Charlie Pickering Articles/Reviews

[dancingcornflakes]

JUMPING FOR J

Making people laugh comes naturally to Charlie Pickering, a new voice on Triple J.

It's why rejecting a career as a lawyer to pursue a dream wasn't too difficult for the 24-year-old.

Pickering graduated from Monash and was offered a job with a legal firm, but he opted for a job as a stand-up comedian.

He performed with the group, Enter the Datsun, and set up his own production company. It wasn't long before the fast-paced world of radio appealed.

After appearences on Triple J's breakfast program, Pickering got his big break - to co-host the youth network's drive program alongside Nicole Fossati.

"I can't imagine anything further from law than what I'm doing now," he says.

"But I'm very, very happy. Being a working comedian is the best job in the world."

Pickering is quick to point out there were many other budding comedians among his fellow law students at Monash.

"I have to say most of the people I went to uni with were absolutly insane.
They all enjoyed life, so I think it's a generalisation to say lawyers are boring. There are some interesting ones out there."

Music fans may recognise Pickering from hi appearance in a video clip of You Can't See by Groove Terminator.

He firmly believes he's found his calling in life.

As well as his role at Triple J, he has been preparing to perform with Michael Chamberlin in a two-man show, Boiling Point, at the Melbourne Comedy Festival.

The play is a political satire along the lines of TV's Frontline.

But there is no doubt Pickering loves being behind a studio mike.

"Once I become comfortable as a comedian on stage, radio felt very natural. Also, it's really personal.

Nevertheless, Pickering admits his first full-time radio gig is not all jokes.

"Behind the scenes, there has been a lot of work figuring out what the hell is going on.
But it's been a lot of fun and all part of learning how to do radio."

Pickering says he is not big on blokey humour or crass humour, but there are not many subjects he regards as off-limits.

"If something is funny, I'll do it. I've always had the attitude that I'll make the joke and pay the consequences later."

[b:post_uid0]Charlie and Nicole, 3pm to 6pm weekdays, Triple J 107.5 FM[/b:post_uid0]



hope this is ok.

dee cee.

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http://www.theage.com.au/articles/20...544538698.html

Trip through time with a young love
Reviewer Andrew Murfett
April 1, 2004

Charlie Pickering is going great guns.

Charlie Pickering's Revolver
Regent Room, Melbourne Town Hall,
until April 17

Local comic (and former lawyer) Charlie Pickering's new show Revolver begins with Pickering sitting in kindergarten next to his four-year-old fiancee and tells the story of their separate paths.

Revolver amusingly diverts into rants on the likes of 1980s TV classics like Young Talent Time and Webster; then Captain Cook and Greek mythology. Pickering also relies heavily on clever slide-shows and even a short film.

Yet, unfortunately, Pickering is another local comedian guilty of some cliched anti-American material. Maybe Pickering should check out American Maria Bamford's acerbic show?

Thankfully, Pickering manages to charismatically (and almost bashfully) bring his show full circle with a reconciliation and the same song that charmingly opened Revolver - the White Stripes' We're Going To Be Friends.

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http://www.dbmagazine.com.au/325/f-i...ickering.shtml

Charlie Pickering.
Having woken up at 5am to catch a rickety little plane from Wagga Wagga, Charlie Pickering was more than eager to divulge anything and everything that entered his ever churning mind. "It was a twin propeller plane and you know, I still don't trust them. My only hard and fast rule is nothing with one engine ‘cause if one goes, well... if the engine did go I think I'd jump out and flap my arms, I mean, sure it might not work but it's better to die trying. 'Charlie Pickering - the man that almost flied'."

It's at this point I mention his minor grammatical fault. "Did I say 'flied'? What the hell was that? That's just shows massive gaps in my education, my parents paid good money for that."

Pickering was originally a "lawyer thingy" after studying at Uni and I suggested that moonlighting may be the way to prevent this knowledge going to waste. "You're the first person who's made it viable. I could be some kind of maverick, motorbike riding judge by night, comedian by day - I go out and just unleash a bit of justice."

