The upteenth season of political humour / news satire show Shaun Micallef’s Mad As Hell starring Shaun Micallef is returning to our public broadcasting screens on February 5, 2020.
Hooray.
Now, it is my duty to help you pass the time until the show is broadcast, to pause and reflect on one of the most cheekiest, smartest and nerdiest of comedians with random highlights of Micallef’s career. Just so you can go “Oh, I remember that!”.
Also – purely for clickbait.
- When I’m Cleaning Windows
From his short-lived 2003 ABC sitcom Welcher & Welcher, a married couple (Micallef and Robyn Butler) are trying to run a law firm, with awkward moments and dysfunctional office maintenance. One of the episodes ‘runs short’, so he calls upon his partner-in-comedy crime (Francis Greenslade) to pad the time, which they perform George Formby‘s When I’m Cleaning Windows.
2. I Remember You
In 2009, Micallef popped up on Rove McManus’ late night variety talk show Rove on Channel 10 to plug his comedy album, by singing a … beautiful .. country tune I Remember You.
3. Interviewing Rob Hirst
Deep into the very short-lived Micallef Tonight variety show shown on Channel 9 in 2003, the show was known to have non-direct interviews or at least interviews with a twist… twisted so far that it would confuse a non-Micallef fan.
While there were many to choose from, the most clever one we found that would’ve gone over the heads of just about everyone, is when Micallef interviewed Midnight Oil drummer Rob Hirst, and mentioned that his favourite song was U.S. Forces and asked for a drum sample. The amusing thing is that the drums don’t kick in until 45 seconds into it, and it’s a straight-forward drum performance. Just watch the video about 2:27 in. When you think about it, he was trying to use an Oils song with minimum drumming. Clever.
4. Milo Kerrigan’s early appearance on Full Frontal
In the mid 1990s, Micallef joined the Channel 7 sketch comedy show Full Frontal and ended up stealing the spotlight from just about everyone, unintentionally. One of the characters that helped him make a household name of himself is Milo Kerrigan – “The Brownish Bomber” who is a retired welterweight champion with medals in Zinc, a smashed nose and crumpled voicebox which he copped during his competitive days. With mumbled jargon and over-the-top expressions, Kerrigan’s lines and actions were delivered perfectly, constantly making fellow cast members laugh off-screen or during the performance. Here is Micallef as Kerrigan performing the tone-deaf tune That’s The Thing About Boxing with Kitty Flanagan‘s Narelle Parkinsom on the Australian National Nightly Network News desk.
Honourable Mention – Kreepy Spooks Theatre Restaurant
From The Micallef Program in 1998 on the ABC where Micallef takes us – the viewer – into the thrilling world of the lucrative theatre restaurant circuit. A low-budget small business going for the big time blockbuster.
5. Tilted Room
Yes, the tilted room visual joke dates back decades (look up Tommy Cooper for one of them) and Micallef has done the joke numerous times on both Full Frontal and ABC’s The Micallef P(r)ogram(me). The best one was the early attempt at it with his satirical TV host character David McGahan, as he presents David McGahan’s World by walking into his office on a tilt, and trying to shrug it off.
Shaun Micallef’s Mad As Hell – Season 11 starts Wednesday February 5 at 8:30pm on ABC TV. Can also be seen on iView.
