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Fan
Questions, Micallef Answers from a bygone era On a previous,
now defunct Micallef website, Shaun answered several fan questions
between 1999 and 2000. And
hey, what do you know......now they are here! So quit reading this
introductory guff and get to the good stuff….or just read the q &
a below if you prefer. There’s
even some piping up from Gary on one! But how DO you
spell "McGhan/McGahan," Shaun? Shaun: It's
"McGhan". The editor who used to do the graphics and titles on
Full Frontal insisted on spelling it "McGahan" despite my
objections. He also did the graphic for 'Australian Nightly Network
News' as 'Australian Nighty Network News'. The fool. Chelsea of
Brisbane, asks: Shaun:
Favourite character - Milo. No lines to learn and I get to destroy
things.
Shaun:
Injuries - none. But I once gashed Kitty Flanagan's leg during Milo Does
Ballet when I threw her out of frame and she missed the gym mats.
Kitty's fault not mine.
Shaun:
Probably. But nothing is certain in the vague and amorphous world of TV.
If it does go on it will not be filmed before July 2000 owing to
Seachange 3 and Something In The Air (a new ABC Soap) occupying the
studios. The third series will be quite different from the other two.
More surreal. It'll probably be the last one. Look for a new sit-com
"Welcher and Welcher" which might be happening.
Shaun: We are
discussing a 3rd series with the ABC and one of the episodes is to be
funded by a UK network for screening over there. This will be skewed for
the UK market and may lead to sales of the other shows. Whether this
actually happens is in the lap of the Gods and assorted executive
producers.
Shaun: I would
write about a third of them on my own. I would co-write another quarter
with Gary. He would do another third by himself. Although we read and
offer suggestions on each others material. We have a couple of other
writers who come up with quickies, ideas and other short sketches.
They'd write about a sixteenth. And the cast would come up with stuff
too - let's say that's a tenth of Gary's third. So as a percentile.. I
can't work this out. Drinking vessels? My idea. We started it in the
First Series though. I first asked for some water and Francis gives me a
bag of goldfish in episode 3.
Shaun: More
David McGhan? Mmmm. Not sure about that. He might have done his dash.
McCaffrie may get his way...
Shaun: Gary
McCaffrie - my writing partner and friend since our days at Uni. He
first encouraged me to write and perform and got me my job in Full
Frontal. That's him as 'Person Of The Week" in the sketch before
the domino record attempt. Do Gary and I ever disagree? Often. He hates
David McGhan. He got me to stop doing Fabio and Milo which probably
wasn't such a bad thing. But I do like David McGhan and just sort of
snuck the sketches past him until it was too late and we'd already built
the set. Generally though if one of us doesn't think something is up to
it it's out. He does trust me to make some things funny in performance
though - like the Tilting Wine Cellar sketch and Spiffington Manse. They
actually read very unfunny. It's all in the delivery and it's good to
allow some sketches like that into the show.
Shaun: Obscure
Jokes - Someone always gets them (as you did) but we try and do a few
things at once so there's always another joke for someone who might not
get the reference.
Shaun: Myron
was a salute to "The Red And The Blue" an Italian pixillated
series which was on TV in the 70's. It wasn't as minimalist as our
effort. Gary and I filmed ours ourselves in our office. We used a
digital camera which made it very easy. We had a little white cyclorama
made - which you can see gets grubbier and grubbier with every
succeeding Myron. The signature tune was inspired by "Pingu"
although it hasn't ended up sounding much like it. The lyrics represent
my own faltering schoolboy French.
Shaun: Best
Of...and Influences - Not much chance we'll see a Best Of video as the
ABC don't seem to think it'll sell well. I have in fact already edited a
Best Of from the first series and it's just sitting in the archives.
Write to the ABC demanding its release. As for influences - I guess
Python is the big one. The Goon Show. Peter Cook and Dudley Moore. Woody
Allen...would be others.
