Another Paul article (with pic) about the Great Debate... a
Winning is everything
By Marcus Casey | August 03, 2006 12:00am | Article from:
IT SEEMS like multitalented entertainer Paul McDermott - actor, singer, writer, TV host and director - has been around forever.
Well, from the mid to late 1980s at least, when he was one of the Doug Anthony All Stars, the genre-straddling song, dance and comedy trio.
He's done a whole heap since, including
Good News Week, Strictly Dancing and comedy festivals, but says he doesn't get out much any more.
"I very rarely get up on stage these days. I'm getting a bit old. I have calcium deficient bones which are snapping with age, so it's not good to get me out of the house - I like it here in the cave," he jokes from his Bondi home.
He has been concentrating on making short films of late, but in April did venture back on to the stage during the Melbourne Comedy Festival.
McDermott took part in its annual Great Debate, which was recorded and airs on Sunday night.
The topic was That Coming First Is All That Matters and McDermott argued the affirmative, along with Irish comedian Jason Byrne and comedy festival veteran and diva Jean Kitson. Opposing them were UK comic Stephen K. Amos, Rove McManus and Melbourne radio host Michelle Laurie.
"I first did one of these debates back in about 1994 after the All Stars came back from London but I hadn't done one for a number of years, so I thought it would be fun, and it was," McDermott says.
"It's always good fun and Stephen K. Amos is a brilliant performer to watch.
"Jason Byrne is absolutely extraordinary and Jean Kitson is always glorious. And of course Rove and Michelle - it goes without saying a fun night was had by all."
The perennial problem with televised debates is that what television viewers see is not what the live audience got. It went on for more than two hours, but only about 70 minutes will air, minus the ads.
"It's a terrible thing," McDermott says. "A lot of our arguments were cut to ribbons so please don't think less of us - it's the cruelty of editing.
"I went for 20 minutes and was only meant to talk for three. I hadn't edited myself in preparing and normally I do, so I rambled on like a madman for a while. I was also the first speaker, and you don't get a lot to bounce off, apart from the physical abnormalities of the opposing team.
"I do love a rebuttal because you can free form that a lot more.
"Here's an idea - we should have debates overnight like they do with
Big Brother (Up Late). Just turn the cameras on at midnight and let us go to dawn. Some cerebral pursuits at night, rather than genital displays."
While McDermott has been concentrating on making his second short film for film festival distribution, he's also been watching a lot of TV and is impressed by the quality of the current crop of American programs.
"I'm enjoying taking the backseat and watching TV," he says.
"There's a lot of good post-Simpsons irony and satire like
Family Guy, My Name Is Earl, Scrubs, Arrested Development and of course we still have the always winner in
The Simpsons."
Picture with the article:
