Shaun Micallef is Harshing My Vibe

Shaun Micallef’s back! Not being funny or anything though, he’s got another one of his “what the fuck is wrong with you people” documentaries on the ABC. Titled Shaun Micallef’s Going for Broke, this time he’s got gambling in his sights. And no-one is safe!

Just kidding, the whole thing (well, the first episode of the whole thing) is a pleasant enough ramble through the world of gambling – that is to say, the entirety of Australia and everything within it. Micallef is a top bloke, everyone he meets is happy to show him the ropes, it’s all harmless fun until it’s not.

Whereas his last look at vice (booze to be exact) felt a little bit like being scolded by that cool but slightly remote uncle you really want to impress, this one’s slow decent into finger-wagging makes more sense. Drinking to excess is bad; drinking in moderation has at least some benefits adults can choose to enjoy. Gambling? It’s bad news all the way down no matter how much the grannies at bingo are enjoying it.

So while the overall arc is roughly the same (at least according to the episode guides), the low-key outrage that slowly builds is more justified. Plus there’s a lot of Micallef being befuddled by things he’s never encountered before, which is always entertaining. Will he head down to the local brothel to examine sex work in the final part of his Trilogy of Vice? We can only hope.

One of Team Tumbleweeds caught up with a friend a month or so ago and not quite the first thing out of their mouth was “do you think Shaun Micallef is doing too much?” Good question! The conversation that followed raised the point that, in the wake of Mad as Hell, Micallef seemed to be heading off to take a break. Only he just took a break from comedy. Which sucks, because comedy is what he does best.

Going for Broke is perfectly fine for what it is, and it’s clearly the kind of thing Micallef wants to do. The frustration from our neck of the woods comes from knowing that Micallef is one of the very, very, very few people with a decent chance of getting a new comedy project up and running on Australian television. And he’s not. Doing comedy, that is.

Sure, at the moment we’re spoiled for choice when it comes to local comedy. We can’t keep up! Did you know we’re actually enjoying Guy Montgomery’s Guy Mont Spelling Bee this year? Of course not, because we haven’t finished writing that post. But it’s not going to last, unlike Gruen. Which we’re not enjoying, just by the way.

Thing is, while Micallef is a very good documentary host, we already have a bunch of them. What we don’t have is anyone else making anything like what we got with Mad as Hell (or Newstopia or we don’t need his entire filmography – ed). “Former comedian hosts thoughtful documentary” is not news. “Former comedian still extremely funny” is.

It’s perfectly fine for Shaun Micallef to make and do whatever he likes; he doesn’t need our permission or approval. And he’s making good television! But for comedy fans, every time he’s back on our screens – don’t forget the second season of Shaun Micallef’s Origin Odyssey on SBS later this year – it’s a reminder that we’re not getting the good stuff. And even at the best of times, there’s never enough of the good stuff to go around.