GUD Articles/Reviews

[Munchkin]

TRIO IN `HARDCORE' CABARET
The Post 02/07/2003

IT was PAUL MCDERMOTT's first romp back into Newcastle in more than a decade when he brought his award- winning show GUD to CIVIC THEATRE NEWCASTLE.
McDermott was last in town in 1991 with his comedy trio the DOUG ANTHONY ALL STARS, so his fans made sure a full house filled the theatre for his return.
Once again, McDermott returned with a musical trio and arrived on stage with THE GADFLYS' guitarist MICK MORIARTY and keyboardist CAMERON BRUCE in tow.
Those familiar with McDermott's work knew that no one was safe.
After experiencing some difficulties with the sound, the trio arrived on stage and had the audience in stitches within seconds.
Dressed in a suit, frilled shirt and red cummerbund, McDermott looked the perfect picture of ``hardcore cabaret.
'' And the songs also matched the description to a tee.
An opening number was dedicated to the Queen of Home Shopping, MOIRA from GOOD MORNING AUSTRALIA.
Others sang about women whose jeans are too tight and men who dress in women's clothing.
One unsuspecting audience member was exposed as a closet cross-dresser and dragged on stage to be serenaded by McDermott.
Audience participation was aplenty but often not deliberately initiated.
At one point, McDermott tackled a punter as she crept out of the theatre and then he took to the stage and warned ``No one f...ing leaves!'' Although the trio was often distracted with chit- chat, the show ended on a high note as they poked shameless fun at everyone from MICHAEL JACKSON to SADDAM HUSSEIN.



* * * * *

The Gud Life
xpressmag.com.au

"If you're ever on a date with a born again Christian and it's a first date ... whatever you do on that first date, never mention your interest in bestiality.

"And never point out someone's faults ... if you can poison them."

Paul McDermott shares some advice with the youth of our nation at the final performance of GUD in April 2002, for the Melbourne International Comedy Festival.

This year you can expect some of the same, only completely different. In fact, the only thing we can guarantee will be the same is how much you'll cack yourself laughing. Uncle Paul and his cronies, Mick Moriarty and Cameron Bruce, have dreamt up some new catchy tunes (last year's included odes to Ivan Milat and Mark "Chopper" Read) and targeted new topics for the mandatory jokes in-between.

When our office was connected to the roaming McDermott, he had just arrived in Newcastle and was endeavouring to pass the afternoon with a spot of shopping. "At the moment we are in one of Newcastle's finest second-hand stores, Groove Station, definitely the best store in Newcastle. If you are ever over this way, come to this store. Extraordinary.

"I'm looking for a discount at the moment but unfortunately the person who owns the store can't hear me."
Amidst McDermott's bargaining and background conversation with Moriarty and Bruce about whether they should go and get something to eat, we're somehow able to get down to the business of his newly improved three piece musical stand up show. There was an attempt to get McDermott to sing a few lines but he was put off by the lack of background instrumentation and opted for a verbal lowdown.

"There's a song, then we do a bit of a patter, a bit of a chat, Mick does a bit of stuff, I do another joke, Cameron does a joke, a very good joke at that point, it's a real room divider. And then we go into song again and then basically we continue that pattern over the course of the evening, and that's interspersed after each joke and after each song and after each dialogue between the three of us, there is often applause splintered across that, and over the entire evening there is laughter," McDermott says plainly. "And occasionally someone will storm out or come up to me and say "you dead shit" and that will stop the show for a couple of seconds and people get upset and then we resolve that. We are all about peace and tranquility now. I think in this post war state we're in, it's important to try and find peace, a peaceful means to solving problems, and that is the main focus of GUD at this time."

McDermott has played a large part in the Australian comedy scene since the late 1980s, when he was launched into the spotlight via the success of the Doug Anthony Allstars. He's written and presented a number of television programs since then, including The Big Gig, DAAS Kapital and Good News Week along with guest hosting spots for The World Comedy Tour and the Great Debate series. He says the idea behind starting a show like GUD was simply to make him wealthy, but admits, "so far it hasn't worked."
Reviewers of past GUD performances have used terms like "wicked, pacey, interactive and downright cheeky", and "abrasive and charming" - a somewhat accurate definition of McDermott's special brand of humour.

"You see, I never wanted to be abrasive; I wanted the show to be very much like Jif, and less like Ajax," McDermott explains cheekily. "Creamy and white, and good on any household surface, apart from wooden ones. But unfortunately it's still a bit sort of crystalline, and somehow we are going to get away from that in the next 10 years.

"People have been coming up to us afterwards, and saying they can't believe that the glory of the kingdom of heaven could be manifested in a comedy performance," he continues. "It's extraordinary the reaction we have been getting."

