"French Chicks In The Nuddy II - The Search For Bum Nuggets"
Everyone’s favourite nerdy Comedian Tony Martin graced the brown velour desk for Late O’Clock With Rob Hunter starring Comedian Rob Hunter.
Rob Hunter is a comedian and writer who began his career in Adelaide eventually moving himself to comedian capital of Australia – Melbourne.
A wealth of experience behind him, Rob has performed stand-up all around Australia and the UK and has written for various radio and TV shows including Spicks And Specks (ABC), Rove (TEN), The Comedy Hour (ABC Radio) and You’re Skitting Me (ABC3).
Late O’Clock is Rob’s horrifyingly awkward talk show. The interviews are a bit like those conducted by Shaun Micallef, Andy Kaufman, Zach Galifianakis and anyone else who has ever been a butthole to a guest.
Rob started writing questions in 2006 but it wasn’t until 2010 that someone agreed to be a guest on his show. That guest was television’s Lehmo and the interview can be seen on Rob’s Youtube channel along with other interviews.
Rob also performs the show live with his friend Luke McGregor at various comedy festivals. The show was first performed at the 2011 Melbourne International Comedy Festival and quickly became a hit, with guests including Charlie Pickering, Wil Anderson, Greg Fleet, Tom Gleeson, Eddie Ifft and DeAnne Smith.
In this recent interview, Rob nearly goes on a slinging match with Tony, with a few minor stabs at Tony’s film Bad Eggs, as well as a script read and newspaper fwapping. (No wet ones)
It was the great, late actor Leo “Lucky” Grills who played Detective Sargeant ‘Bluey’ Hills in the Channel 7 drama production Bluey from 1976 to 1977. Bluey wasn’t your typical detective. What made him unique was that he drank, ate, smoked and did all the sleazy stuff – which made the character the perfect piss-take for The Late Show.
Bargearse was made up of spliced scenes from Bluey, dubbed by The Late Show cast and crew, telling the story of Detective Sargeant Bargearse who solves crimes by eating and farting his way to victory. It was 100% toilet humour which was played in 10 parts during the second season of The Late Show – successor to The Olden Days in Season One. (More on The Olden Days in future posts.)
Bargearse was that popular, it is generally quoted this very day by dedicated fans, such as yourself (Yes, you’re a fan, because you wouldn’t be at this site if you weren’t!)
Years ago, Tony Martin had released Bargearse on VHS, and fought long and hard to get the DVD release in 2007 (along with The Olden Days). Two days before the release, Lucky Grills passed away in his sleep in Queensland, aged 79. To celebrate Lucky’s 84th birthday (and 5 years since the DVD release), we hit the Twittersphere and invited Bargearse fans to watch their DVD or VHS copy at 6pm AEST, and quote the show using the hashtag #Bargearse as much as possible.
The result:
Number One on the Australian Twitter Trends.
That’s an epic thing to happen. Especially when it isn’t Bieber or 1 Direction related. Facing stiff competition against Eurovision on SBS and the footy, it’s fantastic to see that Bargearse still has a warm dutch oven ready in everyone.
The trend lasted on and off for about 2 hours, but for what it was worth, lots of laughter and memories were had.
Over the two seasons, Rob Sitch has played many characters, such as Graham from Graham & The Colonel, the egotistical chauvinistic character in the dinner party sketches, Gavin Oz from The Oz Brothers and more.
But he’s well-known (and stated by Santo Cilauro on the show) that he is the master of disguises. His first impression was 1992 US Presidential candidate Ross Perot, being interviewed by Tom Gleisner behind The Late Show News Desk.
As the show went on, Rob’s impressions improved, and even generated well-coined quotes that are remembered (and occasionally used) to this day. Most of the impressions rotated around the News Desk.
Dovetail: Who was the person Rob impersonated the most? Bruce McAvaney at a tally of 6 appearances.
Nearly every sketch comedy show – without fail – create their own song parodies. Most of the piss-takes are around songs or artists which are popular at the time. Sometimes the parody songs are that funny and entertaining, they can out-do the actual song. Even to the point that when you hear the original, you can’t help but sing the parody version of it.
Throughout the two years of broadcast, The Late Show paid a beautiful homage to popular songs and artists. Covering the tune, the band’s image, and even mimicking the video clip, they couldn’t go wrong.
