Emily Taheny, Veronica Milsom, Tosh Greenslade
Shaun Micallef is back, and reinforcing the popular view that he deserves a much more regular spot on our screens than once a week. Mad As Hell is entertaining, insightful, distractingly hilarious, obtuse and everything we’ve come to expect from the man who’s been anointed as “Australia’s own Jon Stewart”.
The writing team have delivered Micallef the perfect platform for his absurdist humour, while allowing political commentary and news opinion in rapid fire succession. From making statement about both sides of politics to his turn as Kevin Rudd in a fake ABC ad during the show, to his one on one “interviews” with other cast members including Roz Hammond, Emily Taheny and oft-included sparring partner Francis Greenslade, Micallef drops gags like most of us drop the soap in the shower.
The cast working with him are no slouches either. Veronica Milsom, most recently of Hungry Beast fame, is at home in delivering character acting as either the straight man or fall guy and didn’t disappoint in the sketches in the first show. New faces Taheny and Tosh Greenslade (no relation) join the fray with old hands Hammond and Francis Greenslade to deliver 30 minutes of MUST WATCH comedy every week.
The vox pops that became increasingly bizarre as the segment rolled on, clearly indicating the questions being asked had changed but the answers were tied together as if the same question asked, were an immediate highlight; as was the deliberate wordplay (“Not coming up because we’ve run out of time – Julia Gillard arrives in the US on the first and second legs of her body…”) and character names (“Carrington Mews” and “Paramour Quilt” were but some of the gold); also the moment Shaun stopped to thank those that sent in cards of good luck:
“The first two are from A Current Affair and Today Tonight. As you’d expect they look very similar and contain identical messages. Another one from SBS Late News, made from 100% recycled material.”
Having Shaun seated in the middle of a large circular table with the Yin Yang symbol on it with no obvious way as to how to get out of the desk other than to awkwardly climb over it is just part of the staging inspiration. The set presents as an authoritarian News program with touches of delight scattered throughout, including the goldfish in the portals at the rear, mandatory map and spinning globe and the stairs to nowhere.
The show is recorded in front of a live studio audience (go to the Mad As Hell website to register) and while obviously those assembled enjoyed the taping the mix of audience laughter on playback did make it sound a little like canned laughter. Perhaps a note to the audio team not to push the laughs so loud for future episodes. Burying the program at 8pm on Friday night (the first episode rating 664,000 viewers – 10th for the night and 4th highest non-News program) must surely be the first change by the network as something this good deserves a much better timeslot.
But no doubt the program will hold it’s own. It’s just bloody funny. The sooner Shaun Micallef is given a nightly program with which to lampoon the news, politics and the media, the better we all will be for it. It’s the best 30 minutes of Australian television I’ve seen in a long time.
Shaun Micallef’s Mad As Hell. Available in Mono.
Shaun Micallef’s Mad As Hell – Fri 8pm, ABC1.
Repeats – Sat 7:30pm, ABC2; Sun 10:05pm ABC1.
Hilarious show, great review. Totally hit the nail, about the laughter. I had to turn the show. I thought it was canned laughter that sounded very very fake. Let the audience laugh where it wants to, not when the director wants them to.
Hi Steve
I am glad you enjoyed Shaun’ s return to the small screen. A note tho – as warm-up guy on the show I can assure you that every laugh you heard on the programme was original from the night’s record. No sweetening neccessary. Continue to enjoy……
Thanks Michael. The only concern for me was the way the audio mixed them in – it was at times jarring. But that’s being pedantic. Loved the show, and please pass on my thanks to the entire team for their efforts.
I laughed all the way through it, except the ghost of Kerry O’Brien.I’m 100% tuning in this week.
I normally love Shaun, but thought this program was extremely unfunny – and no matter who produced the audience laughs, it sounded soooo fake. People don’t really laugh at every little line. As for the supporting cast – same old faces.
Very disappointed.
If you desperately want something to be funny – it will be funny. If you take a bowl and spoon and want it to be funny, you can make it so. If the energy is coming from the audience willing an object to be funny and entertaining – the audience will possibly be entertained. This is what happens with SM. He is our answer to Dick Van Dyke or Jerry Lewis. You are meant to think these guys are funny. They are not, never have and never will be. SM thinks that if he makes a face or says something completely obvious, he will get a laugh. He does by those who want him to be funny. He is just terrible and needs to get a real job where he can be of some use!
Hi Will – isn’t all comedy subjective/in the eye of the beholder? Not everybody thinks every comedian is funny.
But TV execs seem to think he is funny. Even some intelligent people I know tell me he is funny – this to me, is very disturbing.
I mean, check out any mainstream US comedies. Would you seriously laugh at them? I have only had the misfortune (or fortune) to have passing glances at shows such as ‘Everyone Loves Raymond’ etc and they assume that an audience will think that some smart mouthed comment from a mother in law (with no sense of irony) is side splitting! I think there is a universal funny and a funny that appeals to those of intellect. Consider Faulty Towers, The Office and Australia’s ‘Very Small Business’ or even Housos on a good night. SM is just part of the every day gruel we have to swallow!
He’s funny.