TV] — The official Moon TV website.
• [http://www.listener.co.nz/issue/3315/features/1055/leigh_hart.html Interview] by the New Zealand Listener (2003)
• [http://www.wakachangi.com/ Wakachangi] - The official Wakachangi website.

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Category:1970 births

Category:Living people

Category:New Zealand male comedians

Category:New Zealand radio presenters

Category:People educated at Christ's College, Christchurch

Category:People from Greymouth

Category:Radio Hauraki

Category:University of Canterbury alumni

Category:New Zealand expatriates in Peru

Category:20th-century New Zealand comedians

Category:21st-century New Zealand comedians