Shaun Micallef
By Simon Martin
The Mercury
October 2004

It's been a very quiet year for Shaun Micallef.

He was last seen on our screens on Micallef Tonight when on August 4, 2003,h e bid us goodbye with his standard phrase "See you in the monkey house, Australia" but unknown to all the viewers, he wasn't to return.

After only 13 episodes, Micallef Tonight was axed.

Micallef Tonight was an odd show. It had a wheel segment where no answer was incorrect so every player won.

He often made fun of his guests, for example in the first episode, while Danni Minogue performed her new single, Shaun was watching Enough Rope with Andrew Denton on his monitor.

It certainly wasn't to everybody's taste but it was good to see him back on the TV. Unfortunately, it didn't last.

So where is he now? He's just released his first book called Smithereens which consists of sketches, articles he wrote for newspapers, journal entries and a play. For those expecting a mainstream comedy book, this one is not for you but for those who love the quirkiness of Shaun Micallef, there are now 282 pages of his brilliance.

His last TV success was with The Micallef Program which later became The Micallef Programme for the second series after a letter to the ABC from a viewer informed him of the misspelling of programme. As he said: "You don't find that kind of pedantry on the commercial stations". Then in the third series, it became The Micallef Pogram. If you are going to make spelling errors do it properly.

Shaun Micallef is a very unique entertainer. He only started in the comedy industry in 1993 when, at age 31, he decided to give up on being a lawyer in motor insurance. Within a year he was writing for Jimeon's TV show and by 1994 he was a cast member of the easily forgettable show Full Frontal, though his sketches always seemed to stand out as the best.

When The Micallef Program aired in 1998 on the ABC he was able to take full control (with forever co-writer Gary McCaffrie) and was finally able to show off his unique brand of comedy. Since then, he has been one of the busiest performers around.

He's won 2 Logies (The Micallef P(r)ogram(me) - 1999, 2001), starred in films such as Bad Eggs and The Honourable Wally Norman, played a main role in Seachange, hosted a tonight show, written and performed in a sitcome (Welcher & Welcher) and co-wrote a telemovie called Blackjack as well as produced its three spin-offs.

For those who are not familiar with Shaun Micallef or for those who had forgotten about him after his year-long absence, now's the time to get exposed (or re-exposed) to his humour. The full second season of The MiCallef Programme is now out on a 2DVD set and Smithereens is on the shelves of most bookstores so if you'r ein need of a good laugh, I highly recomment both.