Culture of Australia - Humour

Humour

Comedy is an important part of the Australian identity. The "Australian sense of humour" is often characterised as dry, irreverent and ironic, exemplified by the works of performing artists like Barry Humphries and Paul Hogan. The quirks of Australian multiculturalism have also provided fodder for comedy.

The convicts of the early colonial period helped establish anti-authoritarianism as a hallmark of Australian comedy. Influential in the establishment of stoic, dry wit as a characteristic of Australian humour were the bush balladeers of the 19th century, including Henry Lawson, author of "The Loaded Dog". His contemporary, Banjo Paterson, contributed a number of classic comic poems. CJ Dennis wrote humour in the Australian vernacular - notably in The Songs of a Sentimental Bloke. The Dad and Dave series about a farming family was an enduring hit of the early 20th century. The World War I ANZAC troops were said to often display irreverence in their relations with superior officers and dark humour in the face of battle.

Australian comedy has a strong tradition of self-mockery, from the outlandish Barry McKenzie expat-in-Europe ocker comedies of the 1970s, to the quirky outback characters of the Crocodile Dundee films of the 1980s, the suburban parody of Working Dog Productions' 1997 film The Castle and the dysfunctional suburban mother–daughter sitcom Kath & Kim. In the 1970s, satirical talk-show host Norman Gunston (played by Garry McDonald), with his malapropisms, sweep-over hair and poorly shaven face, rose to great popularity by pioneering the satirical "ambush" interview technique (later employed by Britain's Sacha Baron Cohen as Ali G) and giving unique interpretations of pop songs. Roy and HG provide an affectionate but irreverent parody of Australia's obsession with sport. The Dream with Roy and HG has been a regular feature of Olympic television coverage since the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

Since the 1950s, the satirical character creations of Barry Humphries have included housewife "gigastar" Edna Everage and "Australian cultural attaché" Les Patterson, whose interests include boozing, chasing women and flatulence. For his delivery of dadaist and absurdist humour to millions, biographer Anne Pender described Humphries in 2010 as "the most significant comedian to emerge since Charlie Chaplin".

The vaudeville talents of Graham Kennedy, Don Lane and Bert Newton earned popular success during the early years of Australian television. The variety show Hey Hey It's Saturday screened for three decades. Among the best loved Australian sitcoms was Mother and Son, about a divorcee who had moved back into the suburban home of his mother - but sketch comedy has been the stalwart of Australian television. The Comedy Company, in the 1980s, featured the comic talents of Mary-Anne Fahey, Ian McFadyen, Mark Mitchell, Glenn Robbins, Kym Gyngell and others. Growing out of Melbourne University and The D-Generation came The Late Show (1991–1993), starring the influential talents Santo Cilauro, Tom Gleisner, Jane Kennedy, Tony Martin, Mick Molloy and Rob Sitch (who later formed Working Dog Productions); and during the 1980s and 1990s Fast Forward (Steve Vizard, Magda Szubanski, Marg Downey, Michael Veitch, Peter Moon and others) and its successor Full Frontal, which launched the career of Eric Bana and featured Shaun Micallef.

The perceptive wit of Clive James and Andrew Denton has been popular in the talk-show interview style. Representatives of the "bawdy" strain of Australian comedy include Rodney Rude, Austen Tayshus and Chad Morgan. Quintessential Australian country music hits included the novelty songs "A Pub with No Beer" (1957) by Slim Dusty and "Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport" (1960s) by Rolf Harris which help define a comic tradition of Australian music.

Cynical satire has had enduring popularity, with television series such as Frontline, targeting the inner workings of "news and current affairs" TV journalism, The Hollowmen (2008), set in the office of the Prime Minister's political advisory (spin) department, and The Chaser's War on Everything, which cynically examines domestic and international politics. Actor/writer Chris Lilley has produced a series of award winning "mockumentary" style television series about Australian characters since 2005.

Post-war immigration has seen migrant humour flourish: from They're a Weird Mob (1957) about an Italian immigrant adapting to Sydney life, to the works of Vietnamese refugee Anh Do, Egyptian stand-up comic Akmal Saleh and Nick Giannopoulos' Wog Boy 2: Kings of Mykonos (2010) about second generation Australian Greeks returning to their ancestral home.

The annual Melbourne International Comedy Festival is one of the largest comedy festivals in the world, and a popular fixture on the city's cultural calendar.

Australian tastes can be eclectic when it comes to imported comedy from other English speaking countries, with American series like M*A*S*H, Seinfeld, and The Simpsons acquiring devoted followings in Australia - but so too such quintessentially British comedies as Fawlty Towers, The Goodies, Blackadder and The Office.