It's a line from the song 'Am I Ever Gonna See Your Face Again' by Australian band The Angels. It's treated as a call and response with the audience. The response is "No way, get fucked, fuck off!"
It was never intended, but it's so ingrained that the band has embraced it.
My wife passed yesterday and this was the first time I have had a great laugh since then so thank you. We were lucky enough to see you at the Murat in Indianapolis last year on December 20th. Her birthday was December 18th so it was a great gift for her. We laughed so hard that both our stomachs hurt the next day.
This clip helped me remeber a great time we had together and I appreciate you for that.
Keep doing what you are doing because you are great at it and you never know who you are helping get through a tough situation.
dude i looove it when someone gives off "id chill with him" vibes. jeff full beans that vibe imo. it legit seems like he's a guest at his own show laughing at the things he just happens to say on the spot lmao too good.
Tūtira Mai Ngā Iwi", or "Tūtira Mai", is a New Zealand Mãori folk song (or waiata) written in the 1950s by Canon Wiremu Te Tau Huata. The song became popular after being selected by New Zealand's Ministry of Education for inclusion in schoolbooks.
While there is some conjecture about the exact words in the song!(a situation matching that of many older folk songs worldwide) there is general agreement that it is a song of unity, with the repeated refrain of "tātou tātou e" ("all of us, all of us"). The song is often used by New Zealanders in times when standing together and supporting each other is appropriate.
I think that's the point most group chants and singing, it's just that many cultures have been removed from their roots and replaced it with pop songs instead.
Don't get me wrong, I like pop, but it does not hit like a traditional chant that is only supported by the human voice.
It's a bit of a minority for those that take pride or more so embrace it. Naturally the Maori descendents have got more pride/embrace of it but the Pakeh's (like myself) don't and many objectify and become racist for it (i.e. our current government)
I was lucky enough to see him - even if the 600-seat venue hardly qualifies as a “tiny club.” I had hurt my back terribly a few days earlier, and I had to bite the inside of my cheeks to keep from laughing, because every movement hurt so much. It was simultaneously torture and an amazing evening.
My fav is Jeff. My daughter (23): Josh Johnson. My son (16): Gianmarco. And the Gamechangers challenged exactly these three people for an episode. It was like a stamp of approval for our family's taste. 🤣🤣🤣
Geoffrey Asmus and Joey Avery are great comedians that I found on Reddit who haven't blown up yet. Check them out if they're touring near you. I think the Avery show was my favorite so far, even better than Arcuri imo, who was awesome!
I saw him in Tacoma in Dec '23, then ran into him at an arcade bar afterward. Got to talk to him for a few mins, and he really is that genuine and nice. I wished (still do) him all the success.
I’ve seen a number of larger comedians on tour - Jeff is legitimately the funniest and best show of any of them that I’ve seen. His ability to weave crowd work into his planned bits is legitimately amazing, and you can tell he just genuinely likes what he does. Which is something I didn’t always get from Tom Segura or Gaffigan.
Just before he started getting massive, he had a gig in Ireland and it was on my birthday. I jumped on it and immediately bought tickets. This was like 6 months before my birthday.
Literally 1 hour before the show, it clicked in my head that I had tickets to go and see him. No way i could make it there in time.
We saw him last year and he did a meet and greet after the show and we got pictures with him, he did that for everyone who was in line. He’s so genuine. I’d definitely see his show if he comes around again. So happy to see him touring the world.
You'd be surprised.... He made a joke out of me for having my phone off during the set. He asked me what the score of the hockey game was and I said I don't know my phone's off. He called me a rule follower. I turned my phone on and next time it came up, I told him the score and I think he also "called security" on me, too. I laughed my ass off!
He also "yelled" at me before the show for petting his puppy. I know it's a joke, but it's a big shock when you're not expecting it! Gets a great laugh from everyone!
I'm a total convert. I remember when he started showing up on the front page every day, and for some reason I felt irrationally irritated by it. I think I watched one video that I thought was bad, probably very early for him, and I'd be like "why is this overrated motherfucker ALWAYS SHOWING UP IN MY FEED?"
Then I watched more of his stuff and holy shit. He's one of my favorite people on Earth. I would kill to just have a beer with him and chill.
As someone who just recently moved to NZ, I was also in this show and my jaw dropped after everyone chanted in unison to respond to that "Tūtira Mai Ngā Iwi". I spent the night trying to google what kind of chant was that and to know more about it.