Here’s a list of video clips that were parodied:
Season One
Ep 3: Sarah Brightman and José Carreras – Amigos Para Siempre
Ep 13: Harry Connick Jr (generic tune)
Ep 15: Red Hot Chili Peppers – Under The Bridge
Ep 20: Frente – Accidentally Kelly Street (Accidentally Was Released)
Season Two
Ep 4: Things Of Stone & Wood – Happy Birthday Helen (We’re Out Of Melbourne Cliches)
Ep 7: Cameron Daddo – Fifteen Minutes Of Fame (Four And A Half Minutes Of Shit)
Ep 8: Peter Andre – Gimme A Little Sign (It’s A Repetitious Song Girl)
Ep 9: Snow – Informer (Inform Me)
Ep 12 : Ween – Push The Lil Daisies (Sing Like A Dickhead And Dance Like A Duck)
Ep 14: Dannii Minogue – This Is It (Holy Shit)
Ep 15: The Sharp – Scratch My Back (Skivvies Are Back)
Ep 16: Madonna – Rain (Same)
Ep 18: Billy Joel – River Of Dreams (End Of My Career)
Ep 19: R.E.M – Everybody Hurts
Just a side note – the above does not include the other songs parodied on the show, such as Tony Martin singing his version of R.E.M – Stand, Rob Sitch impersonating Elton John, and others.
This is just pure evidence again that the guys aren’t just fantastic hard workers, but they leave a mark in the entertainment industry.
Fairfax’s TV/Radio/Movie liftout The Guide celebrate 30 years of publishing in the Sydney Morning Herald and sister papers. Critics Michael Idato and Greg Hassall have dissected and filtered through the last 30 years of television that has graced our CRTs and LCDs, picking one show to represent each year.
Not surprisingly, the show that started it all for Working Dog, The D-Generation, represents 1986 – the first year of the show. However, if you skip to 1992 and 1993, there is no entry of The Late Show. 1992 is represented by possibly the first ever Australian reality show Sylvania Waters(in which The Late Show never ceased to take the piss out of), and 1993 had the US drama cop show Homicide: Life On The Street (which was its own version of HBO’s classic The Wire, back in the days). However, just when you think “What? That’s it? Un-bulleave-able Neville!”, there’s another entry from the Working Dog offices.
As mentioned previously, the month of April has had a cape worn upon its back for Capril: Are you Cape-able?. There’s only a few days left of April to get your own excuse to wear your beloved cape in public!
With word-of-mouth, social media and radio interviews galore to promote the awareness of depression and in honour of the late Get This sidekick Richard Marsland, funds raised for Beyond Blue have been pouring in left, right and centre. Some fund raising merchandise have been specially designed t-shirts, with profits donated to Beyond Blue. (Note due to legal reasons, the logo for Capril has been changed to what appears in the image here.)
The goal is to hit $3000 this year, but funds are well short of the target. To donate:
If you do need to talk to someone about any issues, no matter how small or large they are, Lifeline is available 24/7 on 13 11 14 or SANE Australia on 1800 18 SANE (7263)
After a ‘preview’ episode screening in what appears to saviour the My Kitchen Rules audience attention, Working Dog‘s new show Pictures Of You is returning to the Channel 7 screen Monday 23rd April, at 9:30pm.
Host Brian Nankervis presents images of the guest’s past to open their heart and mind to the history of that photo. Whether it covers a birthday party from their ankle-biter years, to graduating from school, even viewing a photo of a family member they’ve idolised all their life, Pictures Of You taps into the cockles of the heart.
After a preview screening last month of 1.6 million viewers, this could be a huge hit on Working Dog‘s hands. A simple and heartwarming concept – just make sure the storytelling is beautifully smooth. I’m sure it will!
Throughout the 2 seasons of The Late Show, a segment called Toilet Break would be played, around 3/5 of the way into the show. Season 1 played excerpts from The Saturday Show from the late 70s to early 80s, and Season 2 were highlights from the 80s talent show Pot Luck, hosted by Ernie Sigley and judge Bernard King. But more on that in a later post.
One of the most well known and popular Pot Luck Toilet Break segments was from Episode 4 in 1993, where a clip of an 8 year old boy playing bells was shown. His name? Piffy The Bell Ringer.
Even though it was 4 episodes in of viewing Pot Luck segments, it was enough to develop a new fan base and popularity. During that week, viewers wrote in (pen and paper style!) and demanded more Piffy. Other than the cameo appearance from the audience, Piffy also joined sparring partners Graham And The Colonel for their sports news updates, demonstating what he did best – ring bells. Even Tom Gleisner took the mickey out of him at one stage, dressing up as Piffy.
