Have you come across The Raglan Surf Report during the course of those countless hours you’ve wasted on Facebook? The brainchild of ex-NZ pro Luke Cederman, The Raglan Surf Report follows Luke’s hilarious misadventures as he tries (without success) to provide up-to-date info on the surf conditions in Raglan. Kicked off just under a year ago, the videos have steadily been gaining popularity on Facebook and Instagram, and have added a much needed dose of humour back into the surfing cauldron. Tracks caught up with Luke to find out how The Raglan Surf Report started, where it’s heading, and what makes NZ humour choice as.

Tracks: How did the idea for The Raglan Surf Report and the subsequent News show come about?

Luke Cederman: I had an itch for making films that needed to be clawed away at viciously, and surfing has been a huge part of my life, so I tried to merge my two passions together and The Raglan Surf Report happened. I just wanted to show the lighter side of surfing, try get a few lols from my buddies.

The News show came about after my buddy Luke Taplin and I thought it'd be a good idea to have a crack at making a little TV show. We'd been doing some presenting work for Garage and learnt a few ins and outs of producing a show, so we gave it a go. Garage are airing it in NZ which is amazing—Sky channel 77, check it out. Got to thank Garage for their support.

How many people are involved in The Raglan Surf Report and how do the skits come together?

Mainly me, @wolf_lazer_dude as I'm known to my friends as of last week when I changed my Instagram handle. Most of the time I'll have an idea of what I want to do, then I'll set up my camera on a tripod and press the red button. Other times I'll write up a short treatment and maybe a script or shot list. Actually, I've only done that once and it was kind of shitty. Apart from me, there's a bunch of my amazing friends that I frequently rope in to helping me, which is great because it gets a little boring filming by yourself and it always helps to have someone to bounce ideas off. A shoot can take between five minutes and three hours, it's pretty variable, and also depends if I've charged my camera batteries.

Do you have any grand plans for the show or are you just having fun and seeing where it takes you?

It's kind of grown pretty naturally, and that's been great, but I'd really like to push it a bit more, get a few more sets of eyes on it. I'm looking at expanding, creating some different videos, possibly instructional films—I did my level 1 Surf Coaching Certificate thirteen years ago, so I know my stuff. If that fails, maybe more fire and stunts.

New Zealand comedy has definitely gained a wider international following in recent years thanks to the success of shows like Flight of the Conchords and the films of Taika Waititi (Boy, Hunt for the Wilderpeople). Do you draw inspiration from their brand of comedy? And what makes NZ humour different from that which other countries produce?

Those guys are a huge inspiration. I love Taika’s style of filmmaking and Jermaine from Conchords made it cool to have a monotone voice, which for myself is great as I lack any real pitch variation. New Zealand comedy definitely has its own defined style, pretty laidback and very dry, really dry, definitely dry, I can't emphasize enough the level of dryness. I think The Raglan Surf Report is probably quite dry.

Skit-based humour used to be a pretty common and endearing part of surf films, then everything went very performance-orientated. The last few years have seen a bit of a resurgence with films like Strange Rumblings in Shangri-La and Let's Be Frank, but it’s still not like it was. Do you think humour is an important part of the surfing experience?

I definitely noticed there wasn't a lot of lighthearted surf entertainment being produced. Most surf films are pretty high performance 360 air spins or twinkle toes single-finning spiritual journeys, which are great, but it's nice to have a little chuckle and be reminded that surfing's not so serious. In saying that, The Raglan Surf Report hardly ever has any actual surfing in it so I wouldn't even say it classifies as a ‘surf’ film.

What's the reaction to your show been like in the NZ surfing community and among a wider online audience in general?

It's been really good, although some people are a little disappointed there's not any real reporting on the actual surf. Most people are into it though, a lot of the Raglan locals love it, which is ironic seeing as most of them hate any media attention related to surf conditions in Raglan. I'm a Raglan local so I’m pretty sure I can say that. On second thought, maybe I'll get in trouble. Leave it in though, Raglan people love controversy.