McDermott says when he looks out into an audience, all he can see is happiness, "unbridled joy" to be precise. "I see people at a point in their lives of almost divine ecstasy, their heads are thrown back, it looks like a whole room of laughing clowns. That's how I spend my life, looking at that vista and feeling that for a moment the drabness of existence has been stripped away and the true joy of life is coursing through their veins and I have to be a part of that, that's what I live for," he says passionately. "Everyone seems to be laughing and having a good time, and maybe drinking too much and sometimes smoking ... which I disapprove of."

·NATALIE SCHMEISS.

[Mythor]

What the hell did they do to that picture to make it come out like that?
I suspect that they took this picture from wherever it was originally (Access management page perhaps?) and resized and black-and-white'd it?
It's still a 22k file, so it can't have even been for space considerations...
Bizarre, in any case.

Article from adelaide Street Mag, Rip It Up, 24 July


GUD

by Catherine Blanch


Reinventing the concept of the Comedy Trio, or even Cabaret Trio are the Paul McDermott led GUD, also featuring Mick Moriarty (Gadflys) on guitar and vocals plus Cameron Bruce (Dave McCormack & The Polaroids) on keyboard and vocals. They’ve recently played the Melbourne Comedy Festival again, winning the 2003 ‘Age Critics Award’ for Most Outstanding Australian show at the Festival and are now bringing GUD back to town to the Dunstan Playhouse.

We telephone chatted with currently touring Cameron and Paul who were both in Cameron’s Brisbane. Mick was no where to be seen. I began by asking Cameron if he’s still performing with Dave McCormack & The Polaroids?

"I am!" he happily replied, sitting on his hotel room bed. "We’ve just spent three nights in Sydney filming and recording for our DVD. It’s being edited at the moment but I’m not quite sure in what capacity it’ll be released.

"Filming was a lot of fun," Cameron said amid the tired yawn of a touring musician. "The Polaroids will tour later with GUD and also on the Whitlams tour."

Has the show changed much since we saw last saw GUD in Adelaide?

"The content is completely different, and I think we’ve developed more chemistry as a group," Cameron replied. "It’s less fractured; I think we’ve got it together now, so hopefully people wont be yelling for us to get off… but I can’t guarantee that [laughs]!"

"Chemistry develops over time with any group of people I imagine," he continued. "The show’s always fun but it doesn’t start off being fun, if that makes sense? It may take 20-minutes to get into and really enjoy it. It’s pretty rare that you’ll get to the end of the night and you hated the whole thing."

Passing the phone over to Paul, who had just climbed onto the bed next to Cameron, I asked his plans for after the Edinburgh Festival in August?

"It all depends on what happens," the former DAAS, Triple J Breakfast and GNW host replied. "Edinburgh can open up a lot of avenues if you do well. There’s already been talk of us going to Glastonbury Reading Festival, through Ireland and Wales, but I’m also looking more into television."

Paul has just played a small role in the upcoming feature The Night We Called It A Day and has created his own publishing company, Cannibal Books, which has released two crafted books of his poetry and illustrations.

"Writing is the basis of everything I’ve done; it forms the basis of songs and of the onstage banter in an act. Writing is all I do really," Paul happily declared.

With GUDs last trip to Adelaide, shows ran a little overtime.

"Maybe we should suggest to people to stay late and take the day off work — you deserve it! Come out and party with the boys," Paul chuckled in conclusion.

GUD performs at Dunstan Playhouse from 8.30pm on Fri Jul 25 and Sat Jul 26. Book at Bass on 131 246 or <www.bass.com.au>.

[Munchkin]

GOOD GUD! PAUL, CAM AND MICK ON TOUR
By Jeff Crawford
Messenger - The City 23/07/2003

PAUL McDermott is annoyed he'd rather be basking in the sun than chatting on the phone.
The former Good News Week host has had to leave his Gud cohorts Cameron Bruce and Mick Moriarty and the Queensland rays to take this call.
"The three of us are up on the roof of the hotel in Brisbane, kicking back and having a relaxing time by the pool,'' he says.
"Unfortunately they've put the call through to the gym instead of the pool there are people exercising furiously around me as I speak.'' The singer/comedian is back in the spotlight with Gud, which had its foundations in his work with Mick (The Gadflys) on Good News Week.
"At the end of Good News Week . . . Mick and I were just writing some songs for our own enjoyment, and Mick suggested we do the Melbourne Comedy Festival last year.
"We felt we should get another voice in there, and another instrument, and gave Cameron a call, he's an old friend.'' The group named phonetically after the American pronunciation of "God'' took out the Melbourne Age Critics' Award at this year's Melbourne Comedy Festival and received invitations from several venues to perform at the Edinburgh Comedy Festival in August.
"So it's just started rolling . . . a bit too quickly. The response has been pretty immediate, pretty surprising.''
Paul says comparisons to his work in The Doug Anthony Allstars is inevitable, Gud being a cutting-edge musical comedy trio.
"It's certainly more in keeping with the sort of work I've done before than something like Good News Week was.
"It is going back to that. I used to love writing for the Allstars, I've always written that sort of material and the Allstars gave it an incredible voice. Gud is something similar.''
Another similarity is in the space left for going off on a tangent and get "a bit self-indulgent'' in the course of a show.
"It's a bit of a worry,'' he says.
"Sometimes the encore takes longer than the actual show. There's a lot of scope for ad-libbing and extrapolating.''

