It was an awkward day when Heath Franklin turned up to a Zoo magazine photoshoot dressed as Chopper Read.
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It wasn’t that Zoo readers had developed a fetish for “celebrity” underworld standover men. The awkwardness came about because Franklin, an up-and-coming comedian and Chopper impersonator, was being photographed alongside the man himself.
But Franklin needn’t have felt uncomfortable. He said the real Chopper Read was actually a little bored by the whole affair, somewhat “nonplussed”.
“It was kind of awkward because I was dressed in the full kit,” he said.
“It wasn’t going to be the centrefold or anything like that, I guess that was just the kind of thing they went for.”
He said he felt strangely connected to the famous criminal. “He kept saying impersonation is the highest form of flattery.
“If you’re meeting a notorious criminal, it’s probably best not to come dressed as them.”
“If you’re meeting a notorious criminal, it’s probably best not to come dressed as them.”
- Chopper Read impersonator Heath Franklin
Franklin has spent the past 10 years appearing on television and in stage performances as his notorious idol. He said he first realised he had the gift of impersonating Chopper after watching the 2000 film, Chopper.
“I used to watch the movie a lot when it first came out. I watched it and loved it and bought it when it came out on DVD. A lot of people have a favourite movie they quote all the time, and I guess Chopper was mine.”
He started doing uni revenues as his new alter ego, and was soon getting picked up from everything from The Comedy Channel to Spicks and Specks. Franklin now has his own Channel one TV show, Chopper’s Republic of Anzakistan, based on the concept of Read leading his own mythical nation.
He’s now taking the television show to a stage show across the nation, stopping in at Ballarat on October 14.
Franklin said Anzakistan was a comedy with a political edge. “It’s partly born of the idea that if Australia and New Zealand joined forces, it would be an unstoppable global force. But also it’s mostly about the state of leadership in Australia.
”It’s a little bit political. Most of my comedy comes from looking at social trends and taking the mickey out of them; it’s not like watching Q&A.”
Franklin will perform at Regent Cinemas on October 14. To book, go to regententertainment.com.au