So why did he give the law side of things away in the first place? "People would die. I'm easily distracted and being responsible for people's lives is a bit of a bore. I'd rather do something trivial like comedy," Pickering answers.

But don't be mistaken, Pickering doesn't just do comedy, he does 'jazz comedy'. "It's not bound by form," he explains. "There's no music just a lot of jazz attitude. If you come at me with structures I'll say 'Hey, you can chew on your structure sandwich, what I'm bringing is jazz'. You could interpret that as 'You haven't written anything' but that's the thing about jazz, it's not about perfection.

"I might scat during the show, it's my new hobby. Well, my new hobby is talking about how my new hobby is scatting. Adelaide could be the launching pad for doing a gig entirely of scat. There'd be a range of tempo and key changes and then I'd do the first ever jazz scat version of Barbara Streisand's The Way We Were. There have been scientists that say it can't be done, but I'm willing to give it a shot."

Along with his jazz vibe, Pickering also plans to incorporate a bit of Greek Mythology and urban myths as well as modern government and media mythology. But surely this combination of jazz comedy and Greek Mythology has all been done before? "A lot of people look at it and go 'It's comedy by numbers, surely you can't bring anything new to the form' but I can, and that's scat."

Amongst all the nonsense Pickering also admits that he loves his job and the opportunity to make people's lives a bit better for 10minutes. "Every show will have something unique to offer the audience, I just follow the vibe," Pickering chuckles. "This is the silliest interview I think I've ever done."

Cassie Hilditch
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http://www.stateart.com.au/sota/revi...t.asp?fid=2525
Charlie Pickering
Regent Room, Melbourne Town Hall
Until 17 April

Charlie Pickering is the thinking man’s comic. Currently a Triple J afternoon announcer, ex-lawyer and stand up comedian, Pickering lives life like there are no maxims.

In this show he gives us a unique view of Greek Mythology of old and confronts modern urban myths. Shooting it from the hip he tackles current global politics, Captain Cook, Webster, James Brown, Latin and much more.

He takes us from the premise of “anything is possible” – don’t we just love young love – to “anything is provable” as he scientifically proves that Cyndi Lauper is responsible for the death of 7200 Ethiopians.

It’s like a Philosophy 101 lecture with laughs and a love story thrown in. The use of the slide show and the hilarious short film on Captain Cook probably add to this feel.

But his style is not to lecture you, rather to make you think, fact or fiction and above all to make you laugh which he does frequently.
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http://www.theage.com.au/news/Review...489342986.html
Charlie Pickering is trying to be a better man. With animation, profanity and down-low cool, the shaggy-haired, former Triple J radio host paces the stage outlining his mind, body and soul makeover.

Pickering's amiable style has many fans, but material about body image and women's magazines suggested an edgier performance.

"No one needs 409 beauty tricks," he roared, pointing to a magazine cover. "And if you do, Cosmo is not going to help you. Go to the basement; join the circus."

Unfortunately, flat response to flat singing and tired gags about TV evangelists and gangster rappers thanking the Almighty dragged down a show that hinted at something more.
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http://www.theatreguide.com.au/origi...jan_comedy.pdf.
CHARLIE PICKERINGCharlie Pickering’s opening laughs came while he paced around the small stage, as if looking for the funniest spot---not that he needed to. His recollections of his travels to the eccentric fishing town of Pt Lincoln and the even more bizarre mining town of Kalgoorlie were hilarious. And he had everyoneenthralled as he recounted his attempts to fill a Hotmail inbox. This very funny man also gave us his thoughts on his alternative career prospects, and on God’s financial arrangements. Pickering is on everyday of the festival, and well worth seeing

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http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/r...?id=1764832005

Charlie Pickering - Betterman

BEN JUDGE
GILDED BALLOON TEVIOT (VENUE 14)

High Point: Bizarre criteria for entering heaven

Low Point: Someone at the Gilded Balloon really needs to sort out some air conditioning

Snapshot: One man's quest for self improvement

Snapshot in the style of a crap reviewer's quote on a poster: Better get a ticket!


