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Press release time!
More Fresh Blood Coming to ABC iview
ABC iview is pleased to announce that more exclusive content is on the way, with the second phase of Fresh Blood kicking off in Melbourne and Sydney. Five talented and creative teams have eagerly started filming their comedy shows for the Fresh Blood Pilot Season to screen on iview later in the year.
Fresh Blood is an ABC TV and Screen Australia initiative created in 2013 to kick-start the careers of young comedy writers, directors and performers. Fresh Blood Pilot Season is the second phase of the three-year initiative on iview.
In the first phase, 24 young creative teams delivered more than 70 sketches for Fresh Blood which screened on ABC iview in June 2014 and attracted more than 900,000 views. Following the success of the sketches, the 24 teams were asked to submit ideas for half-hour comedy pilots. From these submissions, five teams were selected to make their pilots. In the third and final phase of the initiative, the best pilot will be awarded a series commission.
ABC Director of Television, Richard Finlayson, said: “The ABC has always been the home of groundbreaking Australian comedy. Fresh Blood underlines the ABC’s commitment to new talent and to nurturing long-term relationships with our most creative people. With a series commission up for grabs, Fresh Blood gives a bunch of super talented individuals the funds and a platform to take their ideas and skills to the next level, all on Australia’s number one internet TV service.”
Screen Australia’s Interactive and Multi-platform Investment Manager, Mike Cowap, said: “It was a challenge to select the original 24 teams from the overwhelming mountain of 500 submissions. The resulting content packed a hefty comedy punch and helped the talent build their online audience. Their quality and popularity made the job of selecting only five from the 24 even more of a challenge. We’re thrilled as ever to be working with the ABC, who share our passion for fast-tracking careers.”
“Fast-tracking careers”? Isn’t this a three year plan? Also, explain this bit again:
In the first phase, 24 young creative teams delivered more than 70 sketches for Fresh Blood which screened on ABC iview in June 2014 and attracted more than 900,000 views. Following the success of the sketches, the 24 teams were asked to submit ideas for half-hour comedy pilots.
So everybody from round one got a shot at round two? Nobody at ABC HQ said “yeah, some of these ideas aren’t worth following up”? No wonder it’s going to take them three years to end up giving Aunty Donna a show.
Oh right, in case you haven’t already picked up who the five shows are from the various winners having already announced it themselves over the last few weeks while the ABC PR department was on an early Easter break, the five winners are:
Fancy Boy is plucked from the depths of the disturbed minds of the winners of the prestigious Golden Gibbo Award at the 2014 Melbourne International Comedy Festival. The team’s sketches are pithy, unapologetic comedy rooted in dark perspectives and uniquely bold premises. Fancy Boy is an oddly enjoyable back-hand to the face from a distinctive new comedy collective.
The Record is a black comedy written by and starring Veronica Milsom and Steen Raskopoulos. Based around couples striving to achieve or maintain world records, the humour flows from the characters’ unrelenting desperation to be recognised and remembered throughout the history books. For some, their record is their greatest achievement. For others, it’s a source of shame.
Wham Bam Thank You Ma’am is a twisted sketch comedy, created from a uniquely female perspective. The show offers a satirical take on the common feminine archetypes we see every day on film and in the media and turns well-known TV genres on their heads. Written, directed and starring Skit Box’s Sarah Bishop, Greta Lee Jackson and Adele Vuko, the show is an eclectic mix of outrageous and thought-provoking comedy.
BedHead is a rom-com about Nick and Sophie, two best friends who sleep together and agree it definitely (probably) doesn’t mean anything. As they take on the scary world of modern dating, they’ll sleep with all the wrong people to prove there’s nothing between them. BedHead takes a cheeky peek under the sheets at the horrendously awkward and embarrassing things we get up to in the pursuit of love and sex.
Aunty Donna is a narrative-to-sketch series following the fantastic and surreal lives of Melbourne sketch troupe Aunty Donna. Rocked by the sudden departure of their most popular member, the three remaining members must prove to their agent, their fans and themselves that they can make it on their own. The pilot merges two different worlds: a day-to-day narrative and a heightened, fantastical world. Logie-nominated ‘Best Newcomer’ Miranda Tapsell guest stars.
Like we said, congrats to Aunty Donna on getting their own series in a year or so’s time.
I Heard The News Today, Oh Boy pt. 82
So a few days ago this happened:
A comedian appearing in this year’s Melbourne International Comedy Festival has come under fire for telling an audience member to “die” after they staged a silent protest in response to a joke about rape.
Ray Badran, who is appearing at the festival for the first time, has been the centre of a social media storm, in which comedians have defended his on-stage behaviour.