As part of the 20 year anniversary, we tracked down Remi Broadway (aka Piffy) who was ever so polite to answer a few questions about his appearance on Pot Luck and The Late Show all those years ago.
“Piffy” – where did that name come from?
As a 7 yr old I played the role of Wee Willy Winky in a Christmas pantomime. At one point my character said indignantly, “He called me ‘Winkle PIFFLE’.” The family thought it was so cute they started to called me ‘Piffy’.
Where did you get the idea of playing bells? Do you still dust off the bells to play at parties?
It’s an old family talent. My father was taught by his father and he passed it on to me.
Are there certain brand bells you need to get the right tones and sound for?
I’m not aware of any other tuned Sheep / Cow bells out there. I only have the one set and it’s been in my family for generations.
Can you remember what it was like to perform on Pot Luck? Did Ernie Sigley and Bernard King make you feel comfortable?
I don’t remember much as I was only 9. I do remember that I won the heat and for some reason it had to be re-filmed. Fortunately I won the second time around but the prize was $1500 worth of silverware. Not much use for a 9 yr old but I still have it 25 years later. I also remember being extremely embarrassed when Ernie asked mum if I had a nickname and she said “Piffy”. As a kid I was very embarrassed by the name.
Had you heard of The Late Show before you were invited to be on it?
No, I was 15 and not in the habit of watching late night television. I first heard about it when a friend told me he’d seen me.
Are you aware that after all this time, you still have a cult following?
I’m not sure about a cult following! But I do get recognised from time to time, usually when I least expect it, like standing at the urinal.
Can you remember the atmosphere in the studio at ABC?
Yes, the atmosphere was absolutely fantastic. The D-Generation were extremely fun to work with and made me feel really comfortable.
Did you get new-found popularity in school and with your mates after your appearance? Does that still happen today?
I don’t know about popularity but I certainly got attention. My mates are used to me popping up on TV so it doesn’t happen today.
Have you used this attention from The Late Show to get you further in your performing career?
That’s a tough question. I have been working as an actor since but I don’t think my role as Piffy has influenced any of the auditions.
What are you up to now?
Now I’m the proud owner of Central Lounge Bar & Dining in Surfers Paradise (www.centrallounge.com.au). I haven’t played the bells for a few years but I’m still entertaining people every day with delicious food and the best cocktails in town. Shameless self-promotion, I know, but it’s true! If your readers want a bit of a laugh they should check out www.chooseyourowntube.com – it’s an interactive sitcom I directed a few years ago with my brother.
Thank you heaps to Remi for taking the time to respond to the hard-hitting A Current Affair style questions laid out to him. Remi also has an official site, so check out his showreel and other works: www.remibroadway.com
Here’s the original Pot Luck performance for your viewing pleasure.
Regular visitors of this site would know of Tony Martin and author Tony Wilson occasionally pairing up on 3RRR as The Two Tones, and the odd on-air fill in on ABC774 Melbourne for Jon Fontaine. For the next 5 weeks, Tony Wilson will be filling in for the 3RRR show Spoke.
As mentioned previously, the month of April is being celerated as Capril, raising awareness of depression. Wilson decided to call up Martin to chat about the origin behind Capril (from Martin’s old Triple M radio show Get This), as well as red light camera tickets, mX and Andrew Bolt bagging. Yes, there’s even a bit of television talk. It sounds like that Martin’s obsession with The Sopranos has been fulfilled with the FX TV series Sons Of Anarchy. Think Sopranos on motorbikes.
Don’t forget to hit up Capril.org for more information.
If you do need to talk to someone about any issues, no matter how small or large they are, Lifeline is available 24/7 on 13 11 14 or SANE Australia on 1800 18 SANE (7263)
The 54th Annual TV Logie Awards are around the corner, which The D-Generation/Working Dog are regular attendees to the the awards.
The year is 1998. The Working Dog team have three successful seasons of the current affairs piss-take Frontline under their belts. The 40th Annual TV Week Logie Awards are being shown on national television, thanks to Channel 9. Season 3 of Frontline is up for 4 nominations: Most Popular Comedy Program, Most Outstanding Series, Most Outstanding Actor (Rob Sitch), Most Outstanding Achievement In Comedy.
The night goes on, and the bubbles flow. Working Dog win 2 awards out of the 4 (Most Outstanding Achievement In Comedy, Most Outstanding Series), but the announcement is further into the night. When winning, you’ve had a few drinks under your belt… and here’s the result.
*hic!*
The 2012 54th TV Week Annual Logie Awards – Sunday, April 15 at Crown Casino and broadcast on Channel 9.
As 
