ART OF THE
CRUEL JOKE
Sydney
Sunday Telegraph
02-08-1998
He's the man
with the sharp tongue, devilish face and slightly cheeky grin.
And for Paul McDermott, the three traits come in handy as he
sticks the boot into all and sundry, from politicians to pop
stars, on Good News Weekend. The humor can be cruel as host
McDermott and panel members, led by regulars Mikey Robbins and
Julie McCrossin, review the news of the week. But McDermott
insists that making a joke is a fine art.
"The
attitude is finding a way into a topic rather than just dropping
it," he says. "Something like the Di and Dodi
car-in-tunnel mishap - well, a tragedy for some," he says.
"It had to be from an angle that no-one else was doing. You
can't really avoid a story like that. We weren't making jokes
about it. We were making observations."
But is there
anything or anyone that would be spared?
"Um, no," comes the quick response.
Despite the
apparently off-the-cuff manner in which McDermott hosts the show,
he is the first to admit he is dependent on an autocue.
"I'm certainly not someone who has a photographic
memory," he laughs. "I have no retention at all any
more."
With the show
now a serious cult hit with a loyal following and enormous street
cred, it would be easy to imagine that celebrities are clamouring
to get on the panels. Sadly, that's not the case.
Our dear
friend (Victorian Premier) Jeff Kennett kept us hanging on,"
McDermott says. "It was promises, promises, promises, but it
didn't come through. He was meant to be at the first Melbourne
show we did at the Comedy Festival. He was going to be in the hot
seat." Kennett finally ended up honouring his invitation a
few weeks later.
Prime
Minister John Howard gave the royal decline to an offer to
appear.
"I'm sure he knows we'd love him to be on. It's a standing
offer. We'd make room," McDermott says. Why would the PM
refuse such a prestigious offer? "He could believe he'd be
open to ridicule," McDermott says, laughing. And why not?
When National Party stalwart Ian Sinclair, now the speaker in the
House Of Representatives, was on the show, he didn't take too
kindly to the fun that was poked.
"I made what I would see as some tame comments about our
Prime Minister, but unfortunately Ian took it a different way and considered
it offensive," McDermott explains.
Good
News Weekend airs Saturdays ABC at 9:30pm.
Thanks to
Jessie for this Article
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