SHAUN MICALLEF'S ONLINE WORLD AROUND HIM                              Back        Home
	Meet Mr Confident Author: Paul Edwards Date: 02/07/2003 Words: 1062 Publication: The Age Section: Mpg Page: 12 If it all ends tomorrow, high flying comic Shaun Micallef believes he has the skill to reinvent himself.   Shaun Micallef is having the time of his life with Nine's Micallef Tonight - a throwback to Australia's classic Tonight shows. Despite its 9.30pm timeslot and being up against Shaun's friend Andrew Denton on the ABC, ratings are good. Although he pulls in more than a million viewers, Shaun is realistic about the show's long-time prospects. "Nothing lasts forever, and sooner or later the show will close," he says. "Then I'll simply grab pen and notebook and start writing another show." The prospect of starting out again clearly doesn't faze him. "I'm confident I could have something happening within six months," he says. That confidence comes across on the small screen. On television he's a show-off ... edgy, manic, full of nervous energy and bursting with cruel putdowns. But once the cameras switch off, he says he's frustratingly normal. Shaun sees himself as television's bloke next door; happy to be at home reading a book or spending time with his family. He doesn't like the high life, rarely travels unless he has to, and he's kind to animals and old people. So what makes him laugh? "I think (comic film genius) Mel Brooks said an actor playing an old lady falling down a manhole would make most people laugh. " But, he said that to make a comedy writer laugh it would have to be a real old lady. Of course, after she'd fallen, I'd rush over to help her." If the 42-year-old, former Adelaide lawyer speaks with total self-assurance, it's because his credentials are impeccable. He's one of our most in-demand writers and performers. In 1993, he quit his career as a lawyer specialising in insurance - "not many laughs there" - and moved from Adelaide to Melbourne with the encouragement of his wife Leandra, who also is a lawyer and co-owner of a cosmetics company. Shaun polished his skills writing scripts for comedies such as Big Gig and Full Frontal, wrote and performed in The Glynn Nicholas Show and Jimeoin, did a guest spot in Blue Heelers and had a longer role in Sea Change as Warwick Monro, the world's most boring man. His own show - ABC's The Micallef Program - followed, and then came an invitation to host the 2001 Logie Awards. He had helped pull in the highest ratings for seven years, then deliberately stayed away from the cameras for almost two years to work as a writer. "Money has never been the thing I pursue, which is just as well. My first gig as a comedy writer brought in around $150 a week. I'm doing a lot better than that now, but the amount is incidental as long as I can put food on the table," Shaun says. "I like to keep that lean and hungry look ... keep walking along the edge. I think I'll run out of steam for performing work at some stage and finish up behind the camera. "What we do isn't easy. Writing is hard. You have to finish the show on Monday night, then start again the following morning. There's only a small team of four writers at this stage, and I'm on the go six solid days a week. "You have to hope that what makes you laugh will make the audience laugh. Fortunately, there's a lot of humour everywhere. Like, I was in the veggie section at the supermarket and there was a sign for 'Small Grannies' on the apples. And there were two little old ladies right there. I cracked up." Shaun's style stems from his childhood comedy heroes. Jerry Lewis was one - and recently was an interview subject - together with the Marx Brothers, Goons, Laurel and Hardy, Abbott and Costello. He still admires the work of Peter Sellers, Morecombe and Wise and Dick Van Dyke. But the greatest of all, in his book, was Charlie Chaplin. "If I could pick just one person, dead or alive, to have on the show, it would be Chaplin. He was a genius, covering up enormous tragedies in his early and later life. There's so much more to him than has ever been seen. It would be wonderful to bring that out." Shaun first realised the adrenaline rush of creating laughter when he was at kindergarten. He was in a play, riding a rocking horse. "The audience was supposed to see it as a real horse," he recalls. "But when I got off I made it rock, and left it rocking. It got a laugh. That's my earliest recollection of working an audience. "For me, comedy is easier than straight dramatic acting. "I retained my interest in making people laugh through high school, and at Adelaide University I did some stage and revue work. "Then it was into law, where I spent 10 years. But it wasn't what I wanted. There is a long list of lawyers who have switched careers and I joined the line. The thing of being a lawyer - or at least one who works in court - is the performance. It works both ways ... think of the great actors who have played lawyers. "The current show is the closest thing I've done to stage work since my university days. It's becoming more freewheeling every week. I feel more confident about playing around with the written material. Maybe just a little bit like Graham Kennedy's style, although I'd never compare myself to him. "It's a shame we're up against Andrew Denton. For one thing, it means I can't watch his show live; I think he's very clever. And to some extent, we must be pinching audiences from each other, even if only in the breaks. "I haven't checked whether my contract would allow me to get him on the show, but I'd like to." The frustratingly normal Shaun Micallef is a paradox in his profession ... he doesn't drink alcohol or coffee and doesn't smoke. In his few spare moments, he likes to be with his family. The height of enjoyment would be to sit down and read a book right through. But don't drop your guard. Particularly if you're an old lady near an open manhole.