Paul, Cam and Mick all in a row on sun lounges sunning themselves in their speedos and slapping on the reef oil.

Just thought I'd leave you with that image for the rest of what is quite a chilly day here.

[Munchkin]

PAUL MCDERMOTT
IN THE HANDS OF GUD
By Nick Milligan

Australia’s most infamous entertainer talks to Opus about his artistic side, The Doug Anthony All Stars, The War on Iraq and the power of Gud.

On the 13th of May 1962, in an Adelaide hospital, Betty and John McDermott became the parents of a pair of non-identical twins. The younger of the two was named Paul. Although growing up in Canberra, it’s Adelaide that holds the strongest images of his childhood. “My earliest memory is of the ocean. As a boy in Adelaide we used to live by West Beach. I moved to Canberra when I was three, but always remembered the ocean. I always thought that when I was an old fella I’d end up in a little hut down by the water. It was amazing to be able to see that incredible line of blue. It seemed a gift to be able to get up every morning and not be aware of the rest of the world. To be able to see this emptiness was just fantastic.”

After being educated at a private Catholic boy’s school in Canberra, he followed his artistic talent to arts school. In his last year he struggled financially, so to earn some extra income he joined the performance group, ‘Gigantic Fly’. Here he met a man by the name of Richard Fidler, who was in another group with a performer by the name of Tim Ferguson. From this meeting, Australia’s most popular comedic trio was born. The Doug Anthony All Stars.
It’s around this period of Paul’s life that he considers some of his favourite career moments. He singles out one particular highlight that may come as a shock. “The work I like most is the work no one knows about. My final piece at arts school was the greatest thing I’ve ever done and the thing I’m most proud of.” Not many people realise that the visceral art that used to adorn DAAS’ stage shows and merchandise was one hundred percent McDermott. But it’s not surprising that there were bizarre moments on tour with DAAS. “We did a show with Tom Jones and when we came back to Australia, no one believed we’d performed with him. He told me I had a nice voice, which I thought was a nice thing to hear from ‘The Welsh Stallion’. Once I didn’t even recognise Prince Edward when he was chatting to me. Doing the Festival Club in Edinburgh was great. It was comedy as blood sport and that’s when it got interesting.”

But has his sense of humour softened since the Doug Anthonys? Simple answer: “No, not essentially.” So how does he view the black humour that made DAAS revered by youth around the world? “I saw [DAAS] as dealing with issues that people don’t normally discuss. Things that are constantly around us. Obviously we dealt with them in a slightly different way. We did hundreds of songs that didn’t include bestiality of necrophilia, but people tend to remember those things the most. People remember songs like ‘I Fuck Dogs’. That’s a bit of a gem.”
“I was in a video store in Melbourne and this fella recognised me and said, ‘Hey, I was on the Internet the other day looking up I Fuck Dogs! At this point the five people standing near us started staring. They had no idea what he was talking about. Even the guy’s girlfriend was like, “What are you talking about, sweetie?” I think everyone thought he was a ‘beastly’ person.”

“With the All Stars we were invited to play at the Barcelona Olympics. We were the Australian act that was asked to be a part of the cultural festival. We were the last show on the final night of the Olympics. The night before had been a disaster for us, so we started the last show with ‘I Fuck Dogs’. It was amazing because there were a couple of thousand people watching us play in this park. You could immediately tell who the English-speaking people were because they were falling out of their chairs. They couldn’t believe it.”
What made DAAS brilliant was the fact they presented unsettling lyrics with angel-like harmonies. There was nothing they wouldn’t take a shot at, whether it was hippies, necrophilia, transsexuals, feminism, paedophilia, or Oprah Winfrey. They even had their own short-lived television series.
But all good things come to an end. In 1995, The Doug Anthony All Stars went their separate ways, leaving Paul with no outlet for his immense ability. He briefly appeared in a stage show of his own creation called ‘Mosh’, which he performed with six dancers at the Adelaide Fringe Festival and the Melbourne Comedy Festival. From there he got a gig as the host of a new satirical current affair programme on the ABC. This was the birth of Good News Week, which cemented the name Paul McDermott with a whole new generation of groupies. At its peak, it was perhaps the most popular show on Australian television and even managed to survive a controversial move to Channel Ten. Although some argue it was never the same.

During the GNW reign, Paul had also been presenting radio on Triple j with ex-Newcastle High student and GNW co-host, Mikey Robbins. He also began writing columns for the Sydney Morning Herald and then the Weekend Australian.

After playing some memorable performances with DAAS, Paul returned to Newcastle with his partners in crime, Robbins and Steve ‘The Sandman’ Abbott. They called themselves ‘The Rat Pack’. “That was fun, but The Rat Pack was basically a way for a couple of mates getting together because we didn’t have Good News Week any more. We did it so we could get together and have some fun. After three of four shows it all clicked. It was one of those weird things where you have so many people on stage it takes a while to get right. There was a moment there where it became a real Vegas show: it was big, fun and out of control.”

But now Paul has formed a new comedic trio, known simply as Gud. The name has an interesting origin. “We were sitting around watching the Grammy Awards and every performer who came out said, ‘and I’d like to thank God (spoken with a thick, Yankee accent)’. I thought ‘There’s our name!’ It seems unfortunate that what’s possibly a non-existent being, is taking the credit for all this good work that’s going on in the States.”
Gud is made up of Paul McDermott, Mick Moriarty (The Gadflys) and Cameron Bruce. But how were they formed in the first place? “Mick and I were working together on Good News Week Night Light. We were writing songs and putting the musical pieces together. We started writing songs because we enjoyed just sitting around and hammering out things on guitar. We wrote some sweet stuff and then Mick suggested we do the 2002 Melbourne Comedy Festival. I was a bit unsure but he said we should do it. So I said we’d have to write a whole show. That was in January 2002, when we first talked about it. It was in late February when we got together. We took Cameron on board, who was a friend, and it just clicked.”

Gud were the hottest ticket at the Melbourne Comedy Festival and last year they experienced sell out shows in Melbourne, Adelaide, Canberra and Sydney. They were also awarded the prestigious 2003 Age Critics Award for Most Outstanding Show. Now Gud are set to grace the Civic Theatre with their heavenly presence. But has their popularity surprised Paul? “I was happy that it got the Critics award because I didn’t expect that at all. We were up against acts from overseas. Everybody’s eligible so it came as a real shock.”
“I’d like Gud to be a permanent thing. We have a number of options with it and there’s talk about television later in the year, so it would be good to be the house band on a show.”

“I’m used to this style of performance. I used to write a lot of the songs for the All Stars and when I didn’t have that outlet any more, I felt incredibly strange. Now it feels great to actually be working with two people who can, um…actually play their instruments (laughs mischievously). Mick and Cameron are brilliant. It’s not just me; we’re truly a three piece. I think when people see the show they’ll appreciate that. [Mick and Cameron] are both incredibly good and they bring different skills and nuances to the show. It’s great fun to be working with them. I think that comes across on stage too.”

Paul also makes it very clear that it’s crucial that university students attend the show. “We talk about the new structure of fees fairly extensively and we discuss ways of shafting the Government. So if you want to understand how to make it through university at this point in life, it’s absolutely essential you come a long and see this show. There’s just no other way you can survive unless you have the information we will impart in this ‘lecture series’. Especially with Costello’s recent savaging. It’s fucking obscene. I hate that we have to pay for education in this country. It’s appalling. I never would have made it through art school if I’d had to pay money for fees. It was one of the most important things I’ve ever done in my life. I really think we should try and obtain free education in this country. I think it should be the right of every person to be able to go as far as they want to. We’ve always been viewed as an intellectual country and I think we’re in great danger of not being seen in that light any more. To cut out two thirds of the population from education is just stupidity in the extreme.”

Through his comedy Paul has expressed his views on every aspect of politics or social disorder, whether it was with DAAS or Good News Week. People have always been interested in what he has to say and have a great respect for his opinion. What does Paul think about the War on Iraq? “I think morally it was wrong for Australia to be a part of it and I thank God, or whatever powers there are, that it was mercifully short. I think we’ll feel the ramifications of what we’ve done for years to come. I don’t have anything against our forces because they were told to do a job, but the decision to send them there was a mistake. I think it’s appalling how the Americans brag about how their missiles can pick out a house in any street at any number. There are so many variables and dilemmas you encounter. That poor kid that lost his arms, legs and his entire family is now getting prosthetic limbs. We’re supposed to rejoice in that? Every night we see him on the fucking news getting a new plastic limb and we’re supposed be like, ‘Oh, he’s doing so well!’ I just think for fuck’s sake he wouldn’t be doing badly if his family wasn’t bombed in the first place! The consequences of our actions may be felt for a long, long time.”

“We touch on some of these issues with Gud. Obviously they’re hard to tackle properly when you’re doing comedy, but we’re just doing what we know best to keep people laughing and happy.”
With a career that’s included television, comedy, musicals and art, what could the future possibly hold for Paul McDermott? “Who knows? It doesn’t really matter. I’m enjoying what I do. I took some time off last year and then started to work again. But nothing compares to sitting and looking at the sky and the ocean. If I can find a little way of doing that, then I think I could be quite content.”

Perhaps he’s a more peaceful man than we thought.

http://www.newcastle.edu.au/associat...pus4/paul.html

[Alisso]

Geez, an article that was actually researched properly! *g*

[Munchkin]

The Age
20/09/2003

The Fringe of fame

*snip*
Surprisingly, those poster boys for the late 1980s and early '90s, the Doug Anthony All Stars, went straight from the Melbourne Comedy Festival to Edinburgh, without a stop at Fringe.