It’s kind of interesting that “comedians defend fellow comedian” is seen as news-worthy here. What, should we expect that when the audience turns on a comedian – even for a rape joke – comedians should cut him or her loose? Is the vaguely antagonistic relationship between comedians and their audience (see also: hecklers) really that unusual these days?
To be honest, despite this story running and running in various parts of the internet, we’re struggling a bit to work out why it’s news-worthy (aside from the whole “look, Melbourne has comedy controversies too!” angle). Comedian makes rape joke: audience member(s) react with disapproval; comedian doubles down instead of backing down. Haven’t we heard this all before?
Others, as you might expect, have had more to say. From the guy running the night where it happened, this:
The notion that rape is not funny has been put forth many times in the last few days, and this is absolutely a straw man argument. Of course it isn’t funny. No one is saying that. This joke wasn’t making fun of rape, nor was it even about rape. I have seen thousands of hours of stand-up comedy, and plenty of terrible rape jokes, but not once have I ever seen a comedian making the point that rape itself is funny.
Some comics mention rape and use humour to deal with their own terrible memories. Some comics mention rape in the context of dark or absurd wordplay. Some comics mention rape for shock value.
Ray Badran should feel comfortable knowing that his joke is in no way making fun of rape victims, or makes the point that rape is funny, and the very idea that he would perpetuate rape culture is absurd.
And with a different take focusing more on maybe why Badran reacted how he did:
My point is that stand up is stressful. It’s terrifying. The great people (like Jo Enright, actually) make it look easy. They manage hecklers with aplomb, because they practice and craft and rehearse. Dying on stage is like pooing your pants at an interview. It’s mortifying. If I’d been able to blame my stage death on someone, I’d have gone for them. I’d have been enraged instead of merely shamed.
In rage, we have no control. I have no doubt that the comedian in question is feeling pretty bad about himself right now. I’m almost certain he has experienced at least one moment of ‘I wish I hadn’t said that’ shame. In a public forum, he was brought up short by the realisation that not everyone finds his rape joke funny. I don’t know if it’s funny. I didn’t hear it. What I’m interested in is his response to the woman’s lack of co-operation. Shamed and enraged, he lost control. Rage got the better of him and he told her he wished she would die.
Our reaction to all this is a bit more underwhelming. It doesn’t sound all that offensive a gag, really. Some people hear “rape” and freak out, which is fine, but his reaction to the audience reaction was far from the best. It was a kind of shitty gag, and he was being massively over-sensitive about it. Sure, stand-up is (in part) about being in control of your audience, and a comedian who apologises for a gag on stage – or responds to a heckler with “yeah, good point” – is probably about to have a very bad gig unless they’re really, really good. But that doesn’t mean you have to turn on your audience every time they don’t laugh.
On the flip side, comedians really do need to stop being in denial about why audiences object to rape jokes. It’s because rape is the worst thing ever (well, the worst thing someone in a comedy show audience might have experienced at least). They should expect that when they’re dealing with material that charged and powerful there are going to be people who react strongly and without nuance. In 2015 it’s hardly news that rape gags are going to get a bad reaction and if you’re a comedian going down that path you have no excuse for not having a sensible response to that kind of reaction.
In a wider sense what seems to be going on here is that society’s values are changing (or continuing to change), and there’s more of a feeling out there amongst the kind of people who go to comedy that things that they see as being not acceptable are not to be tolerated. The older “oh well, it takes all kinds, guess this isn’t for me” live and let live view of controversial material is fading; the new style is to think more along the lines of “representation = endorsement”.
It’s a view that runs like this: making jokes about rape normalises rape and fosters rape culture – a world where rape is something to be dismissed and laughed at. This is bad, so therefore all rape jokes are bad. And must be protested against, because staying silent in the face of a crime is to accept that crime. Basically, a lot of people are becoming less tolerant. Which isn’t automatically a bad thing if what we’re less tolerant of is shit rape jokes.
That said, we should also be a bit less tolerant of this kind of “controversy”. Bad jokes aren’t something that need to be protested; not laughing remains a viable and powerful option. And if you’re really not happy, the exits are usually clearly marked. Staying and messing with everyone else’s night because you personally don’t like the show is kind of a dick move.
And speaking of dick moves, did anyone else notice in all the applause for this much-praised “tough” review of Jim Jefferies in the Herald-Sun that the review didn’t appear until after his season was over – thus ensuring it did zero harm to his ticket sales? Guess at least now we know he sucks for the next time he’s here… unless he develops some new material between tours. Like pretty much every comedian working since 1984 does.
Separation of Powers
Over twenty four hours later and we’re still trying to get our heads around this:
I just remembered that I don't work with Shaun Micallef and other people who aren't me do. Deeply depressed.
