WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.099 Imagine, if you will, a cultural obsession so 00:00:04.099 --> 00:00:07.059 deep. Oh, yeah. Like so completely ingrained 00:00:07.059 --> 00:00:09.240 in the national psyche that it practically just 00:00:09.240 --> 00:00:11.359 begs to be made fun of. Right. I'm talking about 00:00:11.359 --> 00:00:14.460 the kind of devotion that literally stops an 00:00:14.460 --> 00:00:17.660 entire country in its tracks, where daily life 00:00:17.660 --> 00:00:21.339 is just put on hold and the collective mood of 00:00:21.339 --> 00:00:26.480 millions relies entirely on the bouncing of a 00:00:26.480 --> 00:00:29.780 ball. It's intense. In Australia. That obsession 00:00:29.780 --> 00:00:33.240 is sport. It is treated with a reverence usually 00:00:33.240 --> 00:00:35.399 reserved for religion. Yeah, that's a perfect 00:00:35.399 --> 00:00:38.280 way to put it. And today for you listening, we 00:00:38.280 --> 00:00:41.740 are going to explore the absolute masters of 00:00:41.740 --> 00:00:43.939 skewering that exact hyper earnest obsession 00:00:43.939 --> 00:00:46.439 so welcome to the deep dive thanks for having 00:00:46.439 --> 00:00:48.759 me we have a fantastic and frankly hilarious 00:00:48.759 --> 00:00:50.759 topic lined up for you today yeah we're going 00:00:50.759 --> 00:00:52.939 straight into the legendary australian comedy 00:00:52.939 --> 00:00:55.939 duo roy and hg such a great topic we've got a 00:00:55.939 --> 00:00:58.039 comprehensive wikipedia article detailing their 00:00:58.039 --> 00:01:00.179 incredibly prolific career i mean it's nearly 00:01:00.179 --> 00:01:02.780 40 years across radio television and print that's 00:01:02.780 --> 00:01:06.879 massive and Our mission today is to unpack exactly 00:01:06.879 --> 00:01:11.420 how two men managed to create an entirely new 00:01:11.420 --> 00:01:15.000 comedy genre simply by perfectly parodying the 00:01:15.000 --> 00:01:17.739 self -important, overblown, and sometimes utterly 00:01:17.739 --> 00:01:20.060 ridiculous world of sports journalism. It is 00:01:20.060 --> 00:01:22.939 a massive undertaking to sustain a joke for four 00:01:22.939 --> 00:01:26.099 decades, but a brilliant one. Truly. To really 00:01:26.099 --> 00:01:27.680 appreciate what these two have accomplished, 00:01:27.739 --> 00:01:29.439 you have to understand who they are pretending 00:01:29.439 --> 00:01:32.430 to be. What's fascinating here is that we are 00:01:32.430 --> 00:01:34.829 actually talking about two guys named Roy and 00:01:34.829 --> 00:01:37.590 HG. Right. We were talking about two highly skilled 00:01:37.590 --> 00:01:40.890 performers adopting ironclad personas. You have 00:01:40.890 --> 00:01:42.969 Grig Pickhabber, who plays the character of HG 00:01:42.969 --> 00:01:46.849 Nelson. Okay. Picture your classic, wildly excitable 00:01:46.849 --> 00:01:48.989 play -by -play announcer. The guy whose veins 00:01:48.989 --> 00:01:50.969 are popping out. Exactly. The guy whose veins 00:01:50.969 --> 00:01:52.969 are practically popping out of his forehead over 00:01:52.969 --> 00:01:55.469 a minor penalty in the first quarter. Yeah. And 00:01:55.469 --> 00:01:57.609 sitting next to him, you have John Doyle, who 00:01:57.609 --> 00:02:01.310 plays rampaging Roy Slavin. Rampaging Roy. Yeah, 00:02:01.390 --> 00:02:04.769 he is the quintessential retired sportsman turned 00:02:04.769 --> 00:02:07.790 stoic expert commentator. The kind of guy who 00:02:07.790 --> 00:02:10.030 constantly implies that modern athletes are a 00:02:10.030 --> 00:02:12.009 bit soft compared to his day. Oh, we all know 00:02:12.009 --> 00:02:14.349 that guy. We really do. And they aren't just 00:02:14.349 --> 00:02:16.789 telling traditional set -up punchline jokes about 00:02:16.789 --> 00:02:19.389 sports. They are engaged in a brilliant decades 00:02:19.389 --> 00:02:23.310 -long deadpan satire of media stereotypes. And 00:02:23.310 --> 00:02:25.169 they never break. Once the microphones are on, 00:02:25.229 --> 00:02:27.250 they never break character. They are entirely 00:02:27.250 --> 00:02:29.509 committed to the performance. Okay, let's unpack 00:02:29.509 --> 00:02:31.770 this. Yeah. Because to really get the genius 00:02:31.770 --> 00:02:34.430 of their comedy, you just need to look at how 00:02:34.430 --> 00:02:37.389 Pickhaber himself described it. Yeah. I was reading 00:02:37.389 --> 00:02:40.110 through the notes, and in his 1996 book, which 00:02:40.110 --> 00:02:42.789 has the incredibly evocative title, Petrol, Bait, 00:02:42.810 --> 00:02:45.569 Ammo, and Ice. Great title. It really is. Yeah. 00:02:45.650 --> 00:02:47.650 He summarized their entire comedic philosophy 00:02:47.650 --> 00:02:51.069 in one perfect sentence. He said their style 00:02:51.069 --> 00:02:53.409 was all about, quote, making the serious trivial 00:02:53.409 --> 00:02:56.830 and the trivial serious. That is it. That is 00:02:56.830 --> 00:02:59.430 the magic formula right there. If a player drops 00:02:59.430 --> 00:03:02.460 a ball, They analyze it as if it's a profound 00:03:02.460 --> 00:03:05.300 moral failing that impacts global diplomacy. 