Produced by Chris Endrey and Meg O’Connell. Old Parliament House Museum of Australian Democracy . 3 Sep 2013
It’s been five months since the first instalment of In Canberra Tonight unleashed itself onto polite Canberra society, and what a difference time has made. It seems the crew behind this parochial and very popular variety show have swiftly hit their stride, smoothing out any initial teething problems and producing a show that is undeniably top shelf.
Being an election special, producers Chris Endrey and Meg O’Connell managed to wangle some serious politics-related talent, including the likes of political cartoonists, First Dog on the Moon and David Pope; SBS Chief Political Correspondent, Karen Middleton (also a guest at the inaugural In Canberra Tonight); and Voluntary Euthanasia Party Senate candidate, Phillip Nitschke.
Backed by their regular in-house band, The House Rats, and cheered on by a sizeable audience squished into the backroom of this highly apt venue, the show warm up consisted of a ‘fun for all the family’ activity with show announcer Pablo Latona. Using an orchestration technique of sorts, Latona proceeded to whip our unruly applause and heckling into shape, achieving the equivalent of canned laughter to later draw upon throughout the night.
Kicking off the show was the cruel and unusual In Canberra Tonight tradition of O’Connell’s mock monthly job review, with her and Endrey absolutely nailing the intensely awkward power imbalance that is the dreaded performance assessment.
The first act of the night was the talented poet and hip-hop artist from Queanbeyan, Omar Musa. Turning words into verbal masterpieces, Musa gave his eloquent anti-establishment perspective on Canberra culture and the overall shitty state of affairs in Australian politics with gusto.
To explain the shitty situation in Australian affairs from a closer range, Karen Middleton next graced the stage with an impressive ten Federal Election notches on her belt. Offering some insider insights into how campaign elections are run on the media side, Middleton explained the deceptive tricks of politicians in orchestrating their public images and the frustration experienced by journalists when trying to get a decipherable answer to their questions.
Building on the highbrow tone of conversation, self-described liberal communitarian pragmatist economist, Steve Hattfield-Dodd, entered into the equation. Engaging in a meaty philosophical conversation with Middleton and host Chris Endrey, Hattfield-Dodd proceeded to take us out of our depths on everything from political ideology to his area of interest on addressing climate change. Before too many minds spontaneously combusted, the tempo of the show was mercifully taken down a notch with a chocolatey smooth lacuna from local songstress and Canberra’s answer to Missy Higgins, Hannah Beasley (of Ode to Skywhale fame).
Finishing off set one was a novel little act featuring Bullet Train for Australia Senate candidate, Chris Bucknell, attempting to demonstrate how a bullet train is the panacea to all of Australia’s woes. Bucknell considered any issue an audience member shouted, and his ability to instantly respond was actually quite spectacular (though not entirely convincing).
As impressive as the first set was, set two, featuring Australia’s prestigious political cartoonists, First Dog on the Moon and The Canberra Times’ David Pope, was undoubtedly the highlight of the evening. First treated to Banjo Patterson-inspired, election-themed poetry by a frenetic First Dog, Canberrans were then able to put both men to the test with a cartoon-off. As with Bucknell’s shtick, Pope and First Dog were then showered with random issues from the audience, which they then turned into their unique brands of satire right there on the spot. Suffice to say, the results beamed out through the antiquated projector were highly entertaining and incisive.
After another glorious musical interlude by accomplished classical pianist, Adam Cook, the last and perhaps most controversial guest of the evening, long-time euthanasia advocate Dr Philip Nitschke, joined Endrey for a more sombre conversation. A Senate candidate for the Voluntary Euthanasia Party, Nitschke will be joined by a number of other candidates that are terminally ill for this year’s election. Visibly taking the audience off-guard, Nitschke gave us an intimate view of the process of euthanasia, the legal status of the practice in Australia and the views of those who would prefer to die with dignity.
On this sobering note, In Canberra Tonight ended with a photomontage of the election that was this 2013 and an attempt to rile the crowd with a corny but strangely uplifting rendition of Bruce Springsteen’s Dancing in the Dark. Reserved as always, the majority of those seated steadfastly resisted the temptation to stand up and take part in the interactivity. However, there was a somewhat spirited attempt on stage by the production’s crew to get the party going, with Endrey enthusiastically decked out in the garb of the era.
It must be said; Endrey has become quite the charismatic showman as host of In Canberra Tonight. With an eternal spring of witty banter constantly bubbling to the surface, he has harnessed this talent well and balanced it with a focused and thoughtful interviewing technique that mitigated any risk of pointlessness. Endrey milked the absolute best out of his line up of extraordinary guests, and ultimately kept the evening energised and intellectually stimulating throughout.
Overall, In Canberra Tonight’s Election Special was both an insightful and colloquial retrospection on the last couple of months of campaigning, as well as a look into the crystal ball on the future of Australian democracy. Coupled with lashings of satire and a fine sample of Canberra musical talent, it certainly served to ease the pain of this rather uninspiring period of Australian political history. Best of all, it allowed the public to get up close and personal with some influential figures to shoot the breeze freely, without the agenda ridden, sanitising influence of the mainstream media. I eagerly await what the team have in store post-elections!
Deborah Hawke
When: Closed
Where: Old Parliament House
Bookings: Closed
