“We used that once and that stuff just sticks like cement,” admits Nicholas Conway, discussing that time they made fake blood out of cornflour, golden syrup and food dye, a common but deadly combination. “It was terrible, and I guess because we weren’t very quick getting it off afterwards; we added it at the start of the show and it sat there for an hour, and by the end of the [show] it was pretty much [super] glue.”
Advertising Death is the brainchild of Nicholas Conway, Pud Hamilton, Henry Koehne, Alister McMichael and Daniel Murnane, a black musical comedy that illustrates the tale of two brothers who own a financially unviable funeral home and their vain attempt to save it from bankruptcy through an illicit funeral arrangement. The show boasts influences from classic British comedies – Monty Python, Black Adder, Faulty Towers – and cult-generating comedic duo Flight of the Conchords, imbued with a matter-of-fact manner that would even make David Mitchell (Peep Show, Would I Lie To You?) laugh.
“I guess that’s the good thing about black humour,” muses Conway, “you can appeal to a lot of people, mainly because it’s a darker level of comedy. Perhaps the jokes aren’t always laugh-out-loud funny, but I’d say they probably resonate with people for a lot longer. It’s [also] quite piercing comedy as well. You have to rely on the words and not the slapstick [comedy] around it.”
This was a challenge that saw George Glass Boys draw upon their combined years of comedy work, including stand-up gigs, high school theatre, and Adelaide Fringe Festival. It allowed them to craft Advertising Death into a definitive comedy that both mocks and celebrates death – drawing upon the dichotomy of life and death – and turning their faults into multifaceted relatable jokes.
“One of the main things about our [work] is the music involved. It’s [also] very, very abstract and a lot of it is not very plausible or possible,” elaborates the comedian, iterating that audience members can expect plenty of bodily fluids, cross-dressing, dancing and plain ole shenanigans at Advertising Death in April. “In our show [the characters] kind of [balance] the line between deciding the best way to kill someone or not kill someone.” A decision that is the crux of the comedy, whether to murder a man to reap the the benefits of his funeral, or not.
“I think the characters don’t necessarily like what they’re doing, or the fact that the business is struggling so much,” continues Conway thoughtfully. “But I don’t think many of the characters do terrible things throughout the show, [but when they do] there’s definitely self-loathing [there]. It’s like Death at the Funeral – that strong type of British [dark] humour, but ours is less British and more Australian.”
BY AVRILLE BYLOK-COLLARD
