Why David Koechner Is Nothing Like Anchorman's Champ Kind

You may not know the name but you sure as hell know the face. David Koechner, purveyor of the iconic "whammy!" catchphrase as Champ Kind in the Anchorman films and Packer, the misogynistic best friend of Michael Scott (Steve Carell) in The Office, is every bit as ebullient as you'd imagine — and nothing like the meatheads he's best known to play.

"It's certainly fun when you get to say horrible things to another human being without a consequence."

"I have to say, my portrayal of those characters come from an honest place… aaand that's not true," Koechner guffaws. "Yeah, I'm nothing like those guys. I've got to do a lot of different things and playing despicable characters like Todd Packer and Champ Kind, you never get to act like that in real life so it's certainly fun when you get to say horrible things to another human being without a consequence."

With roles in numerous goofy comedies like Semi-Pro, Talladega Nights and The 40 Year Virgin — and his favourite Cheap Thrills, "a dark sinister thriller with some comedic undertones" — though none as memorable as his role in Anchorman, we ask whether its his Champ Kind persona he considers his best work.

"I hope it's some of my best because it certainly struck a chord with a lot of people!" Koechner says agreeably. "It reflects a lot of the relationships people are familiar with, certainly in The Office, like, they know somebody like that, and I have to guess that must be something that strikes a chord in Anchorman too because it echoes a hierarchal, recognisable situation that they're in, whether it's the government, or their school, or their business… you kind of realise that people in charge are just a bunch of buffoons."

Sadly, Koechner dispels any beliefs that his famous "I miss your scent, I miss your musk" confession of love to Ron Burgundy was a piece of his own perfect comedic improvisation. "All scripted. [Will] McKay and [Will] Ferrell, they're gifted writers. I wish I could take credit for that," he chuckles. What he can take credit for is his YouTube channel, packed with satirical videos featuring cats hitting men in the balls, sketches with comedians like Dax Shepard and Will Arnett, parody movie trailers and a lot of fake internet personas.

"[That cat one] was about being completely childish. It was based on the idea that what's so popular on YouTube are cats and what 12 year old boys respond to — whacks at the balls — so I decided to put those two together!" Genius, really. "The hardest part — finding a good cat arm!"

With his Australian stand-up shows postponed to a later date, Koechner assures us we have a show "like a semi-truck pulling a trailer down the road that's got a circus tent on it that's lit on fire while the Master of Ceremony is riding a rollercoaster shouting from a bullhorn" to look forward to, with an Australia-specific "series of stories called 'Champ Kind's Greatest Blackouts'" that he'll run by "buddies" Toni Collette and Jim Jefferies.

In the meantime, we invite Champ Kind to answer what he's most looking forward to in Australia. That Southern drawl clicks on, and he says, "I hope I run into a gaggle of brown snakes, capture them, reduce their venom into a nice wine and drink it!"