To have suggested 25 years ago that The Wharf Revue would last 25 years would have been one of the jokes.
Wanted: satirists to fill gaping holes in the political and theatrical landscapes. Must be able to write, act, sing, dance, direct, play musical instruments, cross-dress, mimic, and be funny for 25 years. Yes, that’s how long Jonathan Biggins, Drew Forsythe and Phillip Scott have been creating and performingHelping them maximise the displaced water were the inestimable Mandy Bishop, whose acting range has enriched so many editions, and the versatile David Whitney, diving in for a third time.
As well as a disturbingly creepy Murdoch, Drew Forsythe administered a final dose of Pauline Hanson, a feat of mimicry that’s become more eerily accurate with the passing years. The queen of spoonerisms assured us British Muslims believe Shakespeare wrote his plays in Islamic pentameter, that she is not anti-semantic, and nor is she self-defecating.
Biggins reprised his timeless Keating, gave us a grotesquely idiotic Abbott, a young Albo and the self-destructive Bandt . Scott revisited his Rudd, who’s grown ever weirder, and offered cameos as diverse as Miriam Margolyes, Alan Kohler and a gifted musical director. Or perhaps the latter was real. Whitney had fun with Joe Hockey to Biggins’ Matthias Cormann, while his pitch-perfect Dutton was part Evangelical, part Halloween spook.
They astutely shied away from Trump , and a Zuckerberg/Musk/Bezos sketch landed rather bumpily on Mars. But lesser material fades quickly from the mind, leaving ample room to relish countless uproarious moments from across all those years. What a gift – not just to us but to the health of the political discourse. The run-up to Christmas will never be the same again.has written about music and theatre since 1981 in more than 30 publications, including for Fairfax Media since 1993.
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Airmiles Albo is just months away from his political reckoningThe Prime Minister may or may not have ignited fires in the bellies of Labor MPs and senators with his promise to increase his majority at the next election.
Read more »
Albo’s Spicks and Specks spot struck the right note, but won’t change the tuneYou would have to have a heart of concrete to deny the PM his fun, but some voters are genuinely miffed at a time when Albanese is becoming increasingly unpopular.
Read more »
Before we send Albo to the ejection seat, let’s look at Dutton’s itineraryThe Qantas upgrades saga is a tale about personal integrity and trust – for the opposition leader as much as the prime minister.
Read more »
‘Airbus Albo’ has forgotten he has his own planeThe immediate decision before Albanese was how to deal with two important heads of state asking for attention at almost the same time. Why couldn’t he satisfy both?
Read more »
‘I earn a good income’: Albo defends $4.3m house purchasePrime Minister Anthony Albanese has fronted the media after news broke of his purchase of a $4.3 million home at Copacabana on the NSW Central Coast.
Read more »
Albo’s Spicks and Specks spot struck the right note, but won’t change the tuneYou would have to have a heart of concrete to deny the PM his fun, but some voters are genuinely miffed at a time when Albanese is becoming increasingly unpopular.
Read more »