A leg to stand on - an article about The Weekly Wrap - MOSH

Danny Boy · 16-09-2002, 07:33 PM

This was published in [i:post_uid2]The Age[/i:post_uid2] on Monday September 16 2002 in The Culture section.

[b:post_uid2]A leg to stand on[/b:post_uid2]: In a town where comedy is no laughing matter, professional training for comics is vital. [i:post_uid2]The Weekly Wrap[/i:post_uid2] has been set up for that purpose, reports Tim Harris.

Vaya Pashos and Jo Sinanan, friends since early high school, had long had an interest in live comedy. But their exposure to it as teenagers was limited - the licensed premises where most Melbourne comedy takes place were out of bounds.

At 18, the women went to [i:post_uid2]The Weekly Wrap[/i:post_uid2] at the Comic's Lounge in North Melbourne, a show which was to shape their involvement with comedy.

The Pashos and Sinanan double act began after Sinanan sang with the choir that backed acclaimed stand-up Adam Hills in his 2000 Comedy Festival Gala spot. As Pashos recalls, "We'd been seeing shows and meeting comics at the festival. Then Jo said, 'We could actually do this ourselves'."

Last year, they started performing song parodies at the few venues where untried comics could get a spot, and ran into a problem encountered by many new comics - stand-up comedy doesn't usually offer on-the-job-training.

An aspiring comic generally learns the business by watching other acts and grabbing as much stage-time as possible. The downside is that the time spend honing existing material to perfection int he five-minute spots means little opportunity to develop anything new.

For a new act willing to take the plunge, there are chances for greater exposure in the Comedy Festival, the Fringe Festival and the Raw Comedy competition, a national event run during the Comedy Festival. The first two are risky: performers may learn a lot from a festival show, but usually at a financial loss.

Raw Comedy gives new performers a bigger profile if they make it through to the latter heats, but, again, they are pushing the same lot of material with limited room for it to evolve.

Stand-up comic Nick Venus had an answer. Last year, Venus launched [i:post_uid2]The Weekly Wrap[/i:post_uid2], "an avenue for teaching new comedians what is expected of a professional comic across all media". With fellow seasoned stand-ups Adrian Calear and Matt Elsbury, he created the current-affairs-based show, in segment format, with a rotating cast.

Current affairs is a mich trickier basis for comedy than "a funny thing happened to me the other day". It presupposes to an extent that the audience is tuned into the topic. If information has to be presented, it must be without getting in the way of the comedy. As Venus says, the nature of the show forces the performers to "keep it punchy, keep it current, and write every week".

Each segment starts as a working script. [i:post_uid2]The Wrap[/i:post_uid2] "executive" of Venus, Calear and Elsbury offers the writers advice, helping them get to the essence of what they want to say and deliver it effectively.

[i:post_uid2]The Wrap's[/i:post_uid2] guidelines for performers are simple: be punctual, be topical, be funny. Indulgence is frowned upon, as is reliance on the tried and tested. With fresh content every week and a quick lead-time, [i:post_uid2]The Wrap[/i:post_uid2] fills another role: TV production simulator. It is Australia's only real equivalent to America's [i:post_uid2]Second City[/i:post_uid2] and [i:post_uid2]Saturday Night Live[/i:post_uid2] troupes.

Tony O'Sullivan, manager of the Comic's lounge, has a long-term interest in nurturing comedy talent. It was one of his aims in establishing the Errol Street venue after moving from the legendary comedy pub the Sar and Garter in South Melbourne.

"The Lounge is there to help unify the industry, and to establish the idea that everyone is a part of it, new and old alike," he says. He sees [i:post_uid2]The Wrap[/i:post_uid2] as a part of that process. Importantly, the newer faces in [i:post_uid2]The Wrap[/i:post_uid2] are also learning what five minutes means - five minutes of real time rather than 15. The benefits gained from the show have already been paid off for some [i:post_uid2]Wrap[/i:post_uid2] alumni.

[i:post_uid2]Boiling Point[/i:post_uid2], Michael Chamberlin and Charlie Pickering's successful Comedy Festival show, grew out of their work with [i:post_uid2]The Wrap[/i:post_uid2]. Pickering has since been picked up by Triple J, and Chamberlin has appeared on [i:post_uid2]Rove Live[/i:post_uid2]. Danny McGin;ay now has a regular slot on the FOX FM breakfast show.

Everyone involved relishes the opportunity to work with other people and the challenge of coming up with fresh material - and there are individual payoffs.

According to Pashos, she and Sinanan "found it hard to do anything non-musical" until they joined [i:post_uid2]The Wrap[/i:post_uid2]. It has now taken them beyond song parody into realms they'll explore in their own Fringe Festival show, [i:post_uid2]Vaya and Jo are ... Lame![/i:post_uid2].

For Richard McKenzie, [i:post_uid2]The Wrap[/i:post_uid2] placed him in an unexpected position - working as a team with his brother Adam. Both stand-ups and used to bouncing material off each other, they had never worked as a duo. The McKenzies present a regular segment and Richard finds, to his surprise, that the collaboration is not two people speaking by more "one voice coming from two bodies."

Courtney Hocking already has one Comedy Festival season behind her. Her usual stand-up has a topical slant, but she appreciates the chance to add depth to what she does, rather than simply being funny.

Props maker and costumier extraordinaire Scott Pollard enjoys the opportunity to stage production numbers with people prepared to learn their lines, an opportunity not found elsewhere.

After growing quietly on Monday nights, [i:post_uid2]The Weekly Wrap[/i:post_uid2] has moved closer to a wider audience with a shift to Wednesdays. And if its performers go boyand and reach the big time, they should be ready for it.

Edited By Danny Boy on Sep. 16 2002 at 18:45

Danny Boy · 16-09-2002, 07:48 PM

[b:post_uid0]The accompanying picture:[/b:post_uid0] Yes, it is poor quality because I have a poor quality scanner, but the people in it are - Nick Venus, Rob Lloyd, Adam McKenzie, Richard McKenzie on his brother's shoulders.