— Ben Pobjie (@benpobjie) March 28, 2015
In case you don’t know, Ben Pobjie is a professional, five-day-a-week-TV critic in the only newspaper chain that still runs daily TV criticism. He’s also publicly complaining that he’s not currently working with a TV comedian. You know, one of the people he’s paid to pass judgement on?
Maybe he’s just joking. Humour us a little here: what exactly is the joke? That he’s depressed over the sad state of his comedy writing career? That he’s depressed that he’s not good enough to work with Shaun Micallef? Hang on, isn’t this the guy who writes serious articles about his serious struggles with the serious topic of depression?
“I’m sitting in my car, late at night, watching the blood well from the lines I’ve just sliced into my arm, and I’m wondering just why I did it. In hindsight I’ll manufacture some kind of explanation, but in the moment all I can think of is, I’ve got to find a reason for someone to care.”
Not really seeing the joke there.
It’s not like he doesn’t have form with this kind of vaguely passive-aggressive social media chat either:
I'm not saying @BuzzFeed has an irrational grudge against me, but check out this article which proves that they do http://t.co/S0jsLtyT5r
— Ben Pobjie (@benpobjie) March 24, 2015
[it’s an article about Australia’s funniest twitter personalities. It doesn’t include Ben Pobjie]
I never thought I'd be a victim of racism till Buzzfeed came along.
— Ben Pobjie (@benpobjie) March 24, 2015
[Racism?]
Dear @BuzzfeedOz, please accept my article pitch, "38 Buzzfeed articles that made me incoherently angry for various reasons".
— Ben Pobjie (@benpobjie) March 24, 2015
So this probably isn’t a “joke” in the commonly used sense of the word. But then what is it? Is Fairfax’s main TV critic really publicly complaining that one of Australia’s top comedians – and one who it’s presumably somewhat difficult to get work with, considering he’s been working with the same handful of writers (plus Francis Greenslade) for close to two decades now – hasn’t given him a job?
(It’s also worth wondering exactly why would Micallef want to work with Pobjie. This isn’t a slight on the quality of Pobjie’s work, but c’mon: he doesn’t have a background in sketch writing, or extensive TV credits to his name, and he doesn’t really do political stuff – at least, not stuff more pointed than the usual generic “ugh, Tony Abbott!” online stuff. It’s like a moderately talented pub guitarist publicly wondering why The Rolling Stones haven’t given him a call.)
Pobjie is a professional television critic. As such, his job is to tell his readers whether a television show is or isn’t worth their time. This is a job that has a certain amount of power, because when a television show has no viewers it is taken off the air. So for someone with that kind of power (even only in theory) to say “I’m depressed that I don’t work with Shaun Micallef” is, as the kids say, “problematic”.
Nobody is saying that Pobjie is suggesting that unless Micallef hires him he’s going to start giving his television shows negative reviews. He’s just publicly unhappy that he’s not working with Micallef. And he’s a TV critic who reviews Micallef’s television shows. His reviews could influence the amount of viewers Micallef’s shows get. His reviews could, in an extreme case, put Micallef out of work. Is anyone else worried about this?
It’s no secret that Pobjie is an aspiring comedian. It’s also no secret that writing TV reviews is how Pobjie currently pays his bills. The third totally-not-a-secret thing here is that it seems like those two jobs are rapidly becoming incompatible. This isn’t a case of a reviewer praising comedy then going off and making his or her own comedy; this is a reviewer publicly saying that he wants someone he’s reviewing to give him a job*.
And why would you even want a job under those circumstances anyway? If Micallef suddenly did say tomorrow “why sure Ben Pobjie, let’s work together on a project”**, wouldn’t there always be a worry in the back of your mind that perhaps you didn’t get the job because you’re the best possible comedy writer Micallef could be working with?
If that doesn’t matter to you – if what you’re interested in is not providing the best possible service you can to your audience but instead fulfilling your dreams of getting to hang out with your idols – then perhaps you might want to think about exactly what kind of service it is that you’re meant to be providing for your audience.
*in theory Pobjie could be saying “I want to work with Micallef as an equal, not for him as an employee”. But as Micallef isn’t part of a double act and everyone who’s worked “with” him since the late 90s (aside from his brief radio stint) has basically been a writer or co-star who was working for Micallef in some capacity (he’s the star of the show), that’s an extremely unlikely theory.
**here’s how you solve the whole “but maybe Pobjie was joking?” question: if Micallef did offer Pobjie a job working with him, do you think Pobjie would say no?
This is serious (Mum!)
Most TV documentaries take a chronological approach to their subject, charting its history in strict order whether that tells the viewer anything or not. Others organise themselves by theme, usually finding they have to uncomfortably crowbar one or two parts of the story in so as not to leave them out. But most of the time history is messy, contradictory and hard to compartmentalise, and Stop Laughing…this Is Serious, a new three-part documentary on Australian comedy, at least gets it right by keeping its themes as broad and all-encompassing as possible:
Episode 1, Look at moi, look at moi, “looks inwards at the importance of our ability to laugh at ourselves”, examining suburban, rural, ethnic and female comedy and comedians such as Dame Edna, Kylie Mole, Dad and Dave, Paul Hogan, Kenny, Kevin Kropinyeri and Denise Scott.
