UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL
With the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Choir.
Hosted by Bob Downe

Headline act of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Festival, Jimmy first shot to fame back in 1984 with groundbreaking band Bronski Beat. Their debut single 'Smalltown Boy' made the top three in Britain and was a huge hit all over Europe. It not only introduced the world to Jimmy's unique talent, but confronted them with a lyric addressing the isolation and rejection felt by a provincial gay youth forced into leaving town.

More recently Jimmy has collaborated with producers and DJ's including Paul Mac, Todd Terry, Armand Van Helden and Mauro Picotto.

EVOLVE will feature many of Jimmy's Bronski Beat, Communards and solo hit singles. In a world first for Sydney the show will also feature an acoustic set of his music and a selection of songs accompanied by the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Choir.

Your singular guest host for the evening will be Prince of polyester Bob Downe and Cabaret prodigy Eddie Perfect will make a cameo appearance by Satellite.

Proudly sponsored by Holden Tigra & Sirena Tuna
Supporting the Bobby Goldsmith Foundation

Entry is FREE however there will be a charge for showbags which will include your candle and programme and some great surprises. All proceeds from the showbags will go to the ACT Eden Monaro Cancer Society.

The carols will be HOSTED by BOB DOWNE and starring will be MARINA PRIOR, SIMON GALLAHER and LONNIE LEE with music by IAN MCLEAN and his Christmas Orchestra.

Local talent has not been forgotten with stars such as BRONWYN SULLIVAN, JULIE JENKINS, SARA CARVEHLLO and KAVINTHA PURCELL with the ST GREGORY'S PRIMARY SCHOOL CHOIR, THE AUSTRALIAN RUGBY CHOIR, THE ACT SCOUTS and of course SANTA.

It will be televised by Foxtel and Southern Cross 10 on Christmas Eve and a 'live' broadcast by 2CC/2CA.

Food and Refreshments will be available and there is ample car parking - full event details will be contained in The Chronicle in the week leading up to "Carols in the Park"

THEY'RE back. And if the prepublicity and the level of public excitement is any guide, they'll be welcomed. But the return of Kath & Kim raises some iSS-yews. Why are they appearing in a telemovie? Have we seen the last of them in multipart series? What does the future hold for the foxy ladies from Fountain Lakes?

Their creators are in no hurry to answer such questions, and they don't need to be. Gina Riley and Jane Turner have worked themselves into a powerful position. They have written, produced and starred in one of the most popular comedies in Australian television history. Now, they can write their own ticket.

They produce their own projects and work at their own pace. It's a luxury that would be the envy of anyone in the TV industry. Any network would roll out the red carpet if they requested a meeting.

Another series of Kath & Kim? Yes, please, as soon as you're ready, ladies. Or perhaps something different? A couple of new characters? Whatever you like: be sure to give us a call.

Following three successful seasons of Kath & Kim on the ABC, Riley and Turner can set their own agenda. They might've written another series of Kath & Kim.

Instead, they decided on Da Kath & Kim Code.

When the Kath & Kim machine gets rolling, the women work surrounded by friends and regular collaborators. On-screen, that means Magda Szubanski, Glenn Robbins and Peter Rowsthorn.

Behind the scenes, it involves a compact and well-established crew, and director Ted Emery, who's worked with the women since their Fast Forward days.

But even having achieved an enviable level of autonomy and built a comfortable working environment, these smart, funny, selfdeprecating women also have the humility and the battle scars to recognise that the ultimate power lies with the audience. Will they watch? Will they like it? Will they want more? Those are the questions that accompany Sunday night's telemovie."

It's great that we have this freedom at the moment," says Turner. "Hopefully, there will be a market in TV for this show, whatever the form is."

Riley agrees, "We're incredibly lucky to be in this position. We have worked for it, but we're lucky that at this time, we've locked on to something that people like," says Turner, completing the thought.

Beyond the local market, the pair are also watching over the international growth of Kath & Kim, a mother and daughter act that Britons and Americans are now embracing. The first season of the comedy is being repeated on BBC2, prior to the screening of the second season next year. In the US, where the show appears on cable's Sundance channel, it has attracted a devoted gay fan base.

In New York, snooty shop ladies Prue and Trude are seen not as parodies of classic Armadale or Brighton matrons but as spot-on Upper West Side spoofs.

Following the third season of Kath & Kim in Australia, with a fantasy extravaganza finale that attracted 1.87 million viewers, Riley and Turner decided to take a break.

They weren't sure that they wanted to make another series, or if the Kath & Kim creative well had run dry and it was better to end on a high.

They agreed to start writing and see what happened. Related activities took them to London to promote the comedy. Travels in Europe made them aware of the booming trade in Da Vinci Code tours. Ever alert to blips in popular culture, they noted this development for future reference.

What crystallised after their travels was the decision to write a telemovie. It would have Kath (Turner) and Kel (Robbins) returning from a Da Vinci Code tour and it would feature a Christmas theme that would enable an emphasis on the enthusiasm that Turner and Riley and their characters share for shopping.

Despite the accolades and the mighty ratings that previous seasons of Kath & Kim have brought, the premiere of any production is accompanied by nerves. The higher you fly, the further you can fall, and there will always be the tall-poppy cutters itching to announce that the heady reign of the high-maintenance hornbags is over. Inevitably, there are also questions about the future: will there be more of Kath & Kim?

Will they now appear only in telemovies?

"We really don't know," says Riley. "We'll see how this goes.

We've had a great time doing it and we feel that it's worked. But ultimately it's not up to us."

"You've just got to test the water and test the market," agrees Turner."

You don't want to be flogging a dead horse. You have to feel the groundswell of positive vibes, that people are still wanting more. But it also comes down to whether we feel like we've got more in us. At the moment, it still feels pretty good."

Right now, the groundswell is more like a tidal wave. There's palpable public excitement about the production. It's an opportunity to renew acquaintances with the first family of Fountain Lakes: Kath Day-Knight, her adored hunk o'spunk hubby, Kel, the perpetually petulant Kim (Riley) and her beleaguered mate, Brett (Rowsthorn), and puppy-dog loyal second best friend, Sharon (Szubanski).

What might occupy the clan for this 90- minute outing remains a closely guarded secret. Riley and Turner are keen to plug any leaks that might spoil the surprises they've laced through the story, and trying to prod them for information they don't wish to reveal is about as useful as trying to get a straight answer out of a politician. They remain friendly but impenetrable."

"Kim eats Twisties," Turner offers.

This much can be revealed. The story begins two weeks before Christmas. Kath, predictably, is in a tizz: there's so much to plan and prepare. Who will bring the lettuce?

Then there's all the shopping. And so many choices. Which earrings work best? The mini flashing Santas, or the candy canes? At the checkout, the candy canes get the nod: "They're subtle."

This is the meat and potatoes of the comedy, classic Kath & Kim territory: an impending event and the all-consuming flurry of nutty activity leading up to it. This time, the event is Christmas, but the comic foundations remain the same: "It's mountains and molehills," says Riley about the ways in which trivial decisions balloon out to assume such a prominent place in the characters' lives.

In addition to the Christmas rush, there are problems in the marital unit: it seems that the newly promoted Brett has acquired a sense of self importance. He may also have pashed someone other than his wife. "Why go out for fillet steak when he's got sausage meat at home?" demands the disbelieving Kim when news of his rumoured transgression reaches her.

Meanwhile, Sharon appears to be enjoying a new romance.

Finding more activities for these characters, fresh crises for them to muddle through and new things for them to fight over - beyond arguments about who scoffed the last low-fat Fruche - was one of the challenges. Once Riley and Turner decided on a telemovie, things moved fast. According to Riley's husband, producer Rick McKenna, the telemovie was conceived in May, written in June and July, shot over 16 days in September and October, and in post-production through October and November.