00:03:05.479 --> 00:03:08.300 Yes, exactly. But if they are covering the actual 00:03:08.300 --> 00:03:11.860 geopolitical news of the day, they treat it like 00:03:11.860 --> 00:03:13.979 a minor scuffle on the sidelines. Right. It's 00:03:13.979 --> 00:03:16.310 a total inversion of stakes. And they applied 00:03:16.310 --> 00:03:19.250 that formula with astonishing success starting 00:03:19.250 --> 00:03:21.830 way back in the 1980s. Well, their longevity 00:03:21.830 --> 00:03:24.409 is almost unheard of in the comedy world, let 00:03:24.409 --> 00:03:26.949 alone in a highly specific character -based act. 00:03:27.349 --> 00:03:29.610 We have to look at their radio roots to see where 00:03:29.610 --> 00:03:33.469 this all began. Let's do it. In 1986, Doyle and 00:03:33.469 --> 00:03:36.669 Pickhaver launched a live, fully improvised and 00:03:36.669 --> 00:03:40.050 highly satirical radio program called This Sporting 00:03:40.050 --> 00:03:43.289 Life. Improvised. Entirely. And they broadcast 00:03:43.289 --> 00:03:46.169 this on Triple J, which is Australia's national 00:03:46.169 --> 00:03:49.490 publicly funded youth radio network. It's known 00:03:49.490 --> 00:03:51.870 for being edgy, alternative and a bit rebellious. 00:03:52.090 --> 00:03:55.110 Now launching a weird sports parody on an alternative 00:03:55.110 --> 00:03:57.710 music station in 1986 might sound like a brief 00:03:57.710 --> 00:03:59.689 experiment. Yeah, you'd think maybe a few months. 00:03:59.830 --> 00:04:01.770 But they hosted that show on Triple J all the 00:04:01.770 --> 00:04:04.889 way until 2008. Oh, wow. 22 years of continuous, 00:04:05.050 --> 00:04:08.250 improvised, character driven broadcasting. 22 00:04:08.250 --> 00:04:11.270 years doing the same bit on the exact same station. 00:04:11.449 --> 00:04:13.889 Yeah. I mean, how does an improvised show even 00:04:13.889 --> 00:04:16.009 maintain an audience for that long? I have to 00:04:16.009 --> 00:04:18.310 imagine that kind of run leaves a massive cultural 00:04:18.310 --> 00:04:21.649 footprint. It absolutely does. At the time it 00:04:21.649 --> 00:04:24.089 concluded, This Sporting Life held the absolute 00:04:24.089 --> 00:04:26.430 record as the longest running program in the 00:04:26.430 --> 00:04:28.670 history of the Triple J network. That is wild. 00:04:28.910 --> 00:04:30.769 And the cultural institutions recognized it, 00:04:30.790 --> 00:04:33.879 too. In 2013, the program was officially added 00:04:33.879 --> 00:04:36.180 to the National Film and Sound Archives Sounds 00:04:36.180 --> 00:04:38.740 of Australia Registry, presuming it for history. 00:04:38.980 --> 00:04:41.660 Wow, so it's literal national history now. Exactly. 00:04:41.939 --> 00:04:44.899 And just to prove how beloved the audio remains 00:04:44.899 --> 00:04:48.360 to this day, a 30th anniversary retrospective 00:04:48.360 --> 00:04:51.220 collection of the show actually won an ARA award 00:04:51.220 --> 00:04:54.439 in 2016. The ARAs. Yeah, the ARAs are essentially 00:04:54.439 --> 00:04:56.420 the Australian equivalent of the Grammy Awards. 00:04:56.740 --> 00:04:59.019 So 30 years after they started, they were taking 00:04:59.019 --> 00:05:01.360 home major audio industry. trophies for best 00:05:01.360 --> 00:05:03.720 comedy release. That brings up a huge question 00:05:03.720 --> 00:05:06.160 for me, though. Did they just sit in a radio 00:05:06.160 --> 00:05:09.740 studio for two decades riffing? on the daily 00:05:09.740 --> 00:05:12.279 newspaper because to keep up that level of momentum 00:05:12.279 --> 00:05:14.439 you'd think they'd have to interact with the 00:05:14.439 --> 00:05:16.360 actual sporting world they were mocking oh they 00:05:16.360 --> 00:05:18.839 absolutely embedded themselves into the real 00:05:18.839 --> 00:05:21.779 events they took their act to the biggest stages 00:05:21.779 --> 00:05:24.100 in the country doing what they called alternate 00:05:24.100 --> 00:05:26.920 commentary alternate commentary yeah they broadcast 00:05:26.920 --> 00:05:29.319 annual live calls of the country's biggest sporting 00:05:29.319 --> