Simon Palomares – My Two boys
Former Wog-Out-Of Work and Acropolis Now star Simon Palomares is shrugging off his ethnic roots and introducing us to the FILF-about-town side of his personality with a brand new Melbourne International Comedy Festival Show, “My Two Boys”.
In last year’s hugely successful Il Dago, you strayed from the dago into the dad with some excellent material about your sons. The title of your show “My Two Boys” gives a fairly clear indication of the subject matter, but tell us a little bit about it anyway.
The new show explores watching your kids growing up while you are still growing up yourself. I wasn’t sure how the whole emo thing was going to go with the Il Dago crowd but they lapped it and related to the juggling that is being part of a family. A few comedians are doing jokes about emos but I’m one of the few card carrying parents of emos.
Are you worried your sons won’t like it and will drop you from their Top Friends in Myspace?
They’ve seen all of my shows; I think they get a bit of a kick out of being recognised in the crowd. We are getting to the point where if someone says something stupid around the house it’s usually followed by a chorus of “Well, that’s in the show now!”
You played to huge crowds with the ensemble show Il Dago last year, how do you like doing a solo show in a more intimate venue?
We did 2200 seat theatres with Il Dago and tried out this show in Adelaide in a ninety seat theatre; both have their own challenges. Some comics get thrown by a small crowd but I still try out material in small venues and if there are eight people in the room I treat it like a dinner party and go for it.
Il Dago really attracted the best-dressed and enthusiastic crowd for a Melbourne International Comedy Festival show. What sort of audience do you expect for ‘My Two Boys’?
We’ve had a really varied mix for this show; some of the ethnic crowd comes along and bring their teenage kids which is great. I had a couple in Adelaide who loved the show because they had brought up nine boys. The family themes open the show up to everybody and although I can’t get away from the fact I’m Spanish-Australian, nor do I want to, it’s not a wog show.
Your kids are only half-wog so how has their experience of growing up in Australia been different to yours?
They see themselves as being part Spanish though they don’t speak the language, but more importantly they have grown up in a time where changes like the internet and mobile phone have transformed the way we relate to each other completely. My sons talk to friends on Skype across the world and my father has a mobile phone with camera and has already taken a hundred and fifty photos of his ear.
Eleven years ago you wrote and performed an episode in the wonderful ABC series The Smallest Room in the House. I think it’s time the ABC revisited this with another series, would you be up for it?
Absolutely it was one of the best things I’ve ever done and a great challenge, I still think of Greg Fleet’s last ten minutes on that show as one of the most riveting moments in television, it took everybody involved out of their comfort zone. Eleven years ago? Jesus! Would I be up for it again? Bring it on!
Will you be finding the time to catch any of the other MICF shows? Who do you recommend?
Frank Woodley because he takes comedy to a new theatrical level and Fiona O’Loughlin because she is just great.
Simon Palomares – My Two Sons is on at Trades Hall, 19th – 30th March, Tues-Sun 7.15 pm from $20 – $28, for booking details click here