But early in the lightning-fast proceedings, the women discovered that writing a 90-minute telemovie wasn't like writing three episodes of a series. They share a wry chuckle at their initial notion that it might be easier than writing a whole series: "That was our folly and we were sadly mistaken," says Riley. "The month before we started shooting we had a bit of a fright and realised it wasn't quite there yet. Every scene is more important in a long-form than it is in a series. It has to be a lot bigger. And if you're holding people for that long, those storylines have to have a really satisfying resolution."

Turner notes, "We approached it in the same way, but we were going a little bit into unexplored territory.

We realised that we had to put in more detail, we had to fine-tune things more, make them ring true and have them building and growing with each scene. We had to have more emotional jeopardy for some characters."

As they adapted to the demands of a different format, they tried to stay true to the qualities that had drawn viewers to the comedy, the wickedly astute observations of life in the suburbs.

"I think the essential thing is that people want to laugh at themselves, and Kath & Kim gives them a little forum to do that," says Riley. "But, as always, we love the detail. The plot is merely a device for us to put heaps of little silly observations."

The skill, she notes, is "that combination of silly observation and a basis in real emotion". With a grin, Turner adds, "The story is a tree, and we love putting on the baubles." She pauses for a moment, slides into Kath's voice and advises, "Use that as you will."

Those precious baubles, the minutiae of modern life that the women seem to absorb with anthropological aptitude, gives them something that they share with their guest star, Barry Humphries. Weeks after he visited their Patterson Lakes location to film his role (the precise nature of which will be revealed on Sunday night), they remain chuffed at having him as a participant in their comic endeavours. Admiringly citing his satirical assaults on the suburbs as an inspiration, they delight in the pleasure that he took in pottering around Kath and Kel's house, checking out the bookshelves and peeking into the pantry.

Whatever the future holds for Kath & Kim, it's clear from watching Riley and Turner at work that they still get a kick out of these characters. On a Monday early in October, the production is on location at the Southland Shopping Centre.

A number of scenes need to be shot in Target before the store opens for business. Fifty extras queue patiently at the checkouts with their trolleys as Riley prepares for Kim to throw a hissy fit over a chocolate bar. Wardrobe chief Kitty Stuckey, who's responsible for the clothes that so brilliantly define Kath and Kim, hands Turner a wonderfully kitsch denim handbag, made from the top of a pair of blue jeans and dotted with sequins. It goes well with her shirred blue blouse and high-waisted jeans.

Meanwhile Ted Emery is auditioning a couple of toddlers to see who can throw the most convincing tantrum. He gets on to his knees so he's at eye level to have a chat with three-year-old Nathan Harvey, who's wearing his Hawthorn footy jumper, and fourand- half-year-old Briana Shiels. The little girl delivers a performance so convincing it would make any parent cringe.

With the required scenes completed on schedule, the crew moves to Santa's Castle set located in one of the centre's arcades. The group is so unobtrusive that many shoppers remain unaware that Kath and Kim are in the building.

This is the unofficial "Family Day" on the set. In the line of children waiting patiently to see Santa are Riley's daughter, Maggie, Turner's daughter, Anna, and co-producer Laura Waters' girls, Rachel and Greta. Santa's Castle is staffed by a dejected elf, played by Judith Lucy, and McKenna, who's making his Kath & Kim debut as Santa. He's so convincing that Nathan Harvey sidles up to him with a look of wonder.

The production moves quickly through its schedule. Ladies enjoying their coffee and toasted sandwiches for lunch watch happily as sequences are shot in the arcades, and Szubanski delights some of the onlookers with a vigorous outburst of Sharon-speak. More scenes are filmed in a food court and teenagers wandering in to buy their afterschool snacks are excited to find Kim and Sharon in their midst.

When the pair visit a formal wear hire store, Mark Trevorrow, reprising his snippy shop assistant Daryl, looks down his nose at them.

They move on to a bridal store and it's here that Sharon has a big scene.

Szubanski pulls out all stops and is hilarious, reducing Riley, many of the crew and most of the assembled shoppers to delighted laughter.

Moving away from his video monitor to congratulate his cast before setting up for the next shot, Ted Emery murmurs appreciatively, "Now that's comedy."

Da Kath & Kim Codescreens on Sunday at 7.30pm on the ABC.
Debi Enker

The celebration featured Noeline Brown, Stuart Wagstaff, John Mangos, Gerry Connolly, Graeme Blundell and Mark Trevorrow in a show written by Tony Sattler and David Mitchell.

Festival director Anthony Ackroyd paid tribute to Graham Kennedy before the performance, saying he was "a great performer, a great actor and perhaps our greatest clown".

"Many of us in the Highlands were fortunate to meet Graham in shops and restaurants because he became a local and lived in the Southern Highlands for 15 years," he said.

"That's why this year we want to dedicate our comedy festival to the memory of our funniest-ever performer."

Mr Ackroyd said he was delighted how the show was received.

"The show was a total sell-out and we had to bring in extra seating," he said.

"It was an amazing line-up and all the panellists were absolutely hilarious. They all gave great performances and had their own unique approach to humour."

Money raised from The Graham Kennedy Celebration went to the Clown Doctors.

"A cheque for $3000 was also presented to Peter Spitzer from the Clown Doctors after the performance," Mr Ackroyd said.

"It was great to raise awareness of the Clown Doctors and their work."

Mr Ackroyd said he was pleased by the way audiences had responded to this year's Bowral of Laughs comedy festival.

"First of all, I was very pleased with how the Big Fat Movie Quiz went on Friday night because we hadn't tried it before. There was a great informal atmosphere to it," he said.
Stuart Macfarlane

"This year's three-day festival will be even bigger and funnier than last year. Pete Rowsthorn from Kath and Kim will be headlining the comedy gala on Saturday night, there will be a star-packed live performance to celebrate the life of Graham Kennedy on Sunday afternoon and Richard Glover will be recording the ABC Christmas Day version of his Thank God it's Friday program," Mr Ackroyd said.

"There will also be a big movie quiz on Friday night hosted by actress Zoe Carides, sound effects comedian Haskel Daniel and musician Michael Roberts."

Mr Ackroyd said Sunday afternoon's live performance by Graham Kennedy's closest friends and collaborators was bound to be one of the highlights of the festival.

"Graham's great friends Tony Sattler and Noeline Brown have rounded up such an amazing line-up including John Mangos, Gerry Connolly, Stuart Wagstaff, Graham Blundell and Bob Downe," he said.

"I've just read the script Tony's written for the show entitled Bullbusters and it's really hysterical."

Mr Ackroyd said he was also delighted to be able to secure Pete Rowsthorn for the comedy gala.
Stuart Macfarlane

Sitting in a hospital corridor outside the room where his brother Matt was engaged in the battle of his life against leukemia, Shaun Rennie wondered what he could do to help his sibling.

While in the corridor, Rennie started telephoning around to some of the friends he has worked with in recent years in such shows as Fiddler On The Roof, Mamma Mia and the Cabaret Convention. He then asked the question – if he was to put together a charity concert to raise money for leukaemia research, would they be involved.

When he received only positive replies from every person he spoke to, an idea was born and he began work on the concert, Light The Night, which plays 7 November at the City Recital Hall.

"I just felt so frustrated and thought there had to be something I could do," he said.v"It was initially going to be a small concert with just a few friends of mine from the industry for some of Matt's friends, but then it grew from there.

"One day, I looked at the list of names, a list which had grown longer and longer, and there were some pretty impressive drawcard names on it. That was back in April, and my friend Monica Smith, who is an event manager, and I have been working on it ever since."

