“I’m really struggling to keep up with the Federal Government’s sense of humour,” Quantock says. “And they’re definitely winning. They’re all comics – but that’s my job, so they should leave it to me!”
Quantock’s assessment of Tony Abbott’s government is a mixture of concern and bemusement. “In my lifetime I don’t think I’ve seen a more lost and incompetent government,” Quantock says. “They don’t have any policies. Abbott’s a real one for pulling something out of his arse, and Joe Hockey, well, the economy’s in such a lot of trouble – much more than it was under the previous government – so he’s had to start talking about the republic to distract attention.”
But for Quantock – who attributes his political edge to the Vietnam War (Quantock was called up for duty in the late 1960s) and subsequently the Franklin Dam protests in the early 1980s – it’s climate change that represents the most significant political issue of the moment. “I had an epiphany, and I realised that people in power aren’t always acting in the best interests of the people,” Quantock says.
Quantock’s comic companion this Friday night, Charlie Pickering, graduated from the local stand-up comedy scene to national public consciousness as host of Channel 10’s The Project before moving across to the ABC to host The Weekly. As host of the The Weekly, Pickering is continuing a tradition of satirical political observation that can be traced back to the BBC’s That Was the Week That Was in the early 1960s and more recently Jon Stewart’s tenure on The Daily Show and Stephen Colbert’s eponymous television show.
With audiences continuing to eschew traditional news media, satirical shows such as the Colbert Report and The Weekly are rapidly becoming the primary source of news for the younger generation. Quantock notes that the success of Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert’s programmes was so significant that members of the Republican Party in the United States recruited a troupe of comedians to tour the United States to often their own, conservative-focused satirical analysis of liberal causes and political figures.
“I think Charlie being on The Weekly on Channel 2 is a really positive thing for television,” Quantock says. But political satire on the ABC does come at a price: Quantock notes that “every word” of the show is checked by the ABC’s legal area for potential defamatory content, while external critics such as conservative think tank the Institute of Public Affairs maintain a constant vigil while searching for any sign of institutionalised bias. “I worked on a show called BackBerner about ten years ago, and everything had to be sent via the legal department, and we had to make sure we didn’t favour one side of the other – so if we had a go at one side of politics, we’d have to make sure we had a go at the other side to balance it up,” Quantock says.
For Quantock, being a stand-up comedian brings with it the freedom to explore political issues in a direct dialogue with the audience. “I have the luxury of having a job that requires me to do a lot of background research – I have to know what I’m talking about before I get up on stage,” Quantock says. “And I have extraordinary freedom – everyone should be a political comedian! There’s a freedom about working live that no other medium gives you – I’d never get the opportunity to do what I do on Channel 10 or in a column in the Herald Sun.”
Quantock has known Pickering for a number of years, though admits to not having crossed paths with his fellow comedian for two or three years. “He’s had a successful television career in that time, and I’m never on TV,” Quantock says. “So I haven’t spoken to him for a while. That’s part of the loneliness of being a stand-up comedian, that you don’t see people for a long time.”
While paying tribute to Pickering’s comic abilities (“he’s a fantastic stand-up comedian”) Quantock isn’t sure whether his younger colleague’s motivations are the same as his own. “I do [political comedy] because I get pissed off and angry, and I get desperate, especially about climate change, where I believe we really need to do something very soon,” Quantock says. “I think Charlie’s got carte blanche to say a lot, but on his television show he has to be very even-handed about it.”
Quantock says there isn’t anything particularly special planned for this Friday night’s show at the Yarraville Club. “It’ll be my turn, then his turn. I’ll do what I do, but I’m not sure what Charlie will do,” Quantock says. “I suppose I’ll get half an hour to 45 minutes, then Charlie will do the same, then everyone will go home, hopefully happier.”
BY PATRICK EMERY
