13 schoolyards, Author at Australian Tumbleweeds - Page 74 of 115

Live and Snickering

Maybe we’re growing soft in our old age – or maybe we’re just pleased to hear that Shaun Micallef’s Stairway to Heaven has finally scored funding – but we really don’t have anything all that snarky to say about Fairfax’s current wave of comedy coverage. Yes, it’s almost entirely focused on stand-up (supporting the Melbourne... Read More »

Weekly As Piss

So we now have this to look forward to: If somebody doesn’t put together a sketch where *all* the cast members of Talkin’ ’bout Your Generation are hosting identical news comedy shows, we’ll… well, we’ll continue to throw all our sketch ideas into the bin where they belong. Ok, let’s be realistic here: Shaun MIcallef... Read More »

Online (da da da da da da) Goes Through My Mind

Press release time! Hope you brought a lunch, it’s a big ‘un: Seven edgy stories supported through Screen Australia’s Multiplatform Drama program Friday 13 March 2015 Screen Australia will fund seven unconventional series through its Multiplatform Drama program. The program supports risky projects with unorthodox formats. They utilise non-traditional platforms for distribution – making them... Read More »

Manny Lewis and the News

Of course we went to the first session of Manny Lewis we could get to. It’s an Australian comedy! Starring an Australian stand-up comedian! Who plays a stand-up comedian in the movie! This was going to be bigger than Roy Hollsdotter Live. Well, at least it has a longer running time. As far as the... Read More »

Let Loose Live

Ok, we’re just going to come right out and ask: do comedians make a shitload more money from live tours than they do from television? Because pretty much the only way we can figure out how this – THE serially selfconscious Bondi Hipsters are about to get up off their couch — to star in... Read More »

Magic Eye Tricks Don’t Work on Radio

One of the things that makes comedy so enjoyable is that it’s really hard to disguise if you’re a bit of a prick. Sure, all art is personal, but comedy – or at least, the current fad for confessional-style stand-up that has made 70% of Australian “comedy” nothing more than people talking about themselves on... Read More »

Bob’s House of Horrors

It’s a sad state of affairs when we have to stop and think about whether we’re going to have to explain who Bob Franklin is to a comedy crowd. But let’s be honest: it’s been a fair while since he was a deadpan regular on Australian comedy TV. At a guess, we’re going to say... Read More »

Lined Up For the Chop

The trick with parodies is to make sure there’s more going on than just the parody. Those classic Mad Magazine movie spoofs had great art; Get Smart had a whole lot of jokes that had nothing to do with the “spy-fi” craze of the 60s. And the other end of the scale, SBS’s recent action... Read More »

You Have To Wonder Who Commissions This Stuff

SBS has delayed its launch of upcoming Paul McDermott chat show, Room 101. The series sees McDermott’s return to television chatting to celebrities such as Ray Martin, Julia Zemiro, HG Nelson, Julia Morris, Matt Preston, Noni Hazlehurst, about their pet hates. Originally due to premiere next Monday at 9:30pm, it has been held by SBS... Read More »

Mad as Hell in a Cell

Mad as Hell is back! And, uh, yeah… ok, it’s taken us a couple of days to get around to mentioning it because we don’t really have all that much new to say. Shaun Micallef and his skilled team have created a finely honed satirical machine and by now they’re capable of hitting any target... Read More »