Rennie, 23, winner of 2003's Sydney Cabaret Convention, is playing Fyedka in the current production Fiddler.

Among the stars appearing at Light The Night, to aid the Arrow Bone Marrow Transplant Foundation at St Vincent's Hospital and the Liverpool Cancer Therapy Centre, are Judi Connelli, Courtney Act, Tim Draxl, Bob Downe, Margi de Ferranti, Trevor Ashley, Paulini, Matthew Newton, Chloe Dallimore, Kaye Tuckerman and the cast of Fiddler On The Roof. Maggie Kirkpatrick will host the event.

Rennie was performing on a Mediterranean cruise in August last year when he learnt his brother Matt had been diagnosed with leukaemia. Within weeks, he had flown home to help Matt through the worst days of the chemotherapy treatments.

By December, Matt was declared to be in remission but in February the leukemia had returned. Four months later, his family was told Matt had only 10 days to live.

"I was in Melbourne at the time auditioning for Fiddler, and I raced home and we began to prepare to lose him," Rennie recalls. "Then Matt had stem cell therapy and a new stem cell donor was found two months ago, and he is now doing amazingly and he is officially in remission.

"But the best thing is that Matt will be there at the concert, and he has insisted on buying his own ticket. I said as this was all because of him, I would give him a ticket, and he replied, 'Shut up, this is about raising money for charity, so just take the money.' He's like that."

Light The Night plays 7 November at the City Recital Hall, Angel Place. Bookings on 8256 2222.
John Burfitt

Constructed by Adelaide Airport Limited at a cost of $260 million over two years, the new terminal is one of the State's most significant privately-funded infrastructure projects.

The new terminal's 14 glass-sided aerobridges will give air travellers all-weather access to the terminal for the first time in Adelaide Airport's 50-year history, and provide spectacular views across the Adelaide CBD and Hills on departure and arrival.

The 75,000 square metre terminal will initially cater for more than five million passengers a year but has been designed to expand to meet the needs of up to eight million users within 10 years. The terminal is equipped to handle up to 27 aircraft simultaneously, and process 3,000 passengers an hour during peak periods through 42 common user check-in desks.

More than 30 retail outlets and extensive passenger lounge facilities will meet demand from international, domestic and regional passengers, all of whom will be serviced through the one flexible terminal.

Adelaide Airport Limited managing director, Mr Phil Baker, said the new terminal provided South Australia with a "fantastic front door".

"The new terminal will give an extremely positive first impression of South Australia – something that we all recognise as important when positioning ourselves on the world stage," Mr Baker said.

"It is now up to all South Australians – particularly business people and those who travel regularly – to leverage off this new infrastructure and other exciting developments in our State, to promote their businesses and this city as strongly as possible at every opportunity."

Mr Baker said Adelaide Airport Limited was already successfully using the terminal as a tool to attract new airline services – both from airlines currently servicing Adelaide, and potential carriers. Earlier this week, Air New Zealand announced it will introduce in March next year three direct flights each week between Adelaide and Auckland, contributing more than 43,000 passenger seats on the route.

"We are committed to increasing the travel options available to passengers and as such are continually working with the airlines to encourage expansion of services in and out of Adelaide," Mr Baker said.

As part of today’s official opening ceremony, the Prime Minister was the first person to use Adelaide Airport’s new aerobridges.

He also unveiled a plaque with the Premier of South Australia, Mike Rann, and AAL’s Phil Baker, in a ceremony which featured the Marryatville High School choir, the Navy Band and an aerobatic display watched by 500 aviation industry and business leaders from across Australia and the world.

This was followed by lunch in the terminal’s spectacular Departure Hall with entertainment by Bob Downe and the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra.

This weekend, the new Terminal will be open to the public to preview between 10 and 5 p.m. on both Saturday and Sunday. The only way to gain entry to the terminal will be on a free Adelaide Metro shuttle bus. Buses will leave from four key points around the city and suburbs, with the first buses departing from 9.45 am and the last service leaving the airport at 5.30 pm. There will be NO parking at the new terminal during the open days and parking restrictions will apply to surrounding areas.

The kitsch king of Australian camp comedy, Bob Downe, celebrated his 21st birthday at the Festival Theatre – or the "Norman Gunston Playhouse", as he called it – on the weekend.

That's 21 years on stage, if you don't count Bob Downe's absence over the past couple of years while his "manager" and alter ego Mark Trevorrow attempted a solo career. "I wanted to find out who I was," Downe explained. "I didn't like it very much ... so I'm back."

Thankfully for his adoring audience, the break also seems to have revitalised Downe, whose schtick had been in danger of getting a little tired.

This time, a lot more thought and energy seemed to have gone into the show, even if the basic idea – along with most of the '70s songs and his trademark bad wig – remained the same.

There was a wonderful wheel-on dressing room set, a gigantic "iBob" logo suspended beneath flashing disco lights, and video screens with birthday greetings (and excuses) by celebrities ranging from Rove to Bert Newton.

Better still, the between-song material seemed fresh, mixing a career retrospective with topical gags, and Downe's wacky dance moves and toothsome grin somehow filled the entire Festival Theatre stage and reached right out to the people in the balconies. He even attempted to sing backing vocals for talented newcomer Emelia Rusciano – although it proved hilariously impossible for Bob to remain in the background.

The main thing that's changed over the past 21 years is that, these days, Bob is truly out of the closet. Perhaps someone should tell his long-time fiancee?
Patrick McDonald

Hats off to conductor Ian McLean and the new Canberra Pops Orchestra for a fascinating and stimulating night out recently at the Canberra Theatre Centre. The music was accessible and enjoyable and the audience seemed to be having a great deal of fun getting into the mood, and occasional bad joke during the night.

The Cole Porter Medley was lovely in this program as was the movie theme from Schindlers List. It was Mark Trevorrow who went down an absolute treat with his Rainbow Connection (memories of Kermit the Frog here!) and Moon River simply sounding great. Even though he covers it up with his other personality of Bob Downe sometimes, Trevorrow is a really great popular music singer who should get more accolades for his voice. Bronwyn Sullivan’s magnificent voice was on display during My Funny Valentine and Lyn Mills narrating Tubby the Tuba was a real hoot! There was a great feeling when the orchestra struck up Land of Hope and Glory (there is our pomp and passion!) and the audience left feeling as though they had really had a great evening – I know I did. I hope we see more and more of the Canberra Pops Orchestra soon.
Graeme McDonald

This was the premiere performance of the Canberra Pops Orchestra, and the fulfilment of a long held dream of Ian McLean to present well-known light classical, film, and theatre music in a theatre setting without the rituals associated with traditional orchestral concerts. So it was appropriate that Ian conducted and acted as compere (and occasional comic). He dedicated the performance to the late Colin Harper, founder of the Queensland Pops Orchestra that has been established for 20 years. So Thursday's concert could turn out to be a historical event in Canberra as the start of a new tradition here. If the almost capacity crowd's response is any indication, there is an eager audience looking for this type of entertainment.

Each half of the program opened with a bracket of orchestral items. They included the Coronation March from Le Prophet by Meyerbeer, Pizzicato Polka by Strauss, a Cole Porter Medley, and the movie theme for Schindler's List, in which Tor Fromyhr was the soloist. The present instrumental line-up could do with the addition of more strings as the eight violinists tended to be overwhelmed by the strong brass and woodwind sections. No doubt this will be a priority for the future. Maybe echoes of Henry Mancini's singing strings will emerge eventually!

Mark Trevorrow appeared as himself in singing mode, although his other persona, Bob Downe, refused to stay completely submerged for the night. Mark's pleasant, relaxed voice suited his selection of songs: Sinatra, Rainbow Connection, Windmills of My Mind and Moon River. He mentioned that this was his first experience of performing with an orchestra and he did appear to become more comfortable as he went along.

Well-known Canberra singer Bronwyn Sullivan's rich voice was shown to great effect in My Funny Valentine and the Tony Hatch version of My Country. It was unfortunate that the arrangement of A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square was in such a low key as it certainly plumbed the deep end of Bronwyn's range.

Novelty items such as the Grand March from Aida and Tubby the Tuba (narrated by Lyn Mills) brought back old memories of Danny Kaye. One of the highlights of the program was a mad arrangement by Lucy Bermingham of Chopsticks, played with great panache by piano soloist Daniel Edmonds-and the orchestra (when they were able to get a note in!)

It was interesting to hear that stalwart of the London Proms, Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance No 1 (Land of Hope and Glory) as the closing item. I don't know whether Australian audiences would ever sing it with the same passion as the English, but it was a nice touch. Maybe there is an equivalent Australian song that could engender sufficient enthusiasm for the audience to join in and sing as a grand finale. The joyful spirit was definitely there on Thursday night.

Ian McLean deserves the warmest congratulations for having the courage and determination to carry out such a huge undertaking and for achieving such a successful outcome. The logistics and organisation along with the musical direction are challenging enough, but to engender so much support for this new venture is a tribute to his energy and powers of persuasion. I would love to see the event become established as a regular feature on the Canberra concert calendar, and hope that sufficient financial support will be found to ensure its future.

Joan Livermore is an experienced performer and musical director for music theatre in Canberra.

Broadcast: 08/04/2005

FREYA MICHIE, REPORTER: You could be forgiven for thinking there's something funny going on around town.

STEPHEN K. AMOS, "BEST OF THE EDINBURGH FEST": Who's that next to you? You're just friends? Oh, good friends. You'd like to, but she won't?

FREYA MICHIE: Londoner, Stephen K. Amos, is one of more than 200 comics in Melbourne for the Comedy Festival, and he makes it look easy. But comedy can be a serious business. It's no joke when there's not enough work, so some young Australians head offshore to find gigs and hone their comic voices.

WES SNELLING, CABARET COMEDIAN: It must have been cold there in my shadow.

FREYA MICHIE: Wes Snelling is a cabaret comic from Kyneton.

WES SNELLING: We've been travelling all round the world, spreading the good word of the gay sha, la, la. We've been to New Zealand. And now we're so happy to be here, so happy to be here in Melbourne.

FREYA MICHIE: He's here for the Comedy Festival. But these days he lives in London.

WES SNELLING: There's always that urge, I think, to kind of see what the bigger picture is and go out of Australia as a performer and see if you can make it somewhere else. Make it, in a sense, when really, making it - there's no end to making it.

FREYA MICHIE: And he's not the only young Australian comic who's been finding his feet in London.

MICKEY D, COMEDIAN: My job got very hard in Britain about 18 months ago when the Aussies lost the Rugby World Cup. It was like this. I was being brought on stage, "Please welcome, all the way from Australia, your first act, Mr Mickey D." Even before I got to the microphone, the whole crowd, "Loser, loser, loser, loser, loser," like I played in that fucking match.

There is more opportunity in the UK, but it's the competition there that drives you to get better and the quality over there as well. When I first went over to the UK it's like, "I've really got to get my game together." Everyone is saying something with their stuff and it really challenged me to find my voice over there.

MARK TREVORROW, "THE BOB DOWNE SHOW": Genetically, apparently, we're very closely related to garden slugs. No surprise, of course, to anyone who's ever seen Auntie Bev in a G-string at Bondi. It's alright; we put pellets around her.

FREYA MICHIE: Established comedian, Mark Trevorrow, also took the path to London back in the 1990s. He's got this advice for the next generation of comedians.

MARK TREVORROW: Oh, absolutely, go. Go: "Oh, gather round and I will sing The Ballad of Bob Downe."

FREYA MICHIE: The creator of the character 'Bob Downe' says the comic exodus started in the mid-80s after Los Trios Ringbarkus won a major award at the Edinburgh Festival.

MARK TREVORROW: You need to go offshore. You need to leave because you need to find out how good you are away from your own culture. That's how you find out whether you really do have any kind of unique comedy gift.

You are looking fantastic. I'm looking even better.

There's something about getting on stage outside of your own country which is a really extraordinary moment of truth. I had to be physically pushed on by the Doug Anthony Allstars at the wine bar in Edinburgh.

WES SNELLING: Beautiful Melbourne weather. I love it.

MICKEY D: Sunny in patches. Gale-force winds.

FREYA MICHIE: Back in Melbourne, Wes Snelling and Mickey D have been reflecting on the pros and cons of expat life.

WES SNELLING: Melbourne's Eye. A beautiful version of the London Eye.

MICKEY D: It's no London Eye, but it's got a better view on the city. I reckon Melbourne's a lot more beautiful than London. London's like a grey pigeon and Melbourne's like a lovely magpie or a rosella.

WES SNELLING: A blossom. Like a rosella. A lovely little budgerigar. A galah.

The stuff I do is quite camp and flamboyant, so definitely London - there's definitely a niche for that there. But then it gets harder because you're not a novelty anymore. You are competing with lots of other camp, fabulous, flamboyant people, so it makes you work harder.

FREYA MICHIE: They say the number of young Australian comics in Britain is on the rise.

MICKEY D: There's a growing number. A lot of Aussies are coming over and doing this stuff. We do have - our sense of humour is quite similar. Not much adaptation is needed at all and we're revered by the British public like, "Okay, here's another Aussie." They like to heckle us and remind us that we're convicts.

As a general rule, the Brits know how to heckle. They don't mess around, "You're fucking shite." That's just a test. If you can't come back from that, you're probably - Aussies as a general, we don't really heckle. , it’s usually the two drunk blokes up the back going –

MARK TREVORROW: I don't think it's a question of losing our talent or a brain drain, because I think you bring back your expertise, which is what happened with me.

MICKEY D: And that's where the gig went terribly wrong.

FREYA MICHIE: Mickey D and Wes Snelling agree. While they love the wealth of opportunity abroad, they both say that, like Mark Trevorrow, they'll also eventually return for good.

WES SNELLING: You gotta laugh a little, cry a little

Definitely come back to Australia, absolutely. I feel like London is about learning for me and growing and developing. However, Australia is home, without fail.

When the world is through with us we've got each other's arms. You've gotta win a little, lose a little --

KATHY BOWLEN: You can catch all the comedians in that report at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, which runs until 17 April.

He's toured the world, been nominated for an ARIA and, for a short time, even had his own television show.

Bob Downe, the much loved alter-ego of Sydney comedian and part-time crooner Mark Trevorrow, has just turned 21.

Trevorrow has used his real name in the past three years to perform in television and cabaret shows and even record a jazz album.

iBob, a flamboyant new show (his first in three years), celebrated this impressive milestone and amused a packed Town Hall last night.

Two iPods on each side of the stage intermittently screened tributes from the likes of Bert Newton, Rove and Dave Hughes, and an iPod charging dock even served as the stage's centrepiece. Downe's costumes had the gravitas we have come to expect, with his trademark suits appearing along with a classy robe and shorty PJs.

After running through typically camp readings of It's Your Birthday and Down Under, Downe peppered some stand-up material with news items including the Sandown seagulls.

A clever backstage set had Downe reading faux-birthday greetings from the likes of Nikki Webster. Later, a flip through his family scrapbook revealed Downe's stint as a model for Murwillumbah's theatre-restaurant Dirty Knickers.

Downe's sidekick, actress Gabby Millgate, recycled her tired Weavil and Sister Wendy characters through Downe's costume changes but could not maintain the audience's interest.