Episode 2, Faark, Faark, “looks upwards at those in authority”, including an examination of the work Graham Kennedy, The Chaser, Les Patterson and Tim Minchin.
Episode 3, Hello Possums, “looks at Australian comedy on the world stage”, and shows how performers such as Barry Humphries, Adam Hills and John Clarke have gone international.
Having said that, the themes of this series don’t entirely work; they’re too general to really tell us much, and some comedians and comedies are examined over and over again while others are left out entirely. There is also a heavy bias towards ABC comedies (usually more edgy and less mainstream), while high-rating and populist comedy/entertainment shows of their eras such as Hey Dad..! and Hey! Hey! Its Saturday are barely mentioned.
Okay, we get why mentioning Hey Dad…! wouldn’t be a great idea in 2015, and we do see its writer/producer Gary Reilly discussing his other hugely popular sitcom Kingswood Country, and there are one or two clips from Hey! Hey! in the series, but even after one episode of Stop Laughing… it’s clear that this won’t present a definitive view of the subject and, as much as we’re pleased to see Daryl Somers excluded from anything, that’s kind of a shame.
There’s also very little in the way of new information for hardened comedy fans, and when you’ve gone to the trouble of interviewing more than 60 comedians that’s…kinda crap. And if you were expecting that significant and popular radio comedies such as Martin/Molloy or Hamish & Andy would be covered…keep waiting*. Still, there is a fairly sizable sequence where Nick Giannopoulos and Mary Coustas discuss their work, which makes you wonder how The Late Show got away without being sued by them for their legendary sketch Beware of Wog: The Lou Interligi Story…
…and the sections on female cabaret/comedy and the work of Aboriginal comedians do make you wonder why these topics have been overlooked or underplayed in almost every previous Australian comedy documentary or book.
Overall this is a solid if unsurprising and incomplete look at the history of Australian comedy, which will make you wonder why more archive comedy isn’t available on DVD or iView, or anywhere else for that matter. Or why no one seems able to or willing to fund a definitive account of the topic. Is Australian comedy really that difficult a topic to define or discuss? Even in three hour-long shows?
* There’s a brief mention of the TV version of The Naked Vicar Show, but that doesn’t count.
Reading Between the Lines
Did anyone else see this article in the Fairfax press about Australian sketch troupe Aunty Donna? It’s the usual mix of information and (justified) praise for the guys ahead of their Melbourne International Comedy Festival show, but tucked away in paragraph four was this little gem:
They can now announce their selection as one of five groups to make a pilot through ABC TV’s Fresh Blood comedy initiative.
Can they now? It’s the first we’ve heard of the ABC actually commissioning pilots off the back of last year’s Fresh Blood program, and a hasty google search turns up a grand total of zero other announcements about these five greenlit pilots. And weren’t those short Fresh Blood series meant to serve as pilots anyway?
Despite the lack of independent confirmation, this article certainly seems determined to act like the Aunty Donna boys are working on a traditional half hour pilot:
“For us, the challenge is tricking people into thinking they’re not watching sketch. The Fresh Blood pilot tells the story of our fourth member, Adrian, leaving the group.”
…
Writing a TV-episode length narrative for Fresh Pilot is new for the men, who have been focusing their efforts on live performance sketches of about five minutes and YouTube sketches of 90 seconds.
And now you know exactly as much as we do.
Ok, so assuming all this is legit and the Aunty Donna guys haven’t totally jumped the gun with this announcement, does anyone have any ideas as to who the other four finalists are? Or when these pilots are meant to be going to air? The ABC certainly doesn’t seem to be in a rush to let us know…
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 International Comedy Festival, which starts this week) which puts us on shaky ground anyway, but the fact remains: for once a batch of comedy coverage seems fair enough to us.
Of course, the real question is how long this will remain the case, with rumours already reaching our ears that this year The Age is shifting all their Festival coverage “in-house”. Which if true means that the experienced freelance live reviewers you’ve grown to love or at the very least respect – plus Helen Razer – are out and the motoring writer guy who figured a couple of free tickets to Judith Lucy might be worth a laugh even though he’s never actually reviewed live comedy before and isn’t even sure that women can be funny is in. Oh goodie.
But while we’re waiting for a wave of ill-considered reviews, let’s take a look back at a weekend of halfway decent comedy coverage. There was this look at joke theft:
Joke theft is perhaps the greatest crime in the world of comedy. “It’s just wrong,” says fellow comic Nick Cody. “You’ve put all this thought and effort into a thing and for somebody to swipe it is just lazy. I don’t know how people do it. I’d feel terrible.”