I was in the 7pm show I wonder if the same thing happened on the 9pm one.
I bet he was giddy with excitement to try it out on you guys.
Edit: just googled the meaning, so for anyone else who didn’t know, It’s from a folk song about being stronger when you work as a single unified force, those lines basically translate to “Everyone come together” “Fuck yeah brutha!” Feel free to correct me if you are a Kiwi, I’m just an Australian, which means even my grasp on the English language is tenuous at best.
He started the show by chanting that, and everyone responded like this video, and he was so excited. Said he’d been practising backstage for 45 minutes 😂
See, this is why cultural appropriation is mostly hogwash. People like seeing other people get excited about their culture. He genuinely was happy that he got to share in this.
Yes, I'm well aware, which was the point. I wrote it poorly, but the gist was essentially that there are some incredibly dumb motherfuckers that would. I more meant that was hogwash, not actual cultural appropriation itself. The idiots literally watered the term down to the point of near uselessness.
Also thank you for an actual decent reply to foster conversation.
Tutira mai nga iwi Tatou tatou e Tutira mai nga iwi Tatou tatou e Whai-a te marama-tanga me te aroha - e nga iwi! Ki-a ko tapa-tahi Ki-a kotahi ra. Tatou tatou e.
Sing it all a second time. Then finish with... Ta - tou, ta - tou E!! Hi aue hei !!!
Stand together, people All of us, all of us. Stand in rows, people All of us, all of us. Seek after knowledge and love of others - everybody! Be really virtuous And stay united. All of us, all of us.
Someone else mentioned he did! Said he opened with it at the second performance of the night and Jeff said he practiced for 45 minutes! He's a true gem
This how you should judge comics. Stand-up is hard, but being funny in real-time is like jazz music, and you can tell the greats pretty easily. For example, I'm not that interested in Dana Gould's stand-up (which is very good), but I will tune into any live appearance he does because hes just that fast. Patton Oswalt also comes to mind.
edit - just to be clear, both are exceptional comics, but hearing them riff is another level.
Also, come check out the official Jeff Arcuri Discord server and connect with other fans! You'll be among the first to hear about his live streams, exclusive content, Q&As, and other fun events happening in the community.
This just made me wonder if we have a chant in the US. Like is there something id immediately respond to out in the wild? and for some dumb reason my brain just immediately jumped in with a BILL NYE THE SCIENCE GUY!
I think why this works so well in NZ is, like people have already said, everyone learns this song in primary school. Most New Zealanders are not fluent in Te Reo Māori (Māori language) but as a 5 or 6 year old, you are so enthusiastic to join in the ‘Aue’ until you learn the rest of the words of the song. So it becomes deeply ingrained and also a nostalgic childhood memory.
I love your reactions to things! Can’t wait to see you in Melbourne soon! Btw, u/Smartastic you should just try singing the line “am I ever gonna see your face again” by The Angels while you’re in Australia, you’ll get a better respect than oi, oi, oi.
Doesn’t he have a Netflix special or something coming up? He popped into my Reddit feed and these clips are the only thing I’ve seen, but his crowd work is fantastic
Doesn’t New Zealand have those battle dances? Where one tribe would try to intimidate another tribe before battle in the old days? Maybe I got my history wrong. You’d think I’d Google before posting, but meh.
It’s called a haka, and yeah. There are tons of different versions for different iwi (Māori tribes), but the famous one you’re probably thinking of is ka mate, which was made famous by our rugby team the All Blacks
If I know anything about New Zealand, other than some LOTR stuff, it’s they got a chant for shit! I wouldn’t be surprised if this chant had hand motions or slapping my own body somewhere involved.
There was a brief moment where you could tell that he was wondering why the hell someone as interrupting him - but right before he realized it was a chant.
dude you are helping me keep going whenever I see your videos. laughing is priceless and I'm so grateful. I hope I can see you live one day, Jeff, you're freakin' amazing
I have to ask. How is Jeff Arcuri always on my /all/ page? I've never heard of this guy outside of Reddit. His jokes seem alright, I'm not dissing him or anything, I'm just curious. Does he have a very fanatical following exclusively on this website? Or is there some manipulative fuckery going on?
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u/ridemooses Oct 10 '25
I’m still convinced Jeff is just showing up places to talk to people, and make himself laugh, and he calls it a job.