Like Downe's previous shows, iBob is a flagrantly daggy (a bizarre version of Jimmy Barnes' I Gotcha needs to be rested), inconsistent affair that is, for the most part, highly amusing.
Andrew Murfett

Most 21-year-olds, for various reasons, have little or no recollection of the year of their birth.

Exceptional as always, I seem to recall it in frightening detail, even without mum's scrapbook to prompt me. In fact, I could take you through it month by month, because, for some reason, I never threw away my Bankcard statements or Telecom bills.

Gosh - 1984! What a zigzagged, shoulder-padded, pastel shell-suited, galaxy it seems now.

A far, far away galaxy with a particularly monotonous techno drum beat under it, actually. Despite George Orwell's dire predictions, 1984 turned out to be a year of hope, happiness and hair gel. Bob Hawke was prime minister - and John Howard was a joke. Ronald Reagan, compared with George W.

Bush's evil empire, now seems like a sweet, slightly demented old actor with a fabulous ability to read scripts.

Meanwhile, Big Brother turned out to be just another TV show.

I mean, really. Big Brother! Who'd have thunk it back then - while we still thrilled to colour satellite telecasts, Australia-wide hook-ups, push-button phones and the latest computer-animated Channel 9 station promo - that two decades later we'd be sitting around our lounge-rooms watching another bunch of idiots sitting around a lounge room?

Fascinating how things turn out. Or, come to think of it, not.

Of course, at the Now Or Never Caravan Park in Murwillumbah, in troublefree, sun-soaked, bananaladen far-northern NSW - where, let's face it, it's still 1984 - I probably thought George Orwell was a gangster-movie actor. As for Bob Hawke, he was a forbidden subject at our place - although I've got a sneaking suspicion that aunty Bev might have picked him up one year at Randwick Ladies' Day (I've noticed she has a Rushcutter's Bay Travelodge matchbook that she's still very fond of).

Politics aside, it was an intoxicating time for me. After years of semi-pro, am-dram pursuits on the fringe of regional showbiz, catering children's parties and that sort of thing, I had broken out of the window at Grace Bros, Murbah (modelling back-to-school fashions), and made my professional debut - in Sydney! It was at the Glebe Food Fair, on a makeshift stage out front of Caffe Troppo, interviewing my Hollywood actress pal, Beverley Crump. (Remember her? From the Slap Dash movie series? She'd been flaked-out, rehabbed and self-helped into oblivion by 84, but that's another comedy script altogether.) In the gobsmacked crowd that exquisite spring September day was a producer from ABC Radio's (sadly defunct) comedy unit, and before I knew it I was in a real-life radio studio, writing and recording absolutely dreadful sketches. I had arrived! Well, sort of. As much as you ever do in Australian showbiz.

All I needed was a future manager - in the (still) boyish form of Larry Buttrose (yes, he's related) - to encourage me to become a solo stage comedian, early in 1987 at the legendary Harold Park Hotel (Sydney's Prince Pat). I didn't want to do it at first. "Larry," I'd said, "Why would I want to be a solo comic? That's the saddest, most stressful life I can imagine."

Twenty-one years on, I can only confirm that I was absolutely right. Tish-boom! What a rollercoaster ride it's been since then! Sometimes. OK.

Damn it, you've read this far. I'll admit it's more closely resembled the scenic railway - exciting from afar, but a little bit clunky and far less thrilling, far less often, than you'd think. That's the trouble with showbiz. Only people who aren't in it think it's glamorous.

Now, I'm not saying there haven't been some sparkling moments! If I shut my eyes, I can still see those 40 panelbeaters from Moe, at the fabled Last Laugh theatre restaurant in Collingwood. Me and Coralee Hollow (my childhood sweetheart and fiancee of 25 years, who closely resembles Gina Riley) created Pick-A-Hit, the second-longestrunning Last Laugh show ever, and sometimes those crazy hens and bucks didn't even know the performance had started! What a tremendous training ground.

And you should have seen the dressing room.

By 1988, Mother England had called me, and grasped me to her ample bosom. From Aberdeen to Abergivenny, they loved me and I loved them right back, with backing tapes. I'll always remember getting on stage in Leeds and saying brightly: "Good evening, Manchester!" What a great start. I believe it was on the same evening of sparkling cabaret, when I left the stage to indulge in my customary audience menaces, that I heard one of a table of glowering, armscrossed yobs say quietly to his mates, "Wait until he gets a bit closer."

It might also have been the night I asked a woman at a front table when her baby was due, only to have her friend hiss at me, "She's not pregnant." I'll have to check my diary. But you get the idea.

Fragments and images whirl in the fast-forward of my mind - Eartha Kitt with her wig off backstage at the Hackney Empire, looking a little like ET; 2000 grey heads at the Dominion Theatre, Tottenham Court Road, searching their programs to work out who the hell I was at the 1995 Royal Variety Performance; Jeannie Little confiding backstage at The Mike Walsh Show that he didn't mind what you did to him in the sketches, as long as you don't touch the hair; introducing myself and Paul Capsis to kd lang at the Sydney Gay Games opening ceremony rehearsal, describing ourselves as a couple of the other turns on the bill, to which she glazed over and replied, "You're a couple of turds?"; meeting Kate Winslett in London, who reminded me that I had dragged her on stage in Edinburgh as a buxom 16- year-old; and the man at a Melbourne bar one lonely Christmas night who eyeballed me for a while, then said, "I must say, I'm a big fan . . ." "Thanks," I replied. ". . . of your early work," he continued.

BOB DOWNE IN iBOB

WHERE Melbourne Town Hall
WHEN Today, tomorrow and April 8 at 7.30pm
HOW MUCH $35
DETAILS Tel: 1300 660 013

The Gala, the opening night event of the 2005 Melbourne International Comedy Festival, gave proof of an embarrassment of riches in the comedy world. Televised next week, The Gala was like a reality TV audition with 26 comics and acts from America, Canada, Australia and Britain trotting out to deliver four-minute offerings to a theatre crammed with judges.

Some acts took on the challenge with extraordinary gusto, some were unruffled returning entrants and some shouldn't have come at all. Unlike reality TV talent shows, the latter were rare.

Host Dave Hughes ambled on between acts to voice his unpretentiously honest, and un-PC thoughts.

Irish comic Jason Byrne started full tilt, arriving with a cardboard box, crazed hair and a manner so manically anxious and driven that it veered into a somehow charming, bullying anger. After grabbing an audience member, shoving him in the box, demanding he make car noises and then hitting and swearing at him when the box ripped, Byrne was still, astonishingly, funny.

Other highlights included American Maria Bamford with her characterisations of wound-up Americans. Bamford's brand of fast, wide-eyed and candy-coated excursions into neuroticism ("I'm not so much depressed as paralysed by hope") succinctly summed-up the warped self-obsession we suspect of many Americans (and increasingly ourselves).

The polar opposite in onstage manner, Demetri Martin, another American comic, wooed all with his low-key and endearing observations of the less obvious aspects of life. Appearing like a sensitive college student who has spent hours in his bedroom staring at the moon, playing guitar and writing short poems about the curiosity of life, Martin's softly-delivered one-liners, accompanied by melodic guitar ramblings, were a balm amid the surrounding hoopla.

Adam Hills's set about the insidious effect of women's magazines on its readers had a sincerity often missing in stand-up while the SNAG-like sincerity of Jeff Green's views on his girlfriend's obsessions and emotional games saved him from appearing a sexist, boring dope.

British comic Danny Bhoy did a fine set about Australian logic, Tripod's honed ensemble work appeared even sharper and rubber-hipped, teflon-haired Bob Downe and his Pussy Posse dancers proved they should be taking their show to Broadway.

