A small bit about TV.
This site is about books, but some people want to know how I moved from writing books to doing TV comedy shows. Here are 409 words for those people who aren’t satisfied by the explanation in My Real Life, even though it’s mostly true.
Theatresports is a competitive improvisation game that is usually played by idiots. Who else would get up in front of an audience and perform with their team mates something they’ve had only seconds to prepare? I used to watch the teams in Melbourne, when Theatresports was at its peak and drawing crowds of up to two thousand people every Sunday. We in the audience yelled and screamed for lollies, while the compere challenged eight teams of four players to invent instant plays and even musicals. Okay, it doesn’t sound like a blood sport. But it was. After each round, teams were knocked out, until there was a final duel between the two best teams of the night.
In the end I was lucky enough to be invited to join a team called The Gutless Wonders. As with most of the Melbourne teams, we were a mix of comedians, actors and writers. On the first night I played, comedian Glenn Robbins was on my team. He made me feel confident. Here was a seasoned player and comedian, so we’d be okay. (He later told me he had thrown up just before the games started.) Here you can see Glenn and me in 1988, being pursued across Sydney Harbour by a Chinese restaurant.
I can’t remember how well we played that night, all I know is that we got through to the second half. After that first night, I was addicted to playing. The best game I remember was when we had to tell the story of Hamlet in the style of The Marx Brothers. The fine comedian Simon Rogers was on our team that night. He was Groucho doing Hamlet. I was Harpo doing Ophelia. I didn’t have to say a word. Simon just chased me around the stage for two minutes, shouting, ‘Ophelia, Ophelia, I just gotta feelya.’ Okay, I guess you had to be there, but we won! Here is my friend Simon doing a typically subdued performance. That’s him with the tartan boxer shorts on his head.
Playing Theatresports is brave, and I’m a natural coward. But I think you have to be brave to do comedy. I got to meet and play with fantastic comedians, writers, performers and the occasional mental case. If you want to write or perform comedy, it’s a good idea to find funny people you can work with. Here I am doing a typically subdued performance with actor Ross Williams.
Some of us ended up in TV, some on radio, and some in hospital. I ended up in TV. Here I am making a very good speech at the Logies in 1996.
If you’d like to see some of the TV shows I’ve done, click here:
Okay, they’re not all good. But if you want to learn more about a really good TV show that I’m working on, go here:
http://www.dogstar.tv/#/space
