Generic Antipodean comedy thread

[Famous Mortimer]

(for stuff that doesn't already have its own)

First up, mentioned in the Taskmaster thread, is "Guy Montgomery's Guy Mont-Spelling Bee". He did a few of these on Youtube, with some pretty big names (Rose Matafeo and Paul F Tompkins, among them) but was open about trying to get it on the TV, and he did so. If you've seen NZ Taskmaster or "Have You Been Paying Attention?", you'll recognise most of the people, but I like them all so it's great.

Didn't care for the round where you have to guess how a 6 year-old would spell a random word, because there didn't seem to be much chance for comedy in it, but the rest of it was lovely.

Did you like it? Anything else tickling your fancy from that part of the world?

[gilbertharding]

Dead impressed to hear a Kath and Kim reference on an old episode of ChartMusic the other day. That was a great show. Wonder why it's not better known. I guess it was because it got shown on BBC, and so was mucked about like Seinfeld was.

[neveragain]

It's pretty well-known... well, it's known, I'd say. Aussie stuff doesn't get enough attention round the UK.

[Twilkes]

Someone passed around a The Twelfth Man cassette back in the early 90s, that's what I immediately think of when someone says Antipodean comedy.

[Gulftastic]

Do The Wiggles count? I've become strangely fascinated by the Emma era.

Toot toot, chugga chugga, big red car...

[Father Bananas]

There was something I watched a few years back Please Like Me written by Josh Thomas, self indulgent in places but I thought it was perfectly acceptable if not riotously good.

[13 schoolyards]

Having spoken to someone who's seen about half of the first episode of the new Australian sketch show We Interrupt This Broadcast (it starts next week), the verdict seems to be "it's better than you might expect". It's supposedly all just one-joke television parody skits, so the fast pace means it doesn't linger when a sketch flops.

Standards for Australian television sketch comedy (that doesn't involve Shaun Micallef) have been rock bottom for years, so maybe things are starting to turn around

[Wayman C. McCreery]

(for stuff that doesn't already have its own)

First up, mentioned in the Taskmaster thread, is "Guy Montgomery's Guy Mont-Spelling Bee". He did a few of these on Youtube, with some pretty big names (Rose Matafeo and Paul F Tompkins, among them) but was open about trying to get it on the TV, and he did so. If you've seen NZ Taskmaster or "Have You Been Paying Attention?", you'll recognise most of the people, but I like them all so it's great.

Didn't care for the round where you have to guess how a 6 year-old would spell a random word, because there didn't seem to be much chance for comedy in it, but the rest of it was lovely.

Did you like it? Anything else tickling your fancy from that part of the world?

Just watched the second episode of this (I downloaded it instead of the first one by mistake) and had a massive grin on all the way through. Loved it.

[Berries]

The new Guy Montgomery show started here in NZ last week but could not bring myself to watch it after cringing at him doing one of those funny video shows a la Ridiculousness.

Possibly the most inadvertently funny thing on the box here at the moment is a simple one on one interview between an ex NZ cricketer now TV presenter Mark Richardson and his favourite comedians. He had Dai Henwood on last week and Josh Thompson has been on as well. Got all crickety this week with David Gower but still funny in a light hearted way. The programme is on TVNZ so you may have the same trouble I have watching anything on the BBC iPlayer but it is called I Don't Like Cricket if you can find it.

Going back a year or two and still on the cricket theme did you get the tour of NZ that Phil Tufnell did with Brendon McCullum This Could Go Anywhere? It is on Netflix now.

There are a number of funny people on the TV here but many of the shows are a bit try hard. Others, like our version of HIGNFY called 7 Days do have their moments of snort out loud laughter.

Old Sue Perkins popped up on our screen this week chairing Patriot Brains, another TVNZ show. Because there is a bit of needle between NZ and Australia this has potential.

Looking at the schedule this week the only thing from Downunder I will be watching for a laugh is Hard Quiz from over the water.

Talking of Straya, All Aussie Adventures is always good for half an hour of Youtube timewasting if you have never seen it. Kath and Kim lovers might enjoy it-

[merri]

I've quite enjoyed Fisk recently.  Fairly lightweight, but very watchable.

[Urinal Cake]

Does Spanian get counted as comedy? If so I like him his food reviews are ace.

[Small Man Big Horse]

There was something I watched a few years back Please Like Me written by Josh Thomas, self indulgent in places but I thought it was perfectly acceptable if not riotously good.

I'm a big fan of Josh Thomas, and his (US set) follow up "Everything's Gonna Be Okay" was something I really loved.

[rubysay]

Having spoken to someone who's seen about half of the first episode of the new Australian sketch show We Interrupt This Broadcast (it starts next week), the verdict seems to be "it's better than you might expect". It's supposedly all just one-joke television parody skits, so the fast pace means it doesn't linger when a sketch flops.

Standards for Australian television sketch comedy (that doesn't involve Shaun Micallef) have been rock bottom for years, so maybe things are starting to turn around

Greg Larsen on the TV!!!!!!

[rubysay]

Does anyone know where the clip of Greg larsen doing Mr oily on tonightly is????? Not on yt anymore. This is all I can find

[13 schoolyards]

Greg Larsen on the TV!!!!!!

