Sam Brooks 
The Spinoff’s resident nail enthusiast Sam Brooks dives into nail salon reality show Boss Nails and finds someone to model his messy life after. I love two things: Getting my nails done. There’s something relaxing about handing your hands over to someone for an hour or so and getting them to look pretty and shiny. Especially if … Read more
This week NZ First released their full list of candidates. Sam Brooks took a deep dive into the trenches of the internet to find out who these people are, where they came from, and what they bring to Team Winston. Like many people, I see New Zealand First as synonymous with Winston Peters, much in … Read more
After some scared principals blamed Westside for all their woes, Sam Brooks investigates what other carnage the Outrageous Fortune prequel has caused. Earlier this week, five high school principals in West Auckland blamed Three’s fictional series Westside for driving children away from their schools. Let’s be straight here: this is balls-out stupid. What would that conversation even … Read more
Forget the cliches of women in top hats and bustiers singing tired songs about heartbreak. Auckland Live’s International Cabaret Season is full of energy, emotion, feminism and mischief, writes Sam Brooks. There’s a billion definitions of cabaret, from the clinical to the etymological to the base. For me, cabaret takes the best things of live … Read more
Maraea Rakuraku is an award-winning playwright whose latest work is being presented in Te Pou’s Kōanga Festival in September. Sam Brooks talked to her about history, playwriting and cultural commentary. Kōanga Festival is a two and a half week festival (September 1 – 17) presented by Te Pou, Auckland’s Home of Māori Theatre, consisting of … Read more
Sam Brooks dives into the new Uncharted game, The Lost Legacy, with two progressively awesome protagonists and the classic cinematic gameplay pioneered by the series. I spent some time being an Uncharted sceptic, mostly out of a fierce loyalty to Tomb Raider, the proud predecessor of the series. I wanted more puzzles! More women punching things! I wanted … Read more
Sam Brooks watches the new Eva Longoria vehicle Decline and Fall and finds a show more British than a pint of lager and a packet of crisps. Decline and Fall is maybe the most British show I’ve ever watched. How British is it? First of all, it’s based on a 1928 satirical novel by Evelyn … Read more
Next up in Sam’s Celebrity Game Reviews is Shady Wars, a game in which Sam has to reconcile his feelings for Eminem while throwing chainsaws at drones. I have a limited familiarity with Eminem. I am aware that Kathy Griffin was in a video he did, he has said lots of homophobic things in songs, … Read more
If it’s your last speech in parliament, you might as well throw a little shade around, right? Sam Brooks reads the politicians’ farewell addresses so you don’t have to. When the Spinoff politics editor asked if anybody would be keen to pull out some of the best lines from the recent lineup of parliamentary valedictory speeches, … Read more
Ever wondered what Cobb & Co’s menu looked like in the 80s? Thanks to an unearthed staff training video, Sam Brooks knows. Now he’s ready to share the unsettling results. I have been to Cobb & Co once in my life, in 2016. On the way back from Wellington, we stopped in Taupō. Now there … Read more
Sam Brooks watches Search Party, the indie-inspired comedy that contains as many mysteries as it does 90s stars. If you were to make a webseries in the 90s, somehow having the same crazy technology as of today, you would probably make Search Party. You’d also immediately burned for being a witch, because that’s what they … Read more
Sam Brooks reviews the latest from Gone Home hitmaker Fullbright: a meander through an abandoned space station called Tacoma. If you hated Gone Home, stop reading this now. You’re not good enough for these words and you should go and learn how to get feelings from your videogames like a good honest nerd who also gets feelings from their … Read more
Next up in Sam’s Celebrity Game Reviews is Nicki Minaj: The Empire, in which you play a character who becomes fast friends with Nicki Minaj and ends up performing as her opening act. “HEY Y’ALL IT’S NICKI MINAJ!” The unmistakable un-dulcet tones of Nicki Minaj greeted me and the rest of The Spinoff offices when I … Read more
Fractious Tash’s new production as part of Q’s Matchbox Season, The Effect, doesn’t quite translate the play’s complexities into a production, writes Sam Brooks. On the face of it, Fractious Tash producing The Effect seems like an ideal match of company and play. Their previous productions, the tremendous Titus and the mixed-but-visually-stunning Not Psycho, have made big … Read more
