Political Blog
Monday, May 01, 2006
Me and Mr Brown
I am just back from Melbourne where I saw Bob Brown perform at the Melbourne Comedy Festival.Bob plays the straight man in a fabulous bit of cabaret comedy put together by the indomitable Dolly Putin (aka Naomi Edwards). ‘Me and Mr Brown’ was an hilarious show which also featured strikingly damning video footage of Gunns Ltd Chair John Gay and Tasmanian Premier Paul Lennon.
But I thought Bob Brown stole the show with his wonderful soliloquy towards the end of the evening when he talked so passionately about the plight of the West Papuans, the wild forests of Wielangta and the state of the planet in general. After an hour of raucous comedy you could hear a pin drop as Bob held the audience captivated.
Regardless, it was wonderfully refreshing to see a politician willing to let himself be sent up so mercilessly. A point made brilliantly by Tracee Hutchison in her engaging column in Saturday’s Age newspaper.
“His ability to laugh at himself - and allow us to laugh with him - is a canny move because there are few human qualities that are more endearing…..
There are many in the house on the hill who would do well to take a leaf out of Bob Brown's book. The increasingly humourless and austere Australia being shaped by this Government might be great fodder for our braver laugh-makers but it's taking a heavy toll on the rest of us” – Tracee Hutchison
You can also read a preview of the show in The Age here.
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blog archives 02.06 03.06 04.06 05.06 06.06 07.06 08.06 09.06 10.06 11.06 12.06 01.07
I hope you enjoy some of my ideas and analysis. I am unashamedly Green and much of what you will find here relates to Green politics however I write about a range of current state and national political issues that might have wider appeal.