I did ask if the cast were good and the reply (again, based on this person only having bothered to watch half the episode) was along the lines of "the sketches are so short it doesn't matter who's in them".

So it doesn't sound like anyone's going to be creating any classic catchphrase characters in the first week

[Urinal Cake]

FFS Spanian

[gilbertharding]

It's pretty well-known... well, it's known, I'd say. Aussie stuff doesn't get enough attention round the UK.

Pretty sure it was only ever a cult thing here (as much as anything broadcast on BBC TV can be 'a cult thing', of course - 30 Rock only seemed to be on 5USA, by contrast). I don't even know if we got all the series of it, and it's never been repeated. People might have known about it at the time, but I think it's been almost completely forgotten.

[Famous Mortimer]

I just saw the first couple of episodes of "Patriot Brains", the Australia vs. New Zealand comedy panel show, hosted by a Brit (previously, Bill Bailey, this season, Sue Perkins). Panelists are great, and Perkins is good too, but I think the problem is the panelists are funnier than the show. There was a round on sexist 80s ads, and the two examples the show gave the panel were quite weak, whereas the panelists riffing on funnier ones was much better. Perhaps it's deliberate, but I think the show needs to come with the strongest material it can.

[Wayman C. McCreery]

Crying laughing during the homophones round in episode four of Guy Mont Spelling Bee. I don't know if Guy writes the gags but fuck this shouldn't be as funny as it is.

[Famous Mortimer]

Crying laughing during the homophones round in episode four of Guy Mont Spelling Bee. I don't know if Guy writes the gags but fuck this shouldn't be as funny as it is.

The episode with David Correos, Mel Bracewell, Jamaine Ross and Ray O'Leary was incredibly funny, best of the series so far.

[samadriel]

Thank God You're Here is coming back this year, Celia Pacquola hosting. They've chosen impeccable collaborators in HYBPA, I hope they do the same with this.

[Famous Mortimer]

I tried the first season of the original show and I just couldn't get into it. Pacquola is great though, so I'll give this version a go.

[13 schoolyards]

From what I remember, it got better as it went along as the contestants figured out just how far they could push things (especially in Shaun Micallef's case). It was never an all-time classic - you can probably still find the endless discussions of it on here, but I think the short version was "it's just improv with guard rails, and improv often sucks" - but each episode usually had at least one pretty good segment that made it worthwhile.

But yes, Pacquola is great - fans of her dramatic work (well, she's just basically playing the same character she usually does, but it's not in a sitcom) might want to check out the new season of Love Me, which is out (on Foxtel in Australia, so nobody will see it) now. It's just a supporting role, but the show itself is pretty good and Hugo Weaving plays a lovable old duffer who is finally getting his end away so there's that

[Ron Superior]

The Kates have a show coming to Prime video next month called Deadloch. Trailer's fairly promising. Love the Kates.

https://twitter.com/katemccccartney/status/1653916863934656512?t=RU6ojWqmf2IK37fbxOSoaw&s=19

[13 schoolyards]

I was excited until I read that it's eight (presumably hour-long) episodes, which suggests it's going to be more of a straight mystery with comedy bits rather than a send up of the whole genre.

[famethrowa]

Oh I see, murder mystery, FUCK OFF THEN

[The Lurker]

Went to watch Guy Montgomery's Guy Mont-Spelling Bee yesterday at the Sydney Comedy Festival. Taskmaster Aus contestant

Spoiler alert

and winner

[close]

Danielle Walker was part of the lineup. Great show, brilliantly done. Going to have start watching the TV version now!

[The Lurker]

Okay, so I'm onto the penultimate episode of Guy Montgomery's Guy Mont-Spelling Bee and I am - once again - convinced David Correos one of the funniest blokes on the planet.

[Ron Superior]

The Kates have a show coming to Prime video next month called Deadloch. Trailer's fairly promising. Love the Kates.

https://twitter.com/katemccccartney/status/1653916863934656512?t=RU6ojWqmf2IK37fbxOSoaw&s=19

Tried 2 episodes of this and there were plenty of funny bits but loads of stuff that's beneath the Kates and the Detective Eddie character, is way too annoying so I've bailed. Shame. Just going to keep rewatching Katering Show and Get Krack!ng instead.

[13 schoolyards]

Deadloch feels a bit like something that got away from them. Doing a straightforward murder mystery show but with comedy characters isn't a bad idea, but the two halves don't fit. The prestige drama side is well done and atmospheric, but then there are these fuckwit comedy characters walking around that belong in a shit 90s sitcom and Eddie is way more painful than she needed to be if the idea was to be a contrast to the other (much better) cop.

There's a few interesting ideas in there - by the end of the third episode they seem to have staked out what the murders are "about", which won't come as a huge surprise to anyone paying attention to Get Krack!n - but it almost feels like they wanted to make a straight diatribe and the comedy was just thrown in there in a half-hearted fashion.

But I guess if it does even moderately well they'll be able to forge a career writing prestige mystery series, which is a lot more lucrative than maybe getting an Australian comedy series every five years