Richard McKenzie is becoming just a little worried about the possible controversy he might be about to stir up at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, but being “new”, “daring” and “innovative” is all part of being granted a Moosehead Award.
This year Richard has entitled his show “ANZAC” and takes a look at the McKenzie family’s history, rather than at what could be assumed to be a one-sided, politically based attack on Australia’s military involvement. “My dad, grandfather, uncle, great uncle and great grandfather were all in the military, and I’m sure when my family saw that mum and dad had four sons, they were assured that our proud family tradition would continue. Not quite. Instead they got two comedians, one drummer and one actor” he says.
The narrative develops around the juxtaposition between the McKenzies’ military past and the career based direction of which the boys of Richard’s generation have taken. “They defended our nation by going to war and being shot at” says Richard, “and I do it by telling jokes about the Big Brother housemates”.
This year’s road to the Melbourne International Comedy Festival has been on the relatively easy side with the assistance from director Russell Fletcher, along with Richard’s father. “I have my dad calling up everyday with another war story, so the whole thing is writing itself” he explains. “I was lucky in that my grandfather kept a massive collection of postcards, letters, journals, etc of all the McKenzies, so my source material base is huge”.
Like the other Moosehead recipients this year, Damian Callinan and Penny Tangey, Richard is very grateful of the assistance the people behind the Moosehead provide. “It’s so nice to have a bunch of people helping you out with all the bits and pieces that go together to make up a show” he says. “Getting on stage and gigging is the tip of the massive iceberg. Underneath is all the poster design, media releases, tech requirements, room hire and the list goes on.”
Despite the underlying necessities of putting a festival show together, Richard has no regrets and plans more shows in the future, though by the sounds of things they’re probably going to steer away from controversial topics such as war, politics and ANZACs. “I think my next show will be all about my favourite things. Ninjas, pirates and monkeys. That would be sweet.”