Paul McDermott eventually had his Fringe debut with comedy troupe GUD, performing a show by the same name at last year's festival.

Exhausted from the rigourous demands of performing as the devil in The Witches of Eastwick, at the Princess Theatre in the evenings, McDermott only had half an hour to get to the North Melbourne Town Hall for his midnight show.

"I was shagged - the only way I could get myself in the mood was by having a few bevvies."

Lumbered with a cab driver who didn't know where he was going, driving about in circles, McDermott was more than 90 minutes late for his opening night. No time to do a proper sound check meant the sound too, was a nightmare. The show turned into an interminably swollen, belligerent and self-indulgent tirade.

McDermott says there was pretty much a full house every night, but he was so tired and out of control that he was incapable of giving any kind of good performance. The same fans kept turning up each night and stopped laughing only to stare at him in disbelief. One night, McDermott started throwing chairs at them in frustration. "My whole heart was just going black."

Looking back now, he says the wounds are soothed and he can almost recall it fondly - it now feels like a car accident where no one was injured.

*snip*

[Spoofy]

Originally Posted by Erotic Thruster

Paul, Cam and Mick all in a row on sun lounges sunning themselves in their speedos and slapping on the reef oil.

Just thought I'd leave you with that image for the rest of what is quite a chilly day here.

can I just say EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW :puketenn:

I don't think any man looks good in "grape crushers" (as one male workmate calls them).......

[Munchkin]

Just love this opening line from a Fringe Festival article in today's Sunday Herald Sun

IT has helped to kick-start the careers of actor Rachel Griffiths, comedians Paul McDermott and Jean Kittson and director Barrie Kosky.

[Munchkin]

Top this, Sydney

November 7, 2003

THE FAMOUS SPIEGELTENT
Where The Domain, Royal Botanic Gardens, city
When Tomorrow until December 17
Bookings 1300 136 166; the program includes some free concerts
More information http://www.spiegeltent.net

Ours is a land obsessed by real estate. These days, an apprentice janitor can obtain a loan for $500,000 for a rusty shed. This makes pianist and entertainment entrepreneur David Bates unusual, given he is one of the very few Aussies who have been knocked back.

"I did go to a couple of Australian banks," he says. "They just looked at me like I was completely nuts. They thought I was a fantasist."

The reason for the incredulity? Bates was seeking a loan not for a house, but for a tent. Mind you, it wasn't just any ol' canvas contraption. Bates wanted to buy the Famous Spiegeltent, a spectacular edifice complete with teak dance floor, velvet canopies, stained glass and an art nouveau chandelier, a tent able to fit 528 patrons (350 if they're seated).

Built in Belgium in 1920, the Spiegeltent is one of Europe's most celebrated venues. In its infancy, performers including Marlene Dietrich stalked its stage; more recently, it has been a fixture at the Edinburgh Festival. Tomorrow, this regal old dame makes its Sydney debut in the Domain, where it will host live music and parties until December 17.

"I've always said that artists shine brighter on the Spiegeltent stage," says Bates, who two years ago bought the tent (no thanks to Aussie banks).

"People feel the ghosts in the Spiegeltent. It's palpable, just like backstage in an old theatre. It's been hosting cabaret, music and parties for 83 years, and you can sense this atmosphere.

"And the bizarre thing is, it feels exactly the same in Edinburgh, or in Adelaide in 40-degree heat. So we're looking forward to collecting some more ghosts in Sydney."

Bates owns the tent, so his excitement is no surprise. Fortunately, the performers who have appeared in it are singing the same tune.

"The tent is just beautiful," says comic and singer Paul McDermott. "It has a magical quality. To have seen it in places as diverse as Edinburgh, Glasgow, Berlin and Melbourne, it's just amazing to see the type of audience it attracts."

McDermott will appear on November 29 with GUD, the music/comedy act that also features guitarist Mick Moriarty and keyboardist Cameron Bruce. GUD recently returned from Edinburgh, where McDermott first performed in the Spiegeltent. When was that?

"Back in the mid-'60s," he says. "Actually, I've no idea. I did a lot of late-night carousing, so I've got no perspective of time. I think it was '89 or '90. Or maybe it was '92.

"It was with the Doug Anthony All-Stars, and the Spiegeltent was in George Square, which is this little communist heart that beats in Glasgow, and at the time it was under siege from these young lads that would cause havoc.

"So we had these bouncers around us the whole time. Our dressing room was a demountable, and we had three guys in there with us whose heads nearly touched the roof and whose arms nearly touched the walls.

And they wouldn't leave while we got changed, but they wouldn't say a word.

"Finally we got on stage and the show went off, and at the end of it all the attitude of the bouncers was completely different. They were embracing us and buying us drinks. So we were drinking pints, surrounded by five monsters, when one fella turns to me and says, 'Celtic or United?'

