Mark Humphries wants more eccentrics in the Labor Party.
The popular Australian comedian began his latest satirical role as host of the 6.57 News, which airs every Friday night as part of the nationally televised 7NEWS, and now admits he feels some frustration with the current government’s approach to selecting candidates.
“I have to admit that the Abbott-Turnbull-Morrison governments were very generous to me in comedic terms, they had a rich cast of characters,” says Humphries.
“There are people I miss, like Senator Eric Abetz. I think it was a great loss for comedy when he left politics. I’m grateful that Barnaby (Joyce) stayed.
“That’s my frustration with Labour. And as they head into the next election and are looking for new candidates, they would do me a huge favour if they could put a few more oddballs into the race.”
Speaking to The West Australian ahead of his highly anticipated debut on Friday night, Humphries is back to slamming Australia’s politicians, but from a different perch – behind the news desk.
In the three-minute weekly slot, Humphries will cover the hottest political topics of the week, interspersed with jokes.
This move is the first for a commercial news channel in Australia in many years and provides a dose of humour at the end of the week.
“The traditional 6 p.m. news has been the same for a long time,” Humphries said.
“I really applaud Seven for taking a risk and trying to stir up some excitement – and hopefully it’s just a different way for audiences to engage with the news.”
Despite the grim world and ongoing conflicts, satire is necessary, Humphries said, not only to tell important stories but also to give audiences at home a voice on political issues – something regular journalists cannot always do.
“I suppose satire allows us to process the news in a way that is perhaps a little more entertaining and enjoyable,” he said.
“I like to take the events of the week and then either look at them from a different angle or repackage them in a way that a normal journalist just can’t.
“And to maybe reflect a little bit of the audience’s perspective on things. And (also) sometimes to be the voice of the audience, which a journalist really cannot do.”
Humphries has appeared on Australian television screens for more than a decade, including on ABC’s The Roast and SBS’s The Feed, where he says he honed his dry, satirical approach to current affairs.
But it was only after the death of comedy icon John Clarke that Humphries took his biggest step: he took over the Thursday night slot held by Clarke and his partner Bryan Dawe.
Sketch comedy gave him the flexibility to tackle the week’s news as he and his writing partners saw it – press conferences, movie trailers, mockumentaries and recurring characters, including Barrabas Loins, the Nationals MP for Offalseed.
“As much as I love the change, I have to admit that I also felt like I had done everything I could,” he said.
“I’m actually quite relieved that this is a desk piece, I have my own little area.
“It’s more of a traditional form of news parody where we ‘go all out’ with a good, fairly straightforward delivery – but you throw in two clips with headlines and quotes and have jokes woven in between.”
Anthony De Ceglie, Seven’s director of news and current affairs, said the segment would “cut through the political propaganda”.
“When the evening news is done well, it is always about more than just breaking news, the latest crime stories, sports highlights or world events. It is also about making you think, making you cry sometimes and hopefully making you smile,” he said.
The new segment, The 6.57pm News, will air every Friday at the end of Seven’s national 6pm news and will be broadcast live on Channel 7 and 7plus.
AUSTRALIAN SATIRISTS
Norman Gunston (Garry McDonald)
McDonald rose to fame as inept interviewer Norman Gunston on The Aunty Jack Show. Sporting a greasy toupee and razor cuts covered with bits of handkerchief, Gunston parodied egocentric television personalities with his goofy interviewing techniques, speaking to stars such as Muhammad Ali, Mick Jagger and a bewildered Warren Beatty.
Max Gillies
Max Gillies is known for his ability to accurately imitate prominent politicians, including US President Ronald Reagan, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and Prime Minister Bob Hawke. The parodies in his show set the tone for future satirical performances.
John Clarke and Bryan Dawe
Clarke and Dawe have made their mark on Australian television for nearly three decades, including 17 years at the end of ABC’s Thursday show 7.30 Report, addressing a topic of the week using only dialogue.
The couple, dressed in simple suits and photographed in front of a black studio, had Dawe as the interviewer and Clarke as a weekly cavalcade of guests. Politicians, high-ranking business leaders and personalities from all over the world could not escape the dry humor.
A cult 1991 play – “The Front Fell Off,” in which Clarke plays Shipping Minister Bob Collins, who stumbles through an interview about an oil spill off the coast of Western Australia – has gone viral on social media years after it first aired.
Working Dog – Santo Cilauro, Rob Sitch, Jane Kennedy and Tom Gleisner
The Working Dog crew started in 1994 with the topical satire Frontline and have been a staple of Australian television screens for 30 years. Frontline was widely praised for accurately reflecting the unforgiving atmosphere of 1990s newsrooms, led by dim-witted presenter Mike Moore, played by Sitch.