But if any act should crack these pseudo-auditions it is the strange and darkly brilliant Kransky Sisters. Eve, Arva and Mourne, the three endearing spinsters from Queensland who sing and play the saw, the tuba and the guitar, presented such a nervously haunting version of Pretty Woman, it stirred even the hardest audience critic.
Lenny Ann Low

Generously sharing his 21st birthday with a house full of gatecrashers, Bob recaps fond moments, tells party-worthy jokes, sings, struts, preens and even dances on ice under disco lights with miraculous balance despite his gangly form. Additional treats for party attendees also include special birthday messages from celebrities in person and via "satellite" to celebrate the momentous occasion.

Complete with song, dance and even a birthday card to sign, everyone in the theatre is actively encouraged to participate in the joyous event, with both of Bob's stringy arms wide open with welcome!

Bob Downe is his usual flamboyant, podium-loving self, while Gabby Millgate brilliantly dons several personas to add to the celebrations. A nun, a homie, an actress and an assassin all share and reminisce in aspects of Bob's comically diverse life.

With his slender figure, nimble feet, plastic hair and pristine, flawless smile –the end of the show brings with it a great love for the endearingly sparkly, multi-talented fellow! Even though it is a great tragedy that there was no cake present, I suppose it's no excuse to ditch an old friend's birthday! So join in and share the fun at the cracker festival – and heck, just bring your own cake if you must!

The Good: Light, frisky entertainment.

The Bad: There was no cake.

The Vibe: It's a party!

From March 11
Sydney Comedy Cracker Festival
www.ticketek.com

There are two celebrity autographs you won't be able to buy for love nor money when the old Continental parts with its archives in March. If Rolf Harris or Jimmy Smith are your personal saviours, you're out of luck.

Former Conti proprietors Mario DePasquale and Mario Maccarone are sentimental enough about their old joint in Prahran to have hung onto one signed poster each from its eight-year history.

But the authentic marks of Harry Connick, Henry Rollins, Johnnie Johnson, Roger McGuinn, Cat Power, Lydia Lunch and about 320 others are up for grabs at the exhibition that opens at the Artery tomorrow.

Legends of widely varying stature and style have spilled ink on the distinctive A3 artworks that Maccarone devised with graphic artist Graham Barker in 1993.

There's Fairport Convention, Janis Ian, Joe Zawinul, Paul Keating, Bob Downe and Julian Lennon. Paul Kelly, Chris Wilson and Texan guitar slingers Kieran Kane and Kevin Welch are just a few who made live records there.

Taking a leisurely lunch at their other place, Mario's Cafe in Fitzroy, the two Marios' dreamlike personal memories of the Conti come thick and fast — Jimmy Webb, Steve Morse, Robben Ford, Tim Finn, World Party, kd lang, Vince Jones. The nightmares are markedly fewer, but they resurface, too.

"What about the Drifters? How tragic was that?" Mario M asks his partner. "There was one original member, I think, or maybe he just knew one of the original guys. But one was particularly drunk, too." "He could hardly stand!"

Mario D recalls. "Actually, there were a few of those over the years. We won't mention who, because some of them are still playing around town. Chris Whitley was particularly difficult to deal with, I remember. And Blossom Dearie. She was a nightmare."

Performers loved playing there. Local artists always used to bring their parents along. The two Marios had worked together in hospitality, on and off, for 10 years when they launched the Conti, first the downstairs restaurant in '92, then as an upstairs dinner-and-music venue in '93. Maccarone had also worked with Henry Maas and the Bachelors from Prague, so he knew a thing or two about style and music.

"We were very image-conscious," Mario D says. "I remember me and Henry screenprinting the Bachelors posters ourselves, three or four colour posters that were quite ambitious for their day."

Artist Graham Barker was also in on the Bachelor action. John Bleaney soon took over at the Conti, but the "house style" of the posters never changed. "It was important to us that if you look at the very first poster and the very last one that they belong."

Opening week at the Conti in June 1993 was six nights of Kate Ceberano, then at a peak of her jazz-pop crossover phase. Her friends — guests such as Vika and Linda Bull, Deborah Conway and Chris Wilson — signified an immediate rapport with local musicians that would last until the venue's spectacular final fling.

"Performers loved playing there," Mario D says. "Local artists always used to bring their parents along when they played there. It was that kind of place. 'Hey, Mum and Dad, look what I'm doing.'"

The only person unimpressed by the Continental's facilities was whimsical American pop oddity Jonathan Richman. Through a useful quirk of fate, the Conti enjoyed the technical expertise of legendary American production design pioneer Chip Monck (he's a whole other story that begins with Woodstock and includes the Stones and the Pope). But Richman didn't like the sound system.

"Not because it was too small, but because it was too big," Mario M says with a laugh. Richman ended up scaling down to two fold-back wedges, the little speakers artists use to hear themselves on stage, then packed out three nights that remain among the Marios' fondest memories.

The good times came to an end in May 2001 with an all-star celebration that completed the local heroes' circle: Paul Kelly, Stephen Cummings and cast of 60 other Melbourne giants sent off the Conti in grand style.

You get the feeling the Marios could talk forever about that, or Dan Penn, John Hammond, Colin Hay, Jimmy Smith and Rolf Harris, and still have memories of another stellar encounter jogged by the piles of posters sadly stacked upstairs and ready to ship to the gallery.

"We always said we were keeping them for charity," says Mario D. The relocation costs of community radio station Triple R FM, long a friend of the Continental, seemed an appropriate beneficiary.

After that? The Marios look very much at home sipping their coffee on Brunswick Street, under the sign that bears their names. As far as running a music venue goes, "I never say never," one says.

CONTI POSTERS
WHERE Exhibition at the Artery, 87 Moor Street, Fitzroy; auction at Fitzroy Town Hall
WHEN Exhibition from tomorrow until March 12; auction March 19, registration from noon.
DETAILS www.rrr.org.au

Thanks to a stellar line-up and a topic that's been dividing audiences since the days of Prisoner and Number 96, the annual Mardi Gras event should pack all the punch of a prize-fight.

Speakers, including comedian Mark Trevorrow, gender illusionist Courtney Act and science broadcaster Bernie Hobbs, will debate the subject "Big Brother's queer eye is only for the straight guy: token TV gays and lesbians are not reality".

Author Neil Drinnan, satirist Phil Scott and comic Libbi Gorr will also bring their wit to the ACON charity event, under the supervision of MC Margaret Pomeranz.

And while sides are still being finalised, the evening is already shaping up as pure entertainment.

Speakers will use humour and maybe even a few dirty tricks to trump the opposition, while exploring the more serious question of gay and lesbian representation on TV.

"We'll talk a lot about the kinds of stereotypes that get reinforced and broken down and ideas that are played with, but in a really fun way," Bernie Hobbs told SSO.

"It's just great to get out there and have a stab and a dig at everyone and have a bit of fun and raise a bit of money," said Hobbs, who will be arguing the affirmative case.

Courtney Act, meanwhile, is slated for the negative team, and says mind games, costume and a barb or two will be her Great Debate strategy.

"I'm currently reading Psychology For Dummies," said Act, herself a reality TV survivor after the first series of Australian Idol.

And while she would try to keep things civil, Act said she would happily fire back if provoked.

"There's no personal grudges in debating, just arguing facts," she said, "unless somebody slings mud, in which case I'm happy to sling mud back."

Fellow speaker Mark Trevorrow is equally enthusiastic about next week's debate – and its topic.

"We've been invisible for too many thousands of years – any visibility is good," he told Sydney Star Observer.

"And what the hell's wrong with nelly queens being on TV anyway when there's so many nelly queens in the world?"

