He appeared around 15 years ago when I was an art student living in the squats in Sydney. My friends were stand-up comics and they encouraged me to get up on stage. Iwas so nervous my voice went up several octaves. I blame Australian culture for creating Flacco.

 Is there much of Paul Livingston in Flacco?

You’ve got to be careful of the soapbox and sprouting too much of your own opinions. I try to keep Paul Livingston out of it as much as possible.

 How would you describe Flacco’s character?

He’s very shy. But that’s a catch phrase for all comics. They say it makes them look adorable in public. But by being shy you can observe a lot. You can’t observe a lot when you’re talking all the time.

 When did you realise you were interested in art?

I copied cartoons as a kid. I went to art school but I didn’t learn much about art there. I think it all comes from childhood. I’d like to say I’m an intelligent person but that’s not the case.

 How do you get ideas for your illustrations?

A deadline usually helps. It might start with the image or the caption might come first.

 Did you ever think Flacco would become a TV star and you could make a living out of him?

It’s quite remarkable that a creature like that can make you a living. Being on Good News Week is the longest period I’ve ever had a jod. A whole year. It’s remarkable.

 Do you enjoy working with the Sandman?

We’ve been friends for a long time: over a dozen years. I never thought Flacco would be able to work with someone else. But with the Sandman, we’re two distinct characters.

INTERVIEW WITH SANDMAN & FLACCO

By WRITERSBLOC


You may have experienced a taste of Flacco, (Paul Livingston), and Sandman, (Stephen Abbott), on TV in Good News Week or have listened in on Sandman's "204 Bell Street" saga on Triple J. Or perhaps you've heard Flacco on Triple J's breakfast show before they locked the doors and wouldn't let him back in.
Maybe you've come across Flacco's art work in The Australian's "Weekend Magazine" or read some of their books, "Sandman's Advice to the Unpopular", "The Flacco Files". Whatever the case maybe soon you will have the opportunity to sample them in the living flesh on their UNWANTED tour coming to Lismore in March.
In an interview with the pulp team (Writersbloc), this is what Sandman and Flacco had to say about their lives and the tour.

Steve: Why is the show called 'Unwanted'?

Sandman: It sort of sums it up pretty much.

Kay: Who are you unwanted by? The ABC and triple J?

Sandman: No, I'm wanted there. But I've just retired after seven years.

Flacco: I've always felt unwanted so that's normal for me.

Louisa: What acts will you be doing on the night? Will you be performing some of the routines you both do on Good News Week?

Sandman: We'll be doing them, but of course they'll be a little bit different from doing them on television because we won't be standing so close to the camera. It's sort of like a mixture of the hits and a pile of new stuff as well.

Louisa: When both of you invented the Sandman and Flacco characters, were they based on anyone you knew, admired or a family member?

Flacco: I think mine was just a silly voice that I could do when I was in high school basically.

Sandman: Well, Sandman is probably based on my mother.

Kay: Did you have a good relationship with your mother?

Sandman: Yes I do. But you know, I owe most of my material to mother so it has to be a good relationship otherwise I'd have no career.

Kay: Which comedians do you like?

Sandman: Jerry Lewis right through to Lenny Bruce. I like people who fall over and do the puerile material. I also like Barry Humphries.

Flacco: I don't find anyone funny. I laugh at all the wrong things.

Steve: When you're going to do up a sketch/routine do you just wait for something to come along or do you sit down and consciously say 'let's do something'?

Flacco: We wait for the deadline to come along and we sit for a while.

Sandman: We tend to sit around and babble on in character quite a lot together and if we start making each other laugh then we start writing that down. We perform, more or less, from a script with a few adlibs that are thrown in and are hopefully funny.

Kay: So do you both think you're funny?

Flacco: Most of the time we do but when you take it out in front of people opinion is quite different. You never know until you get out there, which is the terrifying thing.

Kay: Have you got any advice for up and coming comedians?

Sandman: Well, firstly be prepared to earn five thousand dollars per annum for a very long time.

Flacco: And be prepared to be humiliated for about six years until people get to know you We seem to be getting used to humiliation. If you can actually cope with that then you'll be fine.

Sandman: And don't be afraid to recycle material.

Steve: When you first started out, did you think you'd become as popular as you are now.

Flacco: I thought I'd be much more popular.

Sandman: I personally think that I've by far exceeded all my expectations.

Kay: What's the best thing you've ever done?

Flacco: I think the stuff we did on Good News Weeknight Live was my favourite. It was the most fun I've had performing I think. Coming from doing solo stuff for ten years beforehand, it was a great relief to get up there and actually enjoy working instead of panicking.

Sandman: I'll concur with my colleague there and also say going naked on television was a very memorable moment for myself. And for three months after the event it was quite traumatic as well.

Kay: Was that planned?

Sandman: Yeah, it was planned. I mean, as much as you can plan an event like that. I talked with Flacco about this idea of going naked on stage, somebody stealing my costume and all this stuff before, and eventually, we worked up the guts to do it while we were doing our TV special in Melbourne.

Steve: Flacco, are you going to go nude in Lismore?

Sandman: He's never seen himself nude.

Flacco: There'll be parts of us nude.

Sandman: Well, they'll certainly be a defrocking of some sort.

Steve: Perhaps the audience can go nude?

Sandman: I don't know whether you want to see Lismore people nude.

Kay: Why did you get sacked?

Flacco: Well no one told me. They locked the door. I couldn't get back in.

Sandman: They just didn't ring him back up.

Flacco: I have no idea what happened. I was working one week and the next week I wasn't and then all my friends were working and I wasn't so I actually retired but nobody noticed. Bad year - 94.

Kay: So you both went to university?

Flacco: No, I failed everything. I even failed art school. I walked out, quite drunk. Learned how to drink and socialise.

Kay: Have you got something to say to the university students?

Sandman: You've always gotta remember at uni that failure requires no preparation so it's a wonderful kind of philosophy to take through your one to five year. Not a bad life style, if you like no money. If you want to pay back that incredible amount of fees.

Kay: Yeah, but it makes people the people that they are doesn't it?

Sandman: Yeah, well uni was a big thing in my life. I didn't do so greatly but I got into bands and became a very wooden actor at university, started doing comedy I suppose there as well. So yeah, it's what happens outside the tutorials that count.

Steve: Are you worried about stalkers?

Flacco: I'd love to have a stalker. We get a bit lonely. I live alone.

Sandman: That's how he starts relationships.

Flacco: If there's any stalkers in Lismore I'd like a whole flock of them.

Kay: Flacco when you first started you weren't going to be some sort of Arab terrorist?

Flacco: That's true, the first character was an Arab terrorist.

Kay: Where did that come from?

Flacco: Just being topical. I think there was a lot of terrorism around in the early eighties.

Steve: Have you got any words of wisdom for Jonathon Shires?

Sandman: It's very hard to actually joke about Jonathon Shiers. What he appears to be doing seems incredibly irrational but you know maybe there'll be a method to his madness. I feel very removed from that Jonathon Shiers situation but I just know he's creating a lot of uneasiness and he's lowering them around to an even lower point at the ABC at the moment. I've never met him and I would call him a fucking prick but I don't know him and I think that would be irresponsible for me to say that.