"I had no idea what he was talking about, that these were soccer teams. So he asked again, his voice getting louder. I took a 50/50 punt and said 'Celtic'. Then he paused, and finally he screamed with joy. Weird things like that always happen around the tent."

Has the tent inspired more anecdotes than it has component parts? Perhaps. Built to travel, it is made up of 3000 interlocking components, all joined without a single nail or screw.

"It's like a great big Meccano set," says Bates. "But it only takes 10 hours to erect."

Bates employs a handful of Belgian specialists to construct and deconstruct his venue, including two members of the family who built the tent. Bates says they are the fourth generation of "the last Belgian family that owns tents. They still have four tents themselves: two originals, and two replicas."

Originally from rural Victoria, Bates is a musician who fell in love with the Spiegeltent the first time he performed there in the '80s.

"I've got a background of theatre and cabaret, so to walk into a building that was authentic art nouveau/deco, I was absolutely intoxicated with it. I have a natural affinity with that European cafe and cabaret culture, and this feels like walking into a Paris cafe."

Bates will perform in the Domain on December 11, during jazz/blues singer Madam Pat's 80th Birthday Concert. He says the tent's atmosphere is partly created by its staff including ushers and barfolk, who all dress up in period-style clothing.

"The show begins the moment you walk in."

David Bridie was recently surprised to discover he has played in the Spiegeltent 40 times, in various places around the world. That's more than at any other venue. He will appear in the Domain both as a solo artist and with My Friend the Chocolate Cake.

"It's got all this history," says Bridie. "All the polished wooden floors, the mirrors on poles, the stained glass windows, the chandeliers.

"If I didn't know that Marlene Dietrich had performed in it, I don't know whether I would have walked in and felt her spirit, but when you hear that she did, it's pretty cool.

"It's a really nice place to play. You can have a raucous rock gig, to having it quiet enough to hear a pin drop. There is a real sense of occasion.

"It's more than just a normal gig."

This story was found at: http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/...013334246.html

[Munchkin]

The real Rat Pack
By GLEN HUMPHRIES
13/11/2003
Illawarra Mercury

In a strange fluke of timing, we have two very different Rat Packs touring Australia at the same time.
The Rat Pack we're concerned with is made up of The Sandman, Mikey Robins and Paul McDermott doing gags and songs.
The other Rat Pack is from the United States and features singers impersonating Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr and Dean Martin. They do gags and songs.
So, is there really a difference?
"We're totally aware of them but after watching both Rat Packs you would then realise there was no comparison," The Sandman says.
As far as Sandman is concerned, there's no competition with the other Rat Pack because they're both "pretenders".
Though he is aware that punters might end up buying tickets to the wrong show.
"We have had nice older couples coming along to hear That Old Black Magic and Tender Trap and all those songs," he says.
"Even though we do tip our hat to a few of those songs, if that's what you're expecting you'll be bitterly disappointed."
So what does an audience get from this particular pack of rats?
"The spine of it is, we have a three-piece band and we have a song list of 10 to 12 songs that we do in an evening," Sandman explains.
"It's pretty much an excuse for Paul, Mikey and I to do our party pieces and then improvise around that.
"It started off when we used to do the warm-ups before taping on Good News Week. About half-an-hour before we'd go to tape we used to come out and muck around with the audience.
"That's where the rapport between the three of us started. So, to an extent, it's a slightly more organised version of that."
As for the singing component, it's McDermott who shoulders the bulk of that load because he's the better singer in the group.
The Sandman takes two songs and Robins appears to sing but Sandy claims he's just miming.
In a tribute to the original Rat Pack, Robins used to make martinis for a few audience members but that tradition has been knocked on the head.
"We've cut the martinis because of insurance trouble," he says.
"Most theatres these days don't want you serving drinks and people taking glass downstairs and into the audience.
"That's part of our show that's had to go the long goodbye. Anyway, Mikey's martinis tasted like brake fluid."
The Rat Pack are onstage at the Illawarra Performing Arts Centre tomorrow night.

Gags, giggles, grog
17/11/2003
Newcastle Herald

Three of Australia's funniest men are headed to Newcastle for a few laughs, some light-hearted sledging and, naturally, a few drinks.
Paul McDermott and Novocastrians Mikey Robbins and The Sandman known on stage as The Rat Pack will drop into Newcastle's Civic Theatre during their national comedy tour. The one-night-only Newi stop will happen on December 4 and, from what we've heard, anyone who goes should be ready to become a part of the show at any moment.
Oh, and whatever you do, don't leave your seat during the action.
A Word spy told us about one of McDermott's previous visits to Newcastle when he pulled off a great tackle on an audience member. Apparently a lady in the crowd felt the call of nature during McDermott's stint on stage, prompting him to tackle her and grab one of her shoes before returning to the stage and declaring: "Nobody leaves".


