| >> Articles
Artwork Big Gig DAAS Kapital Downloads Links Lyrics Merchandise Pictures |
The Doug Anthony Allstars are rebels with a cause - that is free us of the shackles of conservatism. Lunch this week with Tim Ferguson, Richard Fidler and Paul McDermott in the Parmelia Hilton's Terrace restaurant found the irreverent trio in fine form as they gleefully terrorised the staff.
In Perth for a series of shows at His Majesty's Theatre entitled Sex and Violence, the Allstars are more serious about their work than they seem to be. Their discussion ranged from sheep farming, perverse ambition, literature and politics, to sexuality and aggression.
Tim said it was difficult to say what people could expect from Sex and Violence because each show would be entirely different. The publicity blurb describes the show as caring, sharing and warm - which is quite incongruous.
"It is a new step for us," Tim said. "Normally, of course, we have been regarded as offensive, aggressive and on the edge and that is completely incorrect. It is more of a family kind of show, aiming more at the pensioner because we have found we have a big market in that area. People in their later years are reasonably unshockable because they have seen it all. It is usually younger people who are upset by us.
"We find an audience arrives with a preconception of what to expect because of the Big Gig, so we try to disappoint them as much as possible by doing something different. They expect to be outraged, whereas that is never our intent.
"We set out to provoke people but never to upset them or to offend people. Very simply put it is just a basic questioning of their own values.
"Okay, so we talk about a lot of things that are nasty and horrible, but at the same time there is an ethos behind what we do."
Pants came down, spittle flew, hecklers were forcibly removed… in short, more of the same from the Doug Anthony All Stars at His Majesty's Theatre last week.
The Dougies' third visit to Perth was marred by a certain predictability for those who witnessed the hysteria last time around, but the trio's Sex and Violence show rated high on the laughometer nonetheless.
DAAS entered to an hysterical reception, emptying dustbins over the stage and thereby announcing their intention to be somewhat cheeky and anarchic. And so this edition of Sex and Violence was. These boys are so confident with an audience it almost seemed they didn't bother scripting this one. Whether the apparent ad-libbing was genuine or not, the Dougies' banter had a more impromptu edge than usual and left little room for music, surprising given the success of their recently-released album.
Pee pee and bodily functions jokes were rife in the rapid fire of dark-bellied comedy. The high level of DAAS exposure of the past year has led to a certain amount of audience immunity, with the result of a noticeably more offensive edge to the humour. It's just not easy shocking a DAAS audience these days. Whether the world is ready for uterus jokes is a moot point, but at least the Dougies are asking the question.
A second by-product of the DAAS Immunity Factor is a notable increase in heckling from the gallery. It seems we're not so scared of them any more. This lent an added degree of anarchy to an already loosely-structured show.
Of course, there was the stock DAAS holding pattern to fall back on, the one where Tim is hilarious being alternately puerile and fascist, Richard gets hurt being the sensitive and insecure bard and Paul is just nasty. Judging by the wild reception, there is little sign of the trio's chemistry losing its potency.
In slightly staler manoevres, one g-stringed chap in the front row was de-trousered for no apparent reason and the audience was divided into two halves and encouraged to spit at each other. Still a hoot, sure, but hardly the ground-breaking theatre that we have come to expect.
Yes, Paul McDermott, Richard Fidler and Tim Ferguson satisfied expectations in Perth last week. However, apart from a more battle-scarred appearance (Paul's jacket was a mess!), there was no evidence of the shift of emphasis heralded by the recently released Icon album. In writing and on record The All Stars are moving in intriguing directions, but live they're the same wacky, zany and terribly rude boys.
He drew this conclusion from an observation made by a journalist on Queensland. "If the opera can't get enough money to continue, it is massively subsidised by the government. Is that what constitutes proper theatre?" McDermott asked. "Comedy has been around for longer… ever since we stood erect."
Despite McDermott's remarks, Perth comedy entrepreneurs feel that comedy is, indeed, regarded as a credible artform and is therefore a very serious business. In fact, the three-month old revival of comedy in Perth has taken a quantum leap from it's humble beginnings and is generating some very healthy creative energy.
The two main people behind the current comedy assault are Academy of Performing Arts lecturer Glen Swift and Actor's Centre/Comedy Ink proprietor Glen Hayden. Hayden and Swift both felt that it was time to attempt the establishment of a viable comedy scene in Perth.
Sunday nights at the Actors' Centre and Wednesdays at the New Comedy Store are now filled to capacity very early in the evening. Three weeks ago, the New Comedy Store, upstairs in the Brass Monkey, extended to open Thursday nights as well.
The two rooms operate separately - the Actors' Centre is basically for amateurs where anyone can get up and try out their skills and the New Comedy Store is considered the next step up on the professional ladder.
Over the past six years several attempts have been made by local entrepreneurs to instigate a "comedy scene". There was the Pink Galah, Jimbo's Comedy Store and Club 242. All experienced some success initially, but this quickly faded.
The Pink Galah, operated by Glen Woodward, was the most successful. It ran for about 18 months in 1984/5.
"It was just too early for the Perth market, we certainly didn't miss by much, though," Woodward said. "It was enjoyed, but comedy didn't have the popularity or the depth in the market place as it does now with all the exposure it gets."
96FM comedy writer and regular New Comedy Store guest, Chris Dooley, is regarded as one of the pioneers of comedy in the state.
Originally from Melbourne, Dooley first came to Perth during the America's Cup period and was instrumental in setting up Club 242's comedy room. He blamed its demise on an uneducated public, who did not appreciate the value of comedy in the absence of a cover charge.