“It’s just like working in an office and doing all the hard work only to have someone you’re sharing a cubicle with going up to the boss and going ‘I did all that,'” says Chandler. “They’re taking all the credit for your work.”
There’s an article about comedy influences that’s notable largely for the comedians who don’t want to name their influences. Also, everybody loves Sam Simmons:
One of the names that keeps recurring is Sam Simmons. “Simmons is a good example of the way in which your idea of an `influence’ changes as you develop your act,” Watson says. “In my earlier days, I was mostly intent on seeing people like myself, observational comics, ideally male ones with bad hair and a university degree, like me, and picking up their tricks, but the longer you go on, the more you gain from watching people who challenge and subvert your own ideas of comedy, going off in directions you couldn’t have anticipated.”
Celia Pacquola tells a similar story. “A lot of the time I really like stuff I couldn’t do, like sketch. For me, it’s usually the ones where I go, `I don’t know how you’re doing that.’ If I thought of it, I probably wouldn’t think it’s funny. A lot of stuff that Sam Simmons does, I never would have thought of it and, if I had, I would have gone `nah’, but it’s so funny.”
It’s nice to see Dave Taranto (of RRR’s The Cheese Shop fame) getting name checked here, though the real laugh is the article headline:
m21-cover-box head here
There’s an interesting look at comedy double acts here:
It’s been almost nine years since Lano and Woodley called it quits, but Lane is still seen by many as “missing” his other half. It’s both a measure of their success and, one suspects, a thorn in his side.
About the time of their final tour Lane was entertainingly blunt about the reasons for his split with Woodley after nearly 20 years. “I used to be a Frankophile because I loved everything Frank, but now I’m a Frankophobe,” he deadpanned. “He’s a dickhead in real life. So, sometimes, that gets a little bit tiresome.” Woodley, clearly amused by Lane’s explanation, offered his take by saying “we knew the cracks were forming when we’d get to an airport to book in and the person behind the counter would say, ‘Look, I’m sorry but we can’t sit you two together,’ and we’d both go, ‘That’s OK’.”
These days Lane is a little more philosophical about the split. “We each evolved during our partnership. He became smarter and I became stupider.”
With a quartet of duos singled out for extra attention here:
Dring says the appeal of working in a team lies both in supporting each other and in refining ideas through that collaborative tug-of-war. “There are compromises and sometimes it’s hard to find the time together, but comedy can be a bit lonely and demoralising by yourself: it’s nice to be able to support each other and have someone to bounce off.”
And finally, here’s David Dale talking about Garry McDonald and saying something extremely silly yet again (and no, we don’t mean the missing “of” in the first line either):
If you created a list the five greatest TV comedies ever made in Australia, Garry McDonald would have been in three of them. Or four of them if you insist on calling Offspring a comedy, even after they killed Patrick.
She’s All Woman, Hear Her Roar
One of the least laugh-out-loud funny sketches in last week’s Mad As Hell was Jezebel Scream, a not-at-all-disguised send-up of Judith Lucy. It’s not that we didn’t laugh at this parody out of recognition, it’s more that no one who isn’t Judith Lucy can be as funny as Judith Lucy, even if they’ve got a ridiculous brown and grey curly wig on their head and are making a reasonable attempt to do her sing-song, sarky voice.
Judith Lucy’s spent the past six weeks exploring womanhood in Judith Lucy Is All Woman, and what have we learnt? That it’s virtually impossible to answer any of the questions she set out to explore? Yep! But mainly that she should be on TV more often doing what she does best.
Judith Lucy should have her own chat show, stand-up showcase, sitcom, sketch show – anything – but instead she got a comedy-documentary. And like a lot of hybrid programs, comedy-documentaries tend to be the worst of both genres: not that funny and not particularly informative. Of the two – funny and informative – our preference is always for “funny”, so it was good to see that …All Woman went for it as much as possible. Who else would be cracking gags while someone’s injecting botox in to their G-Spot?
(Sidebar: To get back to that Jezebel Scream parody for a second, the only way you can get laughs parodying Judith Lucy beyond doing her voice [which is a side-splitter in its own right] is if you play up her more feminist side, i.e. “Gee Doctor, you must be the only man alive who knows where the G-Spot is!”. Except, there’s way more to Judith Lucy’s comedy than feminism. Also, Frontline parodied her feminist side in 1995, and that was like every parody of a feminist comedian ever: she did a tampon joke.)