The Great Debate is on Wednesday 23 February at 8pm at the Seymour Centre, cnr City Rd and Cleveland St, Chippendale.

Tickets cost $35 or $30 concession.

Book on 9351 7940 or at the Seymour Centre Box Office.
Ian Gould

This year Ashley is staging a sequel in which the hero has to cope with fame in the more egalitarian world of reality TV, and that means making his own reality shows, Trevor-style.

"He's a bit despondent with the fact that anybody seems to be able to become a pop star, they haven't had to do it the old fashioned way any more and get on a soap," Ashley says, consistently referring to his alter ego in the third person.

"So he has gone along with the whole reality television vein and started to produce his own television shows about his life."

And so, Ashley found himself on a farm last week milking a cow and riding a horse for a parody of The Simple Life. Then he was lambasted in front of a pair of vicious TV talent show judges – played by Todd McKenney and Shauna Jensen.

Everything this time around is bigger and better, Ashley says. He's directing and producing the show himself, is staging the piece upstairs at the Midnight Shift (which is being transformed into "The Princess Room") and has roped in 22 celebrities, such as Simon Burke, Angela Bishop and Bob Downe, to star in video interludes.

"This version of the show is really what I always wanted Pop Princess to be, which was to get celebrities to really make it believable that Trevor is a big pop star," Ashley says.

"It's really been a hoot and they've all been such good sports, not to mention that I got to pash Craig McLachlan. He's a very good sport."

Pop Princess 2: Australian Idle is playing at The Princess Room at the Midnight Shift, 85 Oxford Street, Darlinghurst, from 8 February to 3 March. Phone 1300 306 776 or visit www.mca-tix.com for bookings.
Tim Benzie

Governor Bashir will give the welcome address to an expected 15,000 people and will speak on this year's festival theme, "Our freedom, your freedom".

Her participation "shows there are people in the government willing to support us and who see the benefit of what our event brings to the city", New Mardi Gras co-chair Steph Sands said.

Bashir has a history of supporting Sydney's queer community organisations, including the NSW Gay And Lesbian Counselling Service and The Luncheon Club.

Comedian Bob Downe will MC the event, which will feature performances by the Dikes On Mikes Lesbian Idol finalists, Courtney Act, Cher impersonator Candi Stratton, Enda Markey, Sexy Galexy and Claire de Lune. Entertainer Judi Connelli will give the keynote address.

"Launch is the start of a huge season for us," Sands said, adding that the night would close with a "surprise finale that's going to knock your socks off".

While alcohol will be available to purchase, this year police are not allowing people to bring alcohol or glass into or out of the event. A New Mardi Gras spokesperson said the organisation wanted to make it very clear: "This is not a New Mardi Gras directive, rather one enforced by the police."

Straight after the launch the NSW Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby is holding fundraisers at both Stonewall and the Colombian. Most of the money raised will go toward creating the Lobby's Mardi Gras float, while some of it will go into their next major campaign on parenting.

There is also the post-launch dance party ThunderBird at Arq, featuring the likes of DJs Kate Monroe, Alex Taylor, DJ Josh, Mark Murphy and Sveta.

The launch kicks off four weeks of over 100 queer arts, sporting and community events taking place all around Sydney. The festival ends on 5 March with the parade and party.

The Launch starts at 8pm at Hyde Park on Friday 4 February. It will finish at approximately 9:30pm, though DJs will play music in the park until 11pm. Entry to the Colombian and Stonewall is free, while ThunderBird at Arq costs $25 in advance or $30 on the door.
Myles Wearring

What the musician Tim Freedman did for the inner-west music scene, the Enmore Theatre hopes to do for the inner-west comedy scene with the inaugural Cracker Comedy festival, launched in Sydney yesterday.

"I've applied for my passport and visa to get into Newtown every night," says the inner-east Sydney resident Mark Trevorrow, aka comedian Bob Downe, who is presenting i Bob at the festival.

That's because the festival, which features more than 40 acts throughout March, has its heartland at the Enmore Theatre, although other venues include the Comedy Store at Fox Studios, the Vanguard in Newtown, Sidetrack Studio Theatre in Marrickville and the Petersham RSL @Newtown. The line-up includes Akmal Saleh, who has been seen on The Glass House, Julia Morris from Full Frontal, and the Umbilical Brothers, as well as the American satirist Sandra Bernhard, British comedian Ross Noble and the guy who is the brother in Everybody Loves Raymond, Brad Garrett.

Cracker is not the first attempt at a comedy festival in Sydney. The burgeoning Big Laugh Comedy Festival is in its fifth year at the Riverside Theatres in Parramatta, and will run concurrently with Cracker, sharing a handful of the acts. There was talk of joining forces, but the focus and schedules of the organisations didn't gel.

Established in 2001 by the founder of the Melbourne Comedy Festival, John Pinder, the Big Laugh ran over four days with 12 acts. This year, it will run over 18 days with 38 events.

Other attempts haven't managed to take root. A Sydney Comedy Festival at the now-defunct Harold Park Hotel in Glebe was founded in 1998, but it folded a year later.

Cracker's director, Elia Eliades, who runs the Enmore Theatre with his family, spent seven years concocting the festival.

"You've really got to get it right that first year, otherwise you've cut off your nose to spite your face because there is no momentum," he says. "There have been occasions previously where we could have a run for it, but we weren't 100 per cent comfortable with the talent line-up."

Eliades's cautious approach is understandable, and there's also the hackneyed argument of Sydney-versus-Melbourne comedy to contend with. The southern city has developed the prestigious Melbourne International Comedy Festival, one of the three largest such festivals in the world.

Trevorrow believes the difference between Sydney and Melbourne comedy is mostly about marketing. "I think it's in people's heads that there's some huge difference between Sydney and Melbourne," he says.

"Melbourne has really successfully marketed their comedy festival. It's all about marketing. That's the age we live in."

As for styles, Trevorrow sees no difference in approach by Sydney and Melbourne artists: "I think we all have a similar kinetic, high-energy, iconoclastic approach to comedy. I think that's why Australia bats out of our league as far as creative contributions go internationally, because the comedy interchange has always been very profound between the cities in terms of talent and management."
Alexa Moses and Lenny Ann Low

Trevorrow admits that he's been playing the role all his life. And the Generation X fascination with seventies culture has paralleled the rise of Downe's own popularity. But Bob was doing the seventies long before they became popular again. He found his look in the late seventies and is stuck there.

In fact, Trevorrow began satirising the popular culture of earlier decades some twenty years ago with his sixties revival act the Globos. The Bob Downe character evolved several years later and his popularity has expanded with performances in Britain and America. He's appeared at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival and the Edinburgh Fringe, the Royal Variety Performance and the Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras.

The funny thing is that Bob now finds himself accepted as a regular part of the entertainment world and is invited onto the variety programs of the very people he is satirising. Like Barry Humphries he has become so popular that the objects of his satire can't see themselves writ large or, at least, choose to laugh along with it. Now the Prince of Polyester is celebrating 21 years in show business with iBob, a retrospective of his career with "new gags but old hair". He's joined on stage by side-kick Gabby Millgate (perhaps best remembered for her classic line "You're terrible Muriel" in the film Muriel's Wedding). A highlight of the show is a taste of songs from Bob's new CD Cold August Night.
Philip O'Brien

It's Bob's 21st birthday and you're invited! One of Australia's most loved and enduring comedy characters, BOB DOWNE, is back on the boards with an evening of hits, memories, tears and surprises.