Charlie Pickering wants to be a better man - this is welcome news because as a comedian he's already pretty damn good and any improvement he can make should to turn him into a big star.

"Betterman" came about because of one day that changed Pickering's life. After having his hotmail account storage space increased to 250MB he wondered how many emails it would take to fill it up. This led him to set up a battle of email auto-replies between a virtual George Foreman and a virtual Muhammed Ali. After a day of Dave Gorman-style self amusement, he decided he was wasting his life.

So he took the decision to become a bettter man in in body, mind and soul. Ultimately, he hopes to build a better world.

Each of Body, Mind, Soul and World is dealt with separately. Pickering gently takes us through his exploits, beginning with his efforts to improve his own body at the gym. To improve his mind, he's developed a philosophical theory on travelators and youth which he hopes will make it into an encyclopaedia of really clever things, thus emulating Descartes.

He really gets going with the soul, tricking us into "loving the Lord" and describing how he found god through monkeys. He finishes off with hoping for a better world, dewlling on the mating ritual of whales and ending up with Osama bin Laden questioning his sexuality in a cave in Tora Bora.

In between each segment of the show he introduces strange audio-visual interludes in the form of animations from Marta Tesoro and Thomas Pullar, reminiscent of sketches from BBC3's "Monkey Dust". One or two don't quite work, but this is a minor gripe in an otherwise excellent show. There is even time for a commercial break, plugging Pickering's "merchandise". But no boring DVDs, CDs or books for this comic: he has invented the "CP Trouser Solution" - which is, in effect, a belt - even if he says it isn't

If all of this effort at physical, mental and spiritual improvement sounds a bit earnest, it’s not. His material is excellent and his delivery and tone is spot on.

He's obviously working hard off stage, too. He'd been out doing his own flyering - which turned out to have drawn in a disappointingly small proportion of the audience - and he even made it to the exit before the audience to hand out badges.

He deserves success for his efforts, and on this showing, he'll get it. He's already won awards Down-Under and it's only a matter of time before he does so here too.

[Gutter Monkey]

Charlie scored the front cover of the Melbourne Times this week (with a little bit of Michael in the background) and there's a 2 page article about the state of Melbourne comedy. I'll see if I can stand it. There's no way I'm typing it out ...

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http://www.theage.com.au/news/arts/a...e#contentSwap1A turn up for the books

April 17, 2006

Yes he can: "Storytelling is my favourite thing in the world," says Charlie Pickering.
Photo: Marina Oliphant

Comedian Charlie Pickering has decided to lay his life story on the line. By Michael Dwyer.

Your first sentence is always the hardest.

Saint Augustine donated his to God. Benjamin Franklin went the "Dear Son" route. Billy Thorpe took a big hit and started babbling: "Morpheeno … Morpheeno … Si hee hee … Moorpheeennno!" Aspiring autobiographer Charlie Pickering is aware of the myriad options. He's also a keen judge of their merits. In the throes of research for his one-man comedy festival show, Auto, he's a walking anthology of autobiographies, ranging from the tragic to the sublime. He pulls one of his favourites from his bag and reads aloud.

"They liked me." The opening line of Sammy Davis jnr's Yes I Can is a pithy affirmation that's bound to appeal to a fellow performer. But there's another dog-eared paperback in his bag. He opens Blues All Around Me by B.B. King and reads the first line with disbelief.

"I struggle with words," he snickers. "That really sets you up for disappointment, doesn't it? "I love this book, because I think it's the worst autobiography I've ever read. I love B.B. King and his music, but it's basically a book about how much he likes to sleep with women.

"So this one taught me that anyone can try writing about their life, and even the greatest can fail. As long as I give it my best shot, I can't possibly be as bad as B.B. King."