Rat boys bring biting comedy
29/11/2003
Words: 1672
Newcastle Herald

They call themselves The Rat Pack, and they promise their audience an evening of comedy that bites. MICHAEL GADD asked the boys to say cheese.
THEY are an unlikely bunch to replace Frank, Sammy and Dean as The Rat Pack.
One of them is a big bloke, Mikey Robins, who stands more like a cheerful henchman than a Las Vegas cabaret star.
Another, Paul McDermott, is a twig of a man. But it is his sometimes excessive anger most highlighted in his days with the Doug Anthony All Stars that would make him much too on-edge for the kings of cool. Can you imagine him with a piece in the deserts of Nevada?
The third, is The Sandman, known outside the bright red suits and melancholy musings as Steve Abbott. There is no-one like The Sandman, whose non-existent confidence would put him on the outer during late-night poker sessions flanked by buxom and willing women.
On the other hand, these three, despite their drastically varied styles and skills, are great mates.
Like in the movies and shows of the original Rat Pack, when there is a chance to help each other out, these guys do.
The Sandman attributes his national profile, a status he describes as "the demanding post of a minor celebrity", largely to Mikey Robins.
Robins and Abbott met at Newcastle University. Abbott moved from Wollongong, aged 19, more than 20 years ago to study teaching. His career has taken turns from working in the Wollongong steelworks to real estate to drama and music.
The pair performed together at the Hunter Valley Theatre Company and Freewheels Theatre Company in Newcastle. Both of them received City of Newcastle Drama Awards for their on-stage work. Others to have made it big from those ranks include John "Roy Slaven" Doyle, Jonathan Biggins, Susie Porter and Celia Ireland.
But where Abbott and Robins really shone was in the 1980s with The Castanet Club comedy troupe, where much of Newcastle's comic genius was honed.
The club's headquarters was in a nightclub at the back of the Clarendon Hotel; there is still a half mural on the wall of the Fred Ash Building from those days.
Robins and Abbott have worked together plenty since then.
As Frank Sinatra was to Sammy Davis Junior, Mikey Robins is to Steve Abbott.
Like Sammy, who Frank knew as a great bloke and extremely talented man despite his quirks, Abbott's incomparable Sandman could have been difficult for radio and television producers to digest had he not been championed by a respected figure.
"Mikey got me my job at Triple J," he said of the time he sat alongside Robins and his various morning show partners, including possibly the most successful, McDermott, over a lengthy seven years.
"Then he got me a job at Good News Week," where TV's visual element took The Sandman character's comic appeal to a whole new level.
"Mikey's been very good to me," he said.
IT was with Good News Week that a true friendship, which Abbott also describes as a "curious bond", developed into a formidable comedy combination.
For five years in the various forms of Good News Week the crowd warm-ups, mainly from Robins, Sandman and McDermott, became legendary.
The Rat Pack were key components to the show from ABC's original 30-minute episode of Good News Weekend on Channel 10.
These outlandish, off-the-cuff sets had live crowds in stitches before the cameras even started to roll.
But the chances of these performances ever making it to our television screens were slim.
The Rat Pack is a smorgasbord of music, comedy and mayhem, Robins said.
Or as Abbott describes: "Sweat, fat and tears."
However, although there are no promises, he doubts there will be any nudity "There is a point where some parts of the anatomy may be more scary than funny: it is a fine line though."
The show openings were partially scripted, like The Rat Pack show, usually with material that would never make it to the TV due to its explicit content.
People buying tickets should be warned that they may learn a few new words and terms on entering the show. Anything goes for The Rat Pack.
"There are no 50s standards here," Robins said. "It's kind of like there's a party at the Civic [Theatre Newcastle on December 4] and everyone's invited."
Years working together on radio and television have led to the three being stacked with ideas and material.
But it is their chemistry, Robins said, that really gives them strength on stage.
"Together we seem to have this ability to see structure and work out what will and won't work," he said.
"But to tell the truth, a lot of it is just made up.
"That makes it great, because no show is the same. You could buy tickets to all of them if you wanted and still have a good time."
Despite the fact The Rat Pack all have strong personalities, there are no power plays.
Robins said McDermott is the leader.
"He's like a really intelligent Doberman that hasn't been fed for a couple days," Abbott said. "I'm the rodeo clown, I suppose."
"Before each tour we sit down and have an honesty session, tell each other what we really think," Robins said.
"That tends to clear the air, but we all know what works and what doesn't, we've been in the game long enough."
Robins said that if the audience gets into the show half as much as they are having fun, they will leave with sore stomach muscles.
"Doing this show together makes me feel like I'm in my 20's again," Robins said. "On December 8 I turn 42 but I feel like a 16-year-old with an Amex.
"My wife reckons it's like we're on a fishing trip and we have to do shows in the middle, we just get along so well."
"Whether we're on stage on in the Tarago we're weeping with laughter," Abbott said.
The Rat Pack show has been structured to allow for the trios ad-libbing skills.
The last time it was performed in Newcastle the boys opened the inaugural Chucklefest at Newcastle City Hall. Robins said that Sandman had laryngitis so a member of the audience was forced on stage to impersonate him. "That guy nearly got a full time job," he said.
Now based in Sydney with his wife, Robins' parents have passed away and his sister now works in Noosa, but he said he does sneak up to visit relatives in Newcastle when he can. "It feels weird staying in a hotel in the town you grew up in, so it doesn't happen all that often," he said.
To prove Novocastrians stick together, Abbott and Robins have a tendency to stir up their outlandish compatriot.
"One third of the show is trying to upset Paul," Robins said. "It's difficult not to compliment the little bastard, he's so clever, but he sure does bite when you give him some stick."
"Some of the time when he gets angry it is an act, but a lot of the time he really is pissed off, which makes for terrific comedy." Tell that to the unfortunate woman who made the fatal mistake of trying to duck off for a toilet break during McDermott's other cabaret-style show GUD.
When McDermott spotted her standing to walk out during a recent Civic Theatre Newcastle performance he jumped off stage and effected a tackle that would have made Joey proud, grabbed her shoe, took it on stage and said "No-one leaves!"
Another performer on stage that night was talented multi-instrumentalist Cameron Bruce, the musical director of GUD. He repeats that role for The Rat Pack as the leader of the Club Luna Band.
With bass player Michael Galeazzi, nicknamed Own Bowl (he tours with his own bowl, nobody knows why) and Guiseppe Accaria on drums, the band have united against the "stars" of the show.
Robins on Bruce: "At times I want to beat the guy up because he's so damn talented. The band are starting to build their own little empire," he said. "We can't turn our back on them or they'll take over the show."
The least musical of the trio, Robins, does take to an instrument that Abbott said he invented.
Some may recall Flacco (Paul Livingston), often Sandman's foil on Good News Weekend, and an instrument that consisted of wire brushes and newspaper on his front. Abbott said Flacco inherited the concept from Robins.
Sandman considers himself a talent on guitar, but the band won't allow him to play with them.
Bruce denies this accusation. However, he is the same man who tried to convince Weekender that Abbott had a fake eye like Sammy Davis Junior.
"I love it when he plays with us, he has a certain idiosyncratic style, he's like a guy that started writing songs without ever hearing music, which makes him unique," he said. "We aren't very talented really," Robins said.
Abbott concurred: "I don't think they consider us worthy of playing with them, but we are in the promotional photos and they're not."
Their weapon is a duet, a typical Sandman song about loss of innocence, loss of youth and well, loss in general like all Sandman songs really.
Bruce said: "It's about loss of melody."
"There are times when the crowd might be having trouble working out whether I'm miming or not, but that is part of the fun isn't it?" Robins said. Bruce pointed out that Robins is rarely seen singing alone.
"The song very rarely finishes," The Sandman added.

