Vale Have You Been Paying Attention? 2024: The Kavalee Conundrum

So that’s it for Have You Been Paying Attention? for the year. As usual there’s not a whole lot to say. It’s the well-oiled machine that other well-oiled machines look up to, a finely honed gag-fest that’s been at its peak for so long it’s fair enough to wonder if it’ll ever drop off or simply not return after everyone involved gets run over by a rogue four-wheeled sponsor.

Week in week out it’s an hour of top-notch rapid-fire comedy. It even finds space for the occasional newcomer or overseas guest (who are promptly never seen again, but its the thought that counts). Maybe things’ll change next year when Sam Pang gets his own show. Maybe the show will air during the HYBPA?-free start of the year and he’ll just be on three prime-time shows (don’t forget The Front Bar) a year.

There is one question though that hangs over the show like a tall, freakishly muscled radio personality and commercial spokesperson firmly entrenched in the very back row: what’s going on with Ed Kavalee?

Up until this year, Ed’s comedy persona on the show has basically been “I’ll appear in your commercial if the price is right, and the price is always right”. Various other elements drifted in and out. He’s a fit guy (blame his wife). He’s a motormouth nerd. He’s been in commercials oh we covered that one. His work on commercial radio used to get a bit of a run, but being on commercial radio is the CV of around 60% of all HYBPA? guests. Anyway, he’s currently between jobs.

But in 2024 he’s been making a lot of jokes based on pretending* to be a fully on-board Sky-news watching member of the conspiracy-loving alt-right. Which is… a thing you can do now?

Beyond “it’s a laugh, innit?”, exactly why he’s doing it is a bit of a mystery. HYBPA? has always been relatively politically neutral – stupid behaviour is what gets the laughs, not calling politicans stupid. It’s not a show inviting Andrew Bolt or Gerard Henderson on to fire off some quips. The comedy from Kavalee’s performance is presumably coming from the fact we know he doesn’t mean what he says**. We hope.

It’s not like HYBPA? isn’t a showcase for people putting on an act either. One of the not-so-secret secrets to being asked back is to have a bit more going on than just an ability to press a buzzer and get off a zinger. Old drunks, old grouches, confused youngsters, deadpan weirdos, people who seem really nice until they get off a brutal one-liner aimed directly at a fellow panelist. They’re all part of what keeps viewers coming back each week.

Thing is, these are all basic comedy types that you can get across in a line or two. What Kavalee’s going for here seems a lot closer to an actual comedy character – Russell Coight rather than Glenn Robbins. And those characters need more room to develop than you get trying to add in an extra line or two after you’ve answered the question correctly and everyone else is moving on.

It’s not as simple as he’s doing a bit and the bit’s not working. Sometimes it does work – he’s definitely putting a lot of energy into it at least. And it’s possible that if he hammers away at it for a while, people will come to see him as a send-up of online right-wing guys and his bonus gags will just slip on in there.

But everyone else on HYBPA?, even when they’re doing a bit, are doing a bit that we either already know them for or is a natural extension of who they seem to be. Mick Molloy is a comedy drunk! Aaron Chen is off-the-wall! Kitty Flanagan doesn’t get modern life! They all naturally lead to comedy, while not leading you to want to run away from them.

Ed Kavalee as a online conspiracy nut eagerly awaiting the violent overthrow of the state? Eh, maybe not so much.

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*hopefully

**though considering he’s currently between radio gigs, who knows – maybe he’s pivoting towards hosting a talkback show?