Gud forgive him
Sydney Morning Herald 06/06/2003
Paul McDermott knows not what he does. But hopefully he will when Gud opens next week, reports Bonnie Malkin.
GUD
Where The Basement, 29 Reiby Place, Circular Quay
When Tuesday and Wednesday, 9.30pm
How much $25
More information 9251 2797
The show Gud has proved itself to be a success on the entertainment circuit.
Part stand-up, part cabaret and part social parody, it deals with some of life's most important issues. This year it scooped the Age Critics Award for Most Outstanding Show at the Melbourne Comedy Festival.
Yet Paul McDermott, Gud's leading man and founder, says the show, cobbled together by McDermott and a couple of mates, seemed at first like a bad idea.
"At the end of Good News Week [in 2001], Mick Moriarty and I were sitting down chatting and he suggested getting a show together, which I thought was stupid," he says. "Then I came around to the idea."
McDermott and Moriarty set about writing the show and trialling it on unsuspecting crowds.
"The first show we ever did was at Sydney University," says McDermott.
"It came together in a couple of weeks and was an absolute disaster. Surprisingly, out of the fires something good happened, and by our second and third shows we were fine."
However, Gud still needed a name for the Melbourne Comedy Festival and entries were almost closed.
"One night the Grammys were on and we saw everyone thanking God in their American accents," says McDermott. "That's how we came up with the name Gud, so we could take all the glory."
After the 2002 Melbourne Comedy Festival and a break of eight months, McDermott, Moriarty and keyboard player Cameron Bruce took Gud on tour.
"It was meant to be a warm-up for the Melbourne Festival in 2003, but we ended up just using old stuff which was quite popular," says McDermott.
The troupe got their act together in time for this year's festival, leading to further acclaim and The Age award.
"Last year we focused on the issue of family, and then finished up with something on September 11," says McDermott. "This year at the festival we did stuff on advertising, business and terrorism."
And what can people expect in Sydney?
"So far we haven't written anything since then for the Sydney shows," says McDermott, perhaps tongue in cheek, "so audiences can expect the same as earlier in the year."