The Good Wife is one of those show that has always seemed to be around, but you’ve probably never seen. Sam Brooks tells you why you haven’t watched it yet, and why you should fix that immediately. At some point in 2016 I decided I was going to watch all of The Good Wife, just as … Read more
After watching an episode of the slightly weird teen-oriented show while on painkillers (legitimate medical reasons), Sam Brooks goes on an internet investigation to find out what the cast are doing now. Being Eve was a strange beast of a show, one of the rare New Zealand TV series aimed specifically at teens and preteens, … Read more
Now one of the most lauded television producers in the world, Ryan Murphy didn’t start well. Sam Brooks was there in the 90s to witness the hot mess that is Popular. It’s strange to sit in 2017 and see Ryan Murphy be a critically acclaimed, if still messy, maker of television. I look at the … Read more
Is Lana Del Rey’s new album too much Lana Del Rey? Sam Brooks reviews Lust for Life. Lust for Life opens with the most Lana Del Rey of Lana Del Rey songs, ‘Love’. The chorus goes, “It’s enough to be young and in love,” which I’m honestly surprised isn’t already a Lana Del Rey lyric. … Read more
Sam Brooks takes the plunge and reviews the dating sim that not only lets you play as a dad, but lets you date other dads. “Dream Daddy: A Dad Dating Simulator is a game where you play as a Dad and your goal is to meet and romance other hot Dads. Are you ready? Hi … Read more
Over the weekend, US Ambassador Scott Brown had what he probably thought was an interview scheduled with Kim Hill. What actually ensued was a brilliantly shady media boxing match. Sam Brooks gives his play-by-play. My prevailing memory of Kim Hill is from something I once taped on One, back in the dark ages where you would … Read more
On Wednesday Express magazine published an article about Paul Heard, confirming his resignation from the New Zealand Aids Foundation in the wake of a racist Facebook post. The community reaction was immediate, vitriolic and problematic, writes Sam Brooks. Paul Heard is a former owner of Urge bar and was until very recently community engagement manager for the New … Read more
Next up in Sam’s Celebrity Game Reviews is Sniper X with Jason Statham, in which Jason Statham problematically gets people to shoot other people with their phones. It would be an understatement to say that first person shooters are popular games. Your Calls of Duty, your Battlefield 1s, your Halos are the cultural behemoths among videogames. … Read more
One day last year Sam Brooks started re-watching The Nanny and didn’t stop. Six seasons later, this is what he learned. “Did The Nanny ever actually play in primetime in New Zealand?” This is something I often wondered as I made my way through all the show’s six seasons last year. My main memory of … Read more
Shane Bosher was the artistic director of Silo Theatre for many years and directed many of its most famous productions, including Angels in America, When the Rain Stops Falling and Holding the Man. Now he’s back in Auckland to direct two new Silo shows, Cock (co-presented with Auckland Live) and A Streetcar Named Desire. Sam Brooks talked to him about them … Read more
In the second instalment of Sam’s Celebrity Game Reviews, Sam takes a spin on a five year old game fronted by a somewhat successful and famous-within-a-specific-niche sportsman. Previously on Sam’s Celebrity Game Reviews: Demi Lovato – Path to Fame I’m going to be honest with you, when I was scrambling through lists of celebrity mobile … Read more
In the first in this new celebrity-endorsed-and-branded mobile game series, Sam Brooks plays the upsettingly addictive Demi Lovato: Path to Fame. Some disclaimers before we start: I haven’t played a mobile game since the ubiquitous Snake. The entire phenomenon has skipped me, mostly because I’d rather spend my valuable battery power on making nonsense tweets, and … Read more
My First Power Up is an occasional series in which writers reminisce and replay the first video game they ever played. In this inaugural installment Sam Brooks returns to the gag-laden point and click adventure Sam and Max: Hit the Road. Our first video game can really define us. For some people it’s something benign like … Read more
Like the rest of the internet-having world, Sam Brooks has been listening to Lorde’s new album today. Unlike most of the world, he writes plays for a living. Here’s his interpretation of his favourite song from the album. The following is what happens when you sit in The Spinoff, rushing through your first listen of … Read more
New Zealand has a long storied history of pop music, from ‘Blue Smoke’ to ‘Poi E’ to ‘Royals’. Chelsea Jade and Sam Brooks did their best to cover some of the forgotten and not-so-forgotten gems in between. When the Cat’s Away: ‘Melting Pot’ Chelsea Jade: Let’s dive into the melting pot. It’s a palate cleanser. … Read more