In his first stage show for three years with stunning music and featuring Gabby Millgate ("You're terrible, Muriel!") as Bob's multi-talented, multi-character sidekick, you're in for a hilarious anniversary concert with the feel of a 60s/70s TV special. New costumes, new gags (same hair!)... medleys of Bob's greatest hits.
iBob - fully recharged

Cracker Night is a sensational line-up of local & international guests to celebrate the festival opening, with proceeds going to the Sydney Childrens Hospital. Following Cracker Night, join us for an opening night party at the Club Cracker , level 1 @newtown and... its free!

Starring Doug Stanhope (USA), Al Lubel (USA, Tony Woods (USA), Bruce Griffiths, Milton Jones (UK), Julia Morris, Garry Who, Bob Downe, Tahir, Gabby Millgate, Akmal, Rebel Wilson and more!

Lovers of Australian comedy should not miss this first time inclusion of comedy as part of the 2005 Seniors Week program. For this very special event Cracker, the inaugural Sydney Comedy Festival offers seniors a unique experience, with stand-up from some of Australia's leading personalities including Bob Downe, Mikey Robbins, Kitty Flanagan and Tahir Bilgic.

This is a FREE event for seniors and bookings are essential.

Venue
Enmore Theatre
When
Sat 19 March
Time
2pm - 3.10pm

iBob
21 years of getups, gags and hits!
starring BOB DOWNE
featuring Gabby Millgate

Venue: Enmore Theatre, Sydney
Shows: Friday March 11th & Saturday March 12th // Time: 7.30pm (approx 1.5 hours)
Tickets $34.90 Full, $29.90 Concession // Bookings: Ticketek 9550 3666

Born 1984, still going strong! It's Bob's 21st birthday - and you're invited. From the Last Laugh to the Royal Variety Performance, from 'Blah Blah Blah' to Mardi Gras, it's been an amazing two decades for the boy from Murwillumbah.

Downe is back on the boards with an evening of music, memories, tears and surprises, in his first stage show for three years: iBob – 21 YEARS OF GETUPS, GAGS + HITS!

With GABBY MILLGATE ("You're terrible, Muriel!") as Bob's multi-talented, multi-character sidekick, you're in for a hilarious anniversary show with the feel of a 60s/70s TV special. New costumes, new gags (same hair!)... medley's of Bob's greatest hits... a taster from his NEW Live CD, 'COLD AUGUST NIGHT'... and more. iBob - fully recharged!

BOB DOWNE, one of Australia's most loved and enduring comedy characters, is the creation of broadcaster and entertainer MARK TREVORROW.

In 1984 Mark formed a comedy duo in which Bob Downe was born and three years later went solo with the character at Sydney's Harold Park Hotel. In 1988 be took Bob to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, where he was a huge instant success. Bob Downe played throughout the 1990s to ever larger British audiences, with Mark in perpetual commute between London and Sydney, putting a multitude of UK TV credits under his beige belt.

Back in Australia, Bob hosted three Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade broadcasts for Network Ten, each a ratings success. Mark was awarded Cabaret Artiste of the Year at the prestigious 1999 and 2000 Green Room Awards. His comedy/chat series, THE BOB DOWNE SHOW (Foxtel/TV1) went to air in 2000-01, with a series highlights DVD released in February by Kaleidoscope. Meanwhile, Bob's last three live tours – MILLION SELLERS (1998), WHITER! BRIGHTER! (2000) and COLD AUGUST NIGHT (2002) – have played to thousands of fans throughout Australia and the UK.

Much to Bob's chargrin, Mark Trevorrow has recently become a star in his own right with a hit ABC series, THE WAY WE WERE (2004).

BOB DOWNE PR: Miranda Brown Publicity, Phone: (03) 9419 0931, Email: info@mbpublicity.com.au

CRACKER PUBLICITY: 6dc – Amanda Fry
T: 9557 0770 M: 0418 262 282 E: amanda@6dc.com.au

Donovan will perform her song What's Going On for the first time when she joins a star-studded line-up on the lawns of Parliament House in Canberra for the event. The 16-year-old will be joined by Australian Idol runner-up Anthony Callea, who will sing his single The Prayer.

Dein Perry will use the concert to return to the stage with his dance troupe Tap Dogs after an absence of almost seven years.

Perry has chosen the concert to preview his new-look troupe.

The concert, on January 25, will begin with an awards ceremony during which the Australian of the Year is announced.

It will be followed by a two-hour concert hosted by Big Brother personality Gretel Killeen and featuring Icehouse, Marcia Hines, Diesel and comedians Bob Downe and Scared Little Weird Guys.

That's right... The steps of Parliament House are set to continue as Australia's most unusual rock arena in 2005.

While the country eagerly awaits the arrival of Australia Day, you'll be able to party alongside some of Australia's hottest stars and a live audience of over 20,000 people at Celebrate! - Australia Day Live.

What a way to kick-start Australia Day!

Back by popular demand is Marcia Hines, Bob Downe and host Gretel Kileen of Big Brother fame. Stars such as Canberra hip-hop act and winner of the 2004 ARIA for best urban release, Koolism, Australian rocker, Diesel, comedy duo Scared Weird Little Guys will all be coming out to play!

What could be more Australian than watching our best Aussie talent perform LIVE - from the heart of the nation.

Plus...There'll be a spectacular light show designed to thrill live and television audiences projected onto the walls of Parliament House. Come and see the House as you have never seen it before.

If you can't make it to Canberra for one of Australia's greatest free outdoor events, don't panic! From 8:30pm, you can catch all the action via a live broadcast on Network Ten. So… you'll still be able to enjoy an unforgettable concert experience.

Celebrate! Australia Day Live 2005. It's big, it's live and it's all Australian. Enjoy the party atmosphere this 25 January, Australia Day Eve and join the celebration of a nation!

See you there!

What: Celebrate! - Australia Day Live
When: 8.20pm, Australia Day Eve Tuesday, 25 January 2005
Where: Lawns of Parliament House, Canberra

Mardi Gras 2005 > The Great Debate

Is a quarter of every apartment block in Sydney really gay? Perhaps that's a rhetorical question - but other questions should prove challenging to the Great Debate's topic: Big Brother's Queer Eye is Only for the Straight Guy: Token TV Gays and Lesbians are not reality. Will our celebrity debaters be as witty as Carson or as cliched as 'Just Jack' ? You will decide who makes the strongest case, and whether or not the teams are really Playing It Straight.

MC Margaret Pomeranz will hold the remote control for our celebrity debaters including:

Mark Trevorrow - comedian and friend of Bob Downe

Libbi Gorr - comedian and friend of Elle McFeast

Neil Drinnan - Author of Glove Puppet, Pussy's Bow and Quill

Bernie Hobbs - ABC TV/Radio Presenter and sexy science gal

Phil Scott - Satirist and witty pianist

Courtney Act - gender illusionist and reality tv survivor

WHERE: The Seymour Centre (corner of City Rd and Cleveland St, Chippendale)
WHEN: Wed 23 Feb 2005 8:00 PM - 11:00 PM
PRICE: Full $35.00 / Concession $30.00
Limited concession tickets available directly from ACON Concession is HCC
BOOKINGS: (02) 9351 7940/Seymour Centre Box Office

Presented By: ACON

Mardi Gras 2005 > Launch

Launch 2005 - Friday 4 February 6pm-11pm

It's that time of year again... Mardi Gras season is here! It's our 27th season, and we invite you to join your MC, Mark Trevorrow, for a balmy Sydney summer evening filled with rousing speakers, funky beats, a sneak preview of Festival events and tasty refreshments from the food fair. It's a unique celebration of our community's art, entertainment and politics. Launch yourself into the wild and wonderful four-week Festival as you link up with like-minded people and catch up with old friends. Sit back and enjoy the stunning entertainment, then stay for the party in the park as it continues long after the speeches and songs.

WHERE: Hyde Park (College St)