But for a comedian who’s often thought of as being a bit “out there”, Lucy’s past documentary comedy work has been kind of restrained. Judith Lucy’s Spiritual Journey saw her explore all sorts of weird and crackpot belief systems, and even participate in a few, yet she was never quite, um, rude (?) enough to tear their proponents the new ones they so richly deserved. What made …All Woman a better series, in terms of having lots more potential for comedy, is that the topics explored were less personal than religious belief – it’s much easier to take the piss out of wedding cakes than it is a spiritual practice – which meant Lucy could let fly in the only way she knows how.
In Judith Lucy Is All Woman we saw Lucy look at a topic that’s always been a big part of her stand-up and get a whole bunch of new material out of it. Which turned out to be a pretty good formula for a comedy show, happily.
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 can’t do everything on his own and with him having a sitcom lined up for the second half of the year it’s totally reasonable for the ABC to find another show to tick the much loved “satire” programming box. But another fake news show right on the back of Mad as Hell? Even if Mad as Hell has wandered a bit down the ever-reliable Micallef rabbit hole and away from straight-up news jokes, do you really want to encourage direct comparisons with the best news satire show this country has seen in over a decade?
But of course, there’s this:
[it’s] a news comedy show, a tonight show, a chat show and a panel show all in one
Which at least goes some way towards explaining why that promo seemed remarkably joke-free. While Mad as Hell is basically a sketch show disguised as a news parody, it seems likely that The Weekly is going to make a much more concerted effort to rip off The Daily Show. You know the drill: wacky opening monologue, slightly more in depth report on something (presumably from Kitty Flanagan and / or Tom Gleeson – you know, the cast members not featured in that clip – which will in no way prompt comparisons with John Oliver), a guest from the real world, then roll credits. Remember all those times you got Charlie Pickering and Jon Stewart mixed up? No? Better not tell the ABC that.
It’s the chat show part that has us worried, mostly because… well, let’s let this guy dig the hole for us:
Hopefully what Pickering will deliver is something that takes a critical eye to the dealings of Australian news, including the Federal Parliament, but also will give an opportunity for our beloved Joe Hockeys and Tanya Pliberseks to contribute gags coming from the witty nature of politician matched with comedian, rather than just at the leader’s expense.
This is the worst idea in the history of comedy. Every single time any comedy show lets a politician on for whatever reason, the politician uses their appearance to try and bullshit the general public into thinking they’re not a massive arsehole. And we’re not being anti-politician here: it simply does not matter what the politician is like in real life. No doubt many of them are decent human beings who only want the best for us all. Even if their idea of “best” involves recording everything we do on the internet and banning funding for public transport.
Whatever their personal qualities, the fact is that they are part of a system that time and time and time again fucks over the general public. Anything that makes them seem more human only serves to encourage the general public to let their guard down as to the true nature of our society. They are the rulers, we are the ruled, and the second we sympathise with them they will take everything we hold near and dear and give us a good kicking on their way out the door.
Does that sound a bit excessive? Guess what: being excessive is how comedy works. There are no laughs to be had in a calm and reasonable take on the week in politics. And if you’re going to be excessive, you’re going to be taking swings at politicians because oh wait no you’re not because they’re sitting on the desk with you and you’re lobbing softballs at them because otherwise they won’t come back and having politicians on is part of what makes your news comedy show different from all the rest. So congratulations: you’ve made a comedy show that can’t actually be funny.
Not that this is news to the ABC: after all, they gave Charlie Pickering the job. Could this actually be the first comedy show that sides with politicians against the general public? Could Pickering finally let his sneery undercurrent of smirking contempt for the common man off the leash and give us week after week of him having a chummy laugh with Malcolm Turnbull because he’s someone Pickering feels is actually on his level? Not that we’re saying that would be a bad thing – we’ll save saying that for when we’ve actually seen an episode of The Weekly.
After all, if we’re this snarky after a 30 second promo, by the time we actually review this sucker we’re probably going to blow the roof off.
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 accessible to global online audiences.
The innovative slate features stories from an Emmy® Award–winning team, a popular cult comedian, an all-female comedy team, two YouTube stars and the return of the worst wine series ever made. The eclectic range delivers music and comedy entertainment with broad audience appeal.
“The online space is an extraordinarily rewarding growth area for Australian filmmakers; we have seen projects supported through the program reach remarkable audiences in the billions. How to Talk Australians and The Katering Show are viral hits and #7DaysLater has pushed the envelope of innovation, recognised internationally with a Digital Emmy® win. The worldwide critical acclaim and festival success of shows like Wastelander Panda and Noirhouse continues to showcase the dynamic talent and fresh ideas coming out of Australia,” said Sally Caplan, Screen Australia’s Head of Production.
“The Multiplatform Drama program has been instrumental in propelling Australian talent to a global arena and has played a vital role in supporting the screen industry to find a new pathway to audiences in phenomenal numbers. We look forward to presenting some of our killer talent at a select showcase in April at MIP Digital Fronts at MIPTV in Cannes.”