[Laurenandë]

City News (Brisbane) Iss. 26 Feb 12
by Lyndal Cairns

TOUGH JOB BUT SOMEONE'S GOT TO DO IT

Like many Australians, Cameron Bruce doesn't love his job - but he probably should. After all, he's paid to make people laugh.
Bruce is part of Sydney Comedy trio Gud, founded by Good News Week star and ex-Doug Anthony All Star Paul McDermott.
The group, which will be in Brisbane this weekend, performs a biting satire and sexually-charged show full of dodgy one-liners and double meanings, many of them delivered by Bruce between passages of lounge piano.
Bruce said he agreed to join McDermott and comedian Mick Moriarty because he doesn't like saying no to people.
"I don't really know what I'm doing up there because I don't know comedy," he said. "I don't hate it, but I don't love it."
Bruce is unenthusiastic about comedy because he is primarily a musician, playing for several Sydney bands including ex-Custard frontman David McCormack's backing band The Polaroids.
He said an eight-month stint living together in a Newtown house helped to cement Gud as a unit. Having said that, he's glad to be out.
"It can't work. Mick is a slob and Paul is a neat freak," he said. "Mick hasn't got a very big ego - he's just dirty - but Paul has quite a big one... everyone has their moments."
The trio's only show at the Brisbane Powerhouse will feature material written at the Edinburgh Comedy Festival and not yet tested on an Australian audience.
"Melbourne audiences like to think they're a bit more cerebral than the rest of the country and Sydney audiences just don't care," he said.
"I quite like playing in Brisbane."
Gud performs on Friday etc etc (this bit doesn't matter anymore, since they've gone).

NB... I saw the show, and I don't remember any new material, bar the René and Beckham songs. *shrugs*

[pixieDAAS]

Great Article!

Paul is a neat freak!!!!!
That's hard to believe, in one of his articles (yonks ago) he wrote about his melbourne place being robbed, but he couldn't tell if anything was taken as the place was a wreak in the first place

maybe neatness comes with old age