Interview with Damian Callinan
Erin Davidson: Last year at the MICF you took out the comedian’s choice ‘Piece of Wood’ Award for your show “Spaznuts” – much deservedly! I found it hilarious as well as emotional, (especially considering I met your parents in the line before the show) being based on the very personal subject of your infertility.
Damain Callinan: I hope they didn’t try to steal anything. That’s one of their old classic stings. Get in line at the theatre and one distracts a punter by saying they’re my parents while the other is rifling though pockets, etc. I suppose I shouldn’t complain – I get 15% commission.
ED: Is it a liberating or a petrifying experience to bare your soul on stage?
DC: The process of writing the show was cathartic and in that way it was liberating, but by the time I was ready to show it to an audience, my main concern was that the biographical content might be a little self-indulgent. I harboured a mild fear that I might be about to really bore people. In the end the result was quite surprising. I felt that the audience actually cared about what I was saying more than usual because it was true. Apart from a woman up in Tallangatta who after seeing the show asked me during a lull in conversation whether I had any kids.
ED: Can we expect any soul baring in your 2007 show “Sportsman’s Night?”
DC: Not so much soul bearing in this show. This was written before my ‘describe to the audience the size of your testicles’ phase. There is however some carefully placed messages and social commentary for those who want to go on the Easter egg hunt and lots of gags for those who prefer their eggs placed on the end of the bed. There is also ‘pathos’ for those who know what that means or ‘awkward moments’ for those that don’t.
ED: Tell the punters out there who haven’t previously seen it a bit about the show.
DC: It’s about a country footy club that’s been banned for instigating a massive brawl [on and off the field.] It’s not the first time it’s happened and the league loses patience with them and bans the club for three years. The club president puts on a ‘Sportsman’s Night’ to raise money for their legal appeal, but he takes his eye off the ball. He doesn’t realise that the hapless club secretary has organised some wildly inappropriate acts and that the new coach, changed by his time in the big league under an eccentric coach, has his own ‘theatrical’ ideas for the night that may subvert the violent culture of the club. The show is narrated by the nine-year old grandson of the club president who is making a documentary about the club in a quest to break from the conformity of the narrow-minded town he is trapped within.
ED: You also had a children’s comedy show, “Babysitting” during last years festival. I believe children can be some of the harshest critics. Describe the difference in preparing and performing a show for a young audience as compared to adults.
DC: Kids by their nature are a lot more interactive. I found with “Babysitting” that I had a script and a plotted order but it was a lot more fluid with the bits in between. Kids seem to respond more enthusiastically if they feel they are part of the show rather than just watching it. They also occasionally come on stage and hit you, which I’m glad to say hasn’t happened at an adult show.
ED: Most of your work that I’ve seen has been character based. Do you prefer that style of comedy to straight stand up?
DC: In the early part of my career I preferred characters and felt more comfortable in another skin but now I am equally comfortable being myself and slipping in and out of character as the moment demands. It’s quite liberating to just be yourself onstage and take the audience wherever you want to go. This show however is entirely character based and I love performing it and seeing how the audience react to each character. It can differ wildly from night to night.
ED: What does the rest of 2007 hold for you?
DC: I’m doing ‘The complete works of Shakespeare – abridged’ with Frank Woodley in Brisbane and Perth; taking “Spaznuts” to Edinburgh; working on a stage show about the history of Australia and paying someone to finish my novel.
ED: Will we be seeing you on our television screens again this year?
DC: I’ve just finished filming for the second series of ‘The Wedge.’ Cal Wilson and myself were recruited to help out this time around. I also just made a pilot for a comedy drama with a few of the kids who I worked with on ‘Skithouse’. Also hoping to fill in for Kerry O’Brien on the 7.30 report when he goes on holidays.
For booking details go to Sportsman Night