"So when we tried to introduce a cover charge, the punters wouldn't pay it," Dooley said. "That is why I believe there should always be a cover charge - not only to place a value on what you are going but to keep out the idiots.
"I think what has happened now is good because the rooms that are running comedy are both intimate - they're not barns.
"It is important that the comedian is funny, but it is just as important that the audience feel comfortable with each other. Laughter works best when it bounces off the audience, so in small venues it works really well."
In response to McDermott's comments, Dooley feels that comedy is regarded as a serious artform within artistic circles, but not by the general public.
"Most comedians can be actors but not all actors can become comedians, so in that regard there is a lot of respect for comedians by actors," he said.
Hayden and Swift attribute the resurgence of comedy in Perth to the "right idea, at the right time" coupled with the awareness generated by the amount of comedy aired on television in recent years.
How else to explain the fact that Tim Ferguson (the tall one) can undress a gentleman in the front row, leaving him naked except for a pair of black G-string underpants, while Paul McDermott (the demented pug-faced one who always stands in the middle) stuffs the man's evening attire down the front of his own trousers (shoes included).
We've had the theatre of cruelty and black comedy, so this must be the theatre of public humiliation.
There was more in the same vein on opening night, with a persistent female heckler being carried from the theatre and dumped in the corridor by Tim - bumping her head on the way through the door.
The DAAS denied any culpability for resultant brain damage to the hapless heckler.
But if the man in the front row suffered the most severe form of public abuse (and he was not a plant, simply an unfortunate who had won a free ticket in a 96fm competition) do not think you're safe sitting elsewhere.
The DAAS climb over the seats, demand that the audience split down the middle for an audience participation sketch, and emerge in the upper circle boxes of His Majesty's so that they can dribble on the people below.
At one time performers liked to ingratiate themselves with the audience - but this is New Rage theatre where the audience must please the performers.
It requires talent, of a sort, to get away with the outrageous behaviour of the DAAS.
It could be argued that the DAAS have perverted their considerable musical and comedy talents in the desire to be more aggressive and shocking than anyone else.
But that's not an argument that will wash with their steadily increasing number of fans, who see in their anarchic style an antidote to the glibness and phoniness of more commercial show business.
For it's true that the DAAS sends up just about everything - including themselves. The only consistency in their humour is its total unpredictability. They parody songs like Charlene's I've Never Been To Me, present a poignant lament by Brendan Behan, tell crude, awful sexist schoolboy jokes and simulate sex on stage for good measure.
Most satirists start from some sort of moral base - for the DAAS the base is amoral rather than immoral. That way they can get away with offending everybody - and nobody, since we are all targets for abuse, no one is the victim.
Still, this form of anti-theatre can be very funny, particularly to a young audience.
If you are already a fan of the DAAS from their Big Gig days, you will roar with laughter.
To say it will give readers something different is an understatement.
Book is a patchwork of cartoon stories, poems, tales and songs concerning the lives of some strange characters interwoven with the adventures of the Allstars themselves - their quest for knowledge and their weird encounters.
The Doug Anthony Allstars - Richard Fidler, Tim Ferguson and Paul McDermott - also did the book's illustrations and cartoons.
"It is completely different from our stage act," assures Richard. "Mainly because our stage act would be very difficult to transcribe into a book."
He adds that the book was censored in Britain.
"I guess there are parts of the book that are downright obscene, but a good team of lawyers can make things sound almost biblical."
The Doug Anthony Allstars are regulars on the ABC-TV comedy show The Big Gig.
However, they admit they are probably better known overseas, especially in the United Kingdom.
Richard, Tim and Paul grew up together in Canberra, where they started their careers with street performances, children's shows and even their own arts society.
"We had to do something to relieve the boredom of living in Canberra," Tim jokes.
He says he attempted a career as an officer in the armed forces but couldn't come to terms with a training college that taught armaments alongside fine arts.
The three friends named their group after the former leader of the National Party because of Doug Anthony's respect as a lawyer, statesman and farmer.
Tim says: "For a politician he also had a good sense of humor. We've met him several times and we were invited to his farm.
"It was strange that there was a six-lane highway that ended at his farm gate!"
Their visit follows the success of a similar three-concert tour last year, but because of popular demand, the number of shows has been increased.
DAAS have also hit the top of the charts with their first album, Icon.
Since their last visit with capacity audiences. Tim Ferguson has stood for Parliament - against Andrew Peacock; Paul McDermott has "been involved in five paternity suits" and Richard Fidler has undergone "secret surgery".
The Doug Anthony Allstars are back in town and, judging from some of their new material, they could be leaving minus several limbs.
Tim will be giving beauty tips to ugly teenagers in the audience and apparently one of his most successful tips is "hide". Skinheads are also in for some rough treatment.
Perth has been given the honour of being the first city to sample their new material. Whether or not that is a privilege is a matter for debate.
If you think you've secured self preservation by staying away from the five-show assault starting tonight at 8pm, beware of the footpath outside His Majesty's Theatre at lunch time today. At midday the irreverent trio will be doing a touch of busking and chalking the footpath for passers by, warming up for the unveiling of their new show Sex and Violence.
And just to prove they're not the elitist, ivory-tower mega-star snobs they pretend to be, DAAS go public again at Karrinyup Shopping Centre at 5.30pm today. Shop at your own risk.
If you're taken in by the whole affair, tickets to see the group take on a full audience live at His Majesty's Theatre are still available at BOCS outlets.