The Outback Outlaw Pauly Fenech

Pauly Fenech is back (when is he not?) with a new series, Outback Outlaw Comedian (7Mate/7Plus), in which he tours the country with his live show. But in case you’re worried that this is going to be a bog-standard documentary about life on the road, don’t worry. There’s way more going on here. This is a show about one man fighting the scourge of political correctness and making comedy for real Australians.

“THE WOKE MOVEMENT HAS KILLED AUSSIE LARRIKIN COMEDY” the show declares upfront. “FORCED OUT OF CAPITAL CITIES ONLY ONE COMEDIAN REMAINS.”

And so, accompanied by bodyguard and former Mr Universe Lee Priest, dancers and Only Fans content creators Tayla and Sam, and tour manager Leah, Fenech drives from town to town, putting on shows in pubs and hanging out with the locals.

But if you’re curious about what’s in Fenech’s live show, too bad, you’ll have to pay to see it. The bits where he presumably does some kind of stand-up aren’t part of Outback Outlaw Comedian. All we get to see in this show are the bits where Tayla and Sam get their gear off and get “thonged”.

Thongs, and people getting hit with them, have long been a part of Fenech’s schtick. He even has a rainbow thong, for thonging members of the LGBTQIA+ community. So, once Tayla and Sam have been slapped on the arse with thongs multiple times – and who knows, maybe this is the funniest part of the show and not just some gratuitous violence and nudity – it’s the turn of the audience to get up on stage and cop one.

In case you’re wondering, men get thonged in the face while women have to bend over and bear their arse to take their thonging. Fenech explains that this is because he could never thong a woman in the face. Or hit a man on the arse. These are his standards.

Why people line up to get thonged by Fenech is unclear. Possibly there’s some set-up in his stand-up act which makes getting hit with a thong sound fun? Either way, lots of people do it. And not all of them are blind drunk.

Cut to after the show, where Fenech likes to wind down from whatever his act actually is by having a few drinks and partying with his outback mates. There’s metal music, people doing burnouts in their Valiants, and a turn from yet another “dancer”. But, hey, back off inner city, latte-sipping, politically correct types, this is the real Australia having fun their way!

Meanwhile, back on the road, there’s an attempt to make Outback Outlaw Comedian more of a documentary-drama, when the car in which Leah, Lee, Tayla and Sam are travelling gets a flat tyre. Leah, as tour manager, has to fix the problem, but it takes her ages, and they arrive late at the next venue. Oh no! What will they do?

Introducing some other characters or having some kind of plot or peril in this series would certainly make it more interesting than footage of Fenech hitting people with thongs and getting pissed. But plots and storylines have never been Fenech’s strong points. His key skill is getting shows on TV multiple times a year. And Outback Outlaw Comedian is presumably a way for Fenech to make some easy TV, and a bit more money, out of his live tour, by just…filming his live tour.

Except we don’t really get Fenech’s live tour; we don’t see his stand-up and there’s no real insight into what happens behind the scenes. We don’t even get much about how Fenech’s standing up to the woke brigade. We just get tits and thongs and arses. For 30 minutes including ads.

And after all that, the real arse is you for having watched it all.