TV WEEK: Have you got
any nicknames ?
PAUL: Yes - Mr Stinky,
Uncle Pooh-Pooh, The Generator. Mr Grumpy is another one.
TVW: Wendy Harmer once
shared a house with you. She said, "There is definitely a Paul smell".
PAUL: There's a
Wendy smell as well ! With the Allstars (the comedy trio the Doug Anthony
Allstars), we had this sense-o-round - see them, hear them, smell them.
It certainly worked in small venues. We never washed our costumes. My customs
took on a life of its own. But those days are gone. I haven't been accused
of having a bad odour for years.
TVW: Do you still tell
lies to journalists ?
PAUL: It's a bit harder
when you're doing the solo thing. In the Allstars, we'd cover for each
other. We have deceived TV WEEK in the past, and I feel bad about that.
You once had two pages of absolute crap about us being in Ab Fab.
TVW: Then there was the
Batman story ( the Allstars said they were drinking buddies of Jack Nicholson
and were going to appear in the second Batman movie).
PAUL: That was a
gem. It was like lightning striking twice. My other favourite was telling
the UK press that Doug Anthony was the assassinated Prom Minister of Australia,
our Nelson Mandela, killed in office on November 11, 1975. That got printed
in The Times, The Guardian and The Independent. There were so many
of 'em (lies), and we were caught out only a few times.
TVW: The Good News week
album features your monologues from the show as well as you singing a version
of Hunters & Collectors' Throw Your Arms Around me.
PAUL: We used to do that
song overseas with the Allstars and pretend it was our song, because no-one
knew who the Hunnas were.
TVW: Your Good News Week
buddy Mikey Robins says you're "so nasty when he talks and so beautiful
when he sings", and Tom Jones said you had a great voice. Will you do your
own serious album ?
PAUL: I'd like to have
the time to explore those avenues. I like singing, but I haven't had the
time to put together something substantial that I'd want to put out.
TVW: After the Allstars,
Tim Ferguson joined the Nine Network. Are you open to commercial offers
?
PAUL: I would have to
say if you got your own way with the commercial station, it would almost
be worthwhile, but not to go over as a gelding. Approaches have been made,
but I wouldn't comprise what I have at the ABC, which is a fantastic forum
for free speech and ideas.
TVW: What are the chances
of an Allstar re-formation (the third member, Richard Fidler, hosts Race
Around The World on the ABC and Mouthing Off on Foxtel's thecomedychannel.)?
PAUL: None whatsoever.
It's not like a band, which can get back together after 10 years and play
songs people make love to. Very few people make love to comedy albums,
so there's not that same nostalgic value.
TVW: On the album you
joke about Princess Di and Stuart Diver. Is three any subject you won't
touch ?
PAUL: Not really. I think
you should be able to talk about anything.
TVW: Do you like being
the bad boy ?
PAUL: I don't think I
am. I'd like to be the happy boy !
TVW: You once said, "I
always feel agitated, permanently agitated".
PAUL: I'm in happy state
now. No, I still feel agitated, cynical and annoyed, but I'm not sure at
what. I suspect I'll feel like this my whole life.
TVW: What was the last
CD you bought ?
PAUL: The Boogies Nights
soundtrack.
TVW: Do you like being
recognized ?
PAUL: It doesn't happen,
and I don't know why. It's always been that way. In the Allstars, we'd
be sitting three abreast on a plane and people would lean over me to get
Tim and Rich's signatures and the say, "Where's Paul?"
TVW: What does your twin
sister, Sharon, do ?
PAUL: She's a primary
school teacher and she recently became a storyteller.
TVW: Have you got any
tattoos ?
PAUL: No. I think the
whole tattooing thing is a bit funny.
TVW: What next ?
PAUL: With the Good News
Week team, we're going to do a Saturday night program starting mid-year.
Instead of looking at the week's events, it will be a bit of a pop
culture overview. It could be interesting.
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