Auto is one man's quest to tell the story of his life. Although the name Charlie Pickering already has a curious ring of significance, he's not terribly famous. Sure, last year he was nominated as Perrier's best newcomer at the Edinburgh Fringe and named best international guest by the New Zealand Comedy Guild for his 2005 show, Betterman, but the Melbourne comedian believes a great autobiography has little to do with perceived greatness per se.

"Storytelling is my favourite thing in the world, and I believe everyone has a story that's worth telling," he says. "It shouldn't be about, ‘The Spice Girls are really famous, and if I publish Geri Halliwell's autobiography in the next six months I can make a million pounds'. It's not about fame and numbers and market research and opportunism; it's about having a story to tell and making it a story worth telling."

As a case in point, or perhaps pointlessness, Pickering mentions The Rat by star Hawthorn rover John Platten. The 1987 Brownlow Medallist's idea of a classic story is teammate "Dipper" DiPierdomenico farting during a pre-match meditation session.


He's more effusive about Lolly Scramble by fellow Australian comedian Tony Martin. "It's before the world of TV, before anything big happened to him, and that's the good stuff - it's what makes people who they are," he says.

This is the stuff Pickering and his director, Alan Brough, have mined and sifted over countless hours of monologues and dialogue behind closed doors. Brough is "not so much a ghostwriter as a ghost editor", the comedian says, an invaluable sounding board for his raw material.

He also steered him towards a key influence: the late American actor and raconteur Spalding Gray. Best known for his 1985 collection Swimming to Cambodia, Gray's dynamic conversational style suggested a tone that got Auto rolling. "I thought (the show) was gonna be a bit like Samuel Beckett's Krapp's Last Tape," Pickering says. "Alan said, ‘I reckon it's more Spalding Gray'. I read his stories and the way he approached storytelling and thought, ‘That's it'. It all fell into place."

But where to start? The agonising search for a suitable opening line is the device that propels Pickering's theatrical monologue from one carefully crafted true story to another.

He doffs his cap to Augustine's Apologia, the first known autobiography, from about 400AD, but he's neither religious nor self-effacing enough to open with anything such as, "Great art thou, O Lord, and greatly to be praised; great is thy power, and infinite is thy wisdom."

On the other hand, he can't go with "Her name was Bullwinkle", because Motley Crue already did that in their joint tome of 2001, The Dirt - "One of the greatest autobiographies I've ever read," Pickering enthuses.

"Generally, I prefer your Jack Kerouac/Spalding Gray/Hunter S. Thompson style. I hate it when people live an ostensibly interesting life, and the moment they decide to record it in text they become very pompous and deliberate and pious and you think, ‘Well, this clearly isn't the rogue that did all these amazing things'."

Like any decent life story, Auto took at least one radical twist on its journey. Pickering says he began the project with complete disdain for his subject. He viewed the act of autobiography as a kind of human folly that detracted from the very experience of life.

"I started off saying that all autobiographies are bullshit. I had this theory that nobody should write them, that if your life is interesting enough, keep living it and let someone else write about it. Once you hit "Print" on your life, what do you do then? Writing the end of your autobiography is the most horrifying thought ever: click ‘Save' and die.

"But then I started writing the stories of my life, and halfway through I thought everybody should write an autobiography. It's actually the most enriching experience. It makes you appreciate so much of the detail of your life, and you take on every new day looking for that detail. It makes you appreciate the present."

Far from penning a scathing comic indictment of autobiography, Pickering says, he's inadvertently begun his own.

"This show will be a book by the end of the year," he says, "but it won't be a complete autobiography.

I already have plans for another show based around storytelling, but I don't think it will ever be a single, defining work. It's more of a box-set that builds over time."

Auto is at the Victoria Hotel Boiler Room, 215 Little Collins Street, city, until May 7 (no show on Mondays). Bookings: 1300 660 013; www.comedyfestival.com.au