Shaun: I
enjoyed the experience of making the World Around Him Special and wanted
to try for a series. Channel 7 passed on it so we pitched it to the ABC
with a few changes. The special was pretty much the prototype for the
series.
Shaun: If I
Could Go Back In Time...? I'd change a lot of stuff. Everything can be
improved as far as I'm concerned. Some things were just bad ideas. Some
performances were clumsy or beyond me. If I could back I'd probably be
tinkering forever. Best just to erase the whole lot and start again.
Shaun:
Strangely enough I had not really ever considered this until your
question. The writing is a hard slog and I like it less and less as I
get older. I'll do almost anything to avoid it. Performing I do enjoy
very much, particularly when it works. But I really do miss performing
for a real audience. Studio audiences are very supportive but it's not
quite the same as when they've paid to see you and it's an occassion for
everybody (including me). I do love getting a laugh and it's not quite
the same as something I've written getting a laugh when someone else
performs it. I get a kick from it but it's a bit like watching someone
else open a present you've bought for them. All a bit vicarious. The
editing is the most intellectually satisfying and is a vital part of the
process. But sitting in a dark room for two weeks is not at all healthy.
Shaun: Myron -
he'll be back but his budget will be bigger. We might have sets and
costumes.
Shaun: The
ratings boffins tell me my demographic is very wide. 15-65 (rather like
a Mattel game) but the majority are in the middle aged category.
Personally I think the majority demographic depends on the time slot and
day the programmers give us. Last year when we were on a Monday our
majority demographic was in the 25-35 category. Go figure. They also
tell me I appeal equally to men as women which is apparently unusual. My
target audience at the moment are therefore bisexual pensioners who stay
in of a Friday. None of this actually makes any difference to what we
put in the show. We can only write what we think is funny and I can only
perform in a way that is natural to me. Whether people like it or not is
up to them. I do try for accessability - there's no point in being too
insular with humour. Being insular is usually a sign that you're not
terribly confident about whether you're funny or not. Most comedians go
through this phase in their 20's. I know I did. But it all gets back to
an answer I gave to one of the other questions about in-jokes. You try
and work on as many levels as possible. Some people respond to Milo
falling through a wall, others get the fact that sometimes when he
answers questions he just describes the plots to old films (Citizen Kane
and On The Waterfront to name but two). I like both aspects. But
characters like McGhan and Milo have a limited shelf life. There's no
point repeating yourself, as I've found out a few times. So - in answer
to your question, I guess I don't aim for any group at all. It's a mass
audience as far as I'm concerned. Everyone in the audience is different
and you've just got to try and bring as many together as possible so
that they laugh at the same time at more or less the same thing. You
bring them together with character and plot and then give them the gag.
But people enjoy different aspects of the journey on the way to the gag
(even if it's about how your characters are dressed).
Shaun - No, I
left because I was a bit tired of doing FF. I wanted to do something
else. Gary and I wrote a pilot for a science fiction puppet sit-com
which Channel 7 made and passed on. As we were writing it the ABC
expressed interest in wanting a sketch comedy show that wasn't like FF.
I pitched one and it got through. The fact of the matter though is that
the show is very much like a special I did for Channel 7 in 1996.
Shaun - The
opening titles for the 2nd series were made up of stuff that we decided
not to use in the show. There are three shots we recorded especially -
me talking to the ghost, me in drag, and the vase getting smashed by the
light.
Shaun - Glenn
Robbins asked me if I was interested. I had known Glenn since the time I
first started writing for the Jimeoin TV show. (Glenn got me my
first job doing voice overs for that show.) I was a little nervous about
appearing live as myself. I much prefer being dead and someone else. The
nerves have eased as I have appeared on the show more and more. Working
Dog are a fine bunch of coves and go out of their way to support our
show.
Shaun - Mmmm.
Wait until you see the performance, I'm not sure it's all that dramatic.
It's no Rain Man, let me tell you. Chelsea
asks: Shaun --
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