Filmmaker Michael Shanks has multiple YouTube mega-hits under his handle TimTimFed – most recently with his parody of the Star Wars: The Force Awakens trailer. With almost 11.5 million hits to date, the George Lucas Special Edition has spawned dozens of YouTube responses. Working with LateNite Films, Michael will write/direct the six-part online comedy series The Wizards of Aus, a fish-out-of-water story about a Gandalf-esque wizard who decides to turn his back on the magical realm and settle down in Footscray – with disastrous results.
Known as the RackaRacka, Adelaide’s Philippoubrothers have built a vast, dedicated online audience, with 806,000 YouTube subscribers. Screen Australia will support them to make three episodes of their trademark stunt-laden, high-octane comedy, Versus, allowing them to deliver action-packed content on the next level. Julie Byrne of Triptych (The Babadook) will produce the series with Danny and Michael Philippou on board to write and direct. The South Australian Film Corporation will also support the project.
From producer/director Nathan Earl, the second series of Plonk will bring the team back together to pick up where the first series left off. This time the incompetent wine series host, Chris Taylor (The Chaser’s War on Everything), will wreak havoc in South Australia’s renowned wine country. With distribution across the Nine Network, Stan and YouTube, Plonk series 2 will be highly accessible to audiences across multiple platforms.
Paul Fenech has delivered striking comedy to Australian audiences with Fat Pizza and Housos. Screen Australia will support his web series debut, Dumb Criminals Motorcycle Club, to deliver his clever Australian humour to the world. The 10-part, short-form comedy follows a group of new characters, who are the most inept criminals ever to ride on two wheels.
Endemol is collaborating with an emerging all-female comedy team on Fragments of Friday, a short-form online series. The comedy sees a group of friends in an all-too-frequent scenario – trying to piece together their Friday night after waking in a haze of overindulgence. Writer/director Kacie Anning is currently causing waves with her online series Minister for Men starring Gretel Killeen.
From the comedy powerhouse of Princess Pictures (Summer Heights High, It’s a Date), comes an original opera crafted for a contemporary on-screen experience. Screen Australia will support The Divorce, a witty ‘soap opera’ in collaboration with Opera Australia and with support from Film Victoria. The opera will be broadcast on ABC TV and iview, with Universal Pictures set to distribute theatrically. The broadcast/online format is four half hours and the theatrical format will screen as a 90-minute film.
Before their Digital Emmy® win for #7DaysLater, Queensland’s Ludo Studio received support to create animated comedy series Doodles, which brought to life the artistic contributions of their social media audience. Screen Australia will support the team to make a second series of 24 x 30-second episodes, this time with ABC TV and YouTube giant Frederator (Adventure Time).
Now an open-ended program, accepting applications at any time throughout the year, the Multiplatform Drama program continues to approach creative content in a flexible and open manner.
Where to begin wading through this morass of doubletalk? For a line-up of seven titles advertised as “risky projects” we counted three direct sequels and one “more of the same” effort from Paul Fenech, so we’re going to go ahead and say that they are in fact doing their level best to ensure this line-up is as risk free as possible by funding proven winners more than 50% of the time. Then again, for a project advertised as “The Multiplatform Drama Project” more than 70% of the projects being funded seem to be comedies, so it’s bullshit right from jump street here.
That said, this is pretty clearly A Good Thing. Or at least, it’s providing funding for comedy, and we’re always going to be on board with that unless it involves giving more money to Paul Fenech, in which case what the fuck? The guy makes movies that get wide mainstream release in this country (people actually going to see those movies is another matter entirely): if you can manage that on a regular basis, what the hell are you doing soaking up funding for “risky projects”?
Yes, we know the real point of this is picking winners: you want a mix of new people with good ideas (that might not come off) plus some proven talent even if “talent” should have quote marks around it because you’re talking about the guy who made Fat Pizza vs Housos. But c’mon: if your job is picking winners, just give the money ear-marked for Fenech to the Katering Show team because they’re good and he hasn’t made anything funny since 2002.
That said, the official reason behind getting Fenech on board – and we’re going on and on about him because he’s easily the most high-profile person here (ok, Chris Taylor from Plonk* has form, but he’s just a performer there and it’s not like series one of Plonk set the world alight) and this is meant to be funding for up-and-comers, not some guy who’s been on free-to-air television non-stop for fifteen years – seems to be this:
to deliver his clever Australian humour to the world
Do we really need to point out the problem with this scheme?
