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http://www.theage.com.au/news/arts/green-gags/2008/03/13/1205126112674.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1

Saving the Earth is no laughing matter, except in the eyes of a comedian, writes Joanne Brookfield.
It's one thing to see a film and feel moved by it; it's quite another thing to start a movement. But this is exactly what happened to British stand-up comedian Mark Watson when he saw An Inconvenient Truth, Al Gore's call-to-action climate-change documentary.
"It wasn't like having a revelation from God but it was kind of a semi-revelation from a very influential human," says Watson, who is in Australia to perform his show, Can I Briefly Talk To You About The Point Of Life, of his conversion to the climate-change cause.
Despite all the media coverage about global warming in recent years, none of it had been particularly meaningful to Watson. "So much of the public face of environmentalism is about polar bears, melting ice or abstractions of nature, which, if you are a city boy, is just one among hundreds of other equally worthy causes," the 28-year-old says. "It's more difficult to get close to nature in Britain, really, because it's a small country and it's quite hard to get away from other people, so it's quite easy to go through life without ever connecting with nature."
Gore's film, however, made it personal and specific and that's what connected with Watson. "The film does make you feel quite empowered in a way. At least it makes you feel like it's worth doing stuff," he says. "But yet, having thought all of that, my second thought was 'I'm crap at all of this, I don't really understand any of it'." Watson says he took some comfort in the realisation he wouldn't be the only person to feel this way - that is, keen to help but not quite sure what to do. "So I thought it would be nice to have a green movement that wasn't too hard-core and that rather than getting bogged down by the hopelessness of it all, just try to sort of 'have a fair go', as they say in this country."
So, a couple of weeks after seeing the film in London, Watson's online green movement, Crap At The Environment, was born. Through a MySpace site, plus blogs, events, stunts, personal experiments and so forth, the idea is to replace some of the tedium and intimidation associated with environmentalism and replace it with fun, helping those who are "crap at the environment" to become good at it.
Watson was adjusting his life to greener ways, continuing to tour as a comedian and working on his Crap At the Environment campaigns, which include a book. Due for Australian release in April, it chronicles his attempts at doing good and similarly encouraging others. "It's a cross between that, charting my personal experiences and also an amateur's guide to the subject," says the prolific Watson, who already has two published novels to his credit. Then, in a twist of events that he never imagined, which involved Melbourne and the Australian Conservation Foundation, Watson actually met the man who had inspired him in the first place. And studied with him.
Last September, Watson was among 150 volunteers in Melbourne who Al Gore personally trained to be climate-change speakers. "It was extremely engrossing," he says of Gore's workshop. "It was two to three days of hard-core lectures about environmental science so it could have been incredibly boring, but he does have a way of making it interesting and he's a very, very compelling speaker."
Gore, slide by slide, talked them through his lecture, so the popular stand-up now has the responsibility of presenting his own, not-for-profit climate-change lectures. Watson, who has been warmly embraced by local comedy audiences and was nominated for a Barry Award in 2006, describes Melbourne as his "spiritual home", which is why he has chosen to present his first Earth Summit here as part of the Comedy Festival.
Though he's obliged to keep to the facts, as a comedian, Watson, who shies away from terms such as "activist" and "eco-warrior", will take a few liberties with the material. "I have to maintain a delicate balance between having enough command of the facts to make it educational, but still making sure there's one or two laughs, so it's a big challenge."
But, as he says, he's up for it. Maybe he's not so crap at the environment after all.
Mark Watson's Earth Summit is presented by the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, in association with the Australian Conservation Foundation, on Saturday, March 29, at 4pm. Main hall of the Melbourne Town Hall. All tickets $10. Book through Ticketmaster 1300 660 013 or comedyfestival.com.au




HOW TO BE LESS CRAP AT THE ENVIRONMENT
Although very much committed to a greener way of living, Mark Watson admits it can be difficult at times "because you are constantly backsliding. It's like any new regime, it's never easy." The answer, he says, is to focus on the small things that are easy to achieve and which will also make a difference. He suggests:
- Using public transport where possible or walking. "Especially in Australia where it's so nice. If I lived here I'd never drive anywhere."
- Switching everything off at the plug, rather than leaving appliances in stand-by mode, using energy-saving light globes and going outside to play sport rather than watching TV.
- Using a microwave: "They use much less energy than a proper oven."
- Looking for locally sourced and produced stuff and engaging the services of environmentally sound businesses. For example, Watson's comedy-show posters were made by a printer who uses recycled paper and organic ink.
- Watson has stopped flying within Britain when he tours his shows, using buses or trains instead, and when travelling between festivals here does the same. "I went from Adelaide to Melbourne by bus. I really enjoyed it. Look for things like that, where you can make a trip out of it."
Watson acknowledges that we're all time-poor, so while we might not be able to do everything, there's always something you can do. "If we all do tiny things, they will add up," he says.
See www.myspace.com/crapattheenvironment