…
Anyway, as the press release was kind enough to provide further details on each of the upcoming shows, here they are:
THE DIVORCE
Multiplatform TV and theatrical
Princess Pictures Holding Pty Ltd
Producer Andrea Denholm
Executive Producers Emma Fitzsimons (Princess Pictures), Lyndon Terracini (Opera Australia)
Director Dean Murphy
Writer Joanna Murray-Smith
Composer Elena Kats-Chernin
SynopsisThe Divorce is an opera written specifically for the screen, rethinking the operatic art form for a contemporary film and television audience. Iris and Jed, rich and urbane, are happily getting divorced and are throwing an elaborate party at their elegant home to celebrate. By the end of the evening, Iris and Jed’s divorce has triggered a renegotiation of all certainties. Humorous, witty and complex, this ‘soap opera’ is a light-hearted exploration of the universal themes of love, passion, regret, greed and longing: a celebration of the profound in the shallow.DOODLES SERIES 2
Animated series
Ludo Studio Pty Ltd
Producer Charlie Aspinwall
Director Daley Pearson
Director/Animator Benjamin Zaugg
Synopsis Doodles is an interactive, animated multiplatform comedy series that takes real children’s drawings and turns them into hilarious micro movies featuring a cast of adorable, absurd and amazing coloured-in characters surrounded by insanity. Doodles is produced for ABC3 by the Emmy® Award-winning, Ludo Studio. Ludo will be collaborating with the US production company Frederator (Adventure Time) to distribute the series online.DUMB CRIMINALS MOTORCYCLE CLUB
Online video
Antichocko Productions Pty Ltd
Producers Paul Fenech, Joe Weatherstone
Executive Producer Andrew Taylor
Writer/Director Paul Fenech
Synopsis The story of two hopeless crims, Rabbit and Rongo. Out of jail, they regroup and battle old girlfriends, bikie gangs and their own stupid plans and schemes. They team up with other petty criminals, Jimmy Speed, Pothead and Droptank. This series is based on true dumb crimes from around the world only the names have been changed to expose the guilty. The old saying goes, crime doesn’t pay… Well, it pays less if you’re a DUMB CRIMINAL.FRAGMENTS OF FRIDAY SERIES 2
Online video
Endemol Australia Pty Ltd
Producer Courtney Wise
Executive Producer Michael Horrocks
Writer/Director Kacie Anning
Synopsis Fragments of Friday is a comedy about piecing together the night before, with your best mates by your side. Season 1 saw Alex and Sophie haphazardly grapple with the perils of the ‘day after’, navigating everything from waking up in bed with a cab driver, the accidental theft of a yacht, a healthy dose of bodily waxing and an adrenalin-induced punch-up. Season 2 picks up where Season 1 left off, with Alex and Sophie being joined by their mutual friend Maddie on many misadventures – from misinterpreting the term ‘pool party’ to playing Russian roulette with magic mushrooms through to the much anticipated annual ‘Church Wine Drunk Day’. Told with humour, poignancy and a generous injection of physical comedy, the story of Fragments of Friday speaks to the great tradition of female friendship through the scope of hazy memories, drunken honesty and, above all, affection.PLONK SERIES 2
Online video
One Stone Pictures Pty Ltd
Producer Georgie Lewin
Executive Producers Nathan Earl (One Stone Pictures), Ben Ulm (ITV Studios Australia)
Director Nathan Earl
Writers Nathan Earl, Joshua Tyler, Nicholas McDougall
Synopsis Plonk follows the trials and tribulations of a small television crew as they travel through South Australia’s rich and diverse wine regions, trying to produce a unique, engaging and credible wine program… and failing miserably along the way. Plonk is a love letter to Australian wine and its people… just with the spell check function turned off. It’s Getaway meets Heart of Darkness, Sydney Weekender meets Lost in La Mancha. It’s Plonk.VERSUS
Online video
Triptych Pictures Pty Ltd
Producer Julie Byrne
Executive Producer Jennifer Jones
Writer/Directors Danny Philippou, Michael Philippou
Synopsis Three videos that parody teams of popular comic book, game and movie super heroes pitted against each other in riotous, action-packed rivalry.THE WIZARDS OF AUS
Online video
LateNite Films Pty Ltd
Producers Chris Hocking, Nicholas Colla
Director Michael Shanks
Writers Michael Shanks, Nicholas Issell
Synopsis With an almighty sneeze, Jack accidentally transformed Flinders Street Station into a giant fish monster. Unintentionally ousting the existence of Wizards in suburban Australia was not Jack’s plan and now a nationwide ballot threatens to deport his people back to their treacherous magical realm. We follow Jack as he tries to rally his local community (Footscray) around rights for the previously clandestine magical beings – whilst simultaneously trying to dissuade other members of the Wizard community to stop making such arses of themselves.
*hey, isn’t this new series of Plonk all set to appear on new streaming service Stan? And isn’t it already funded by a bunch of tourism bodies? Why yes it is. So why is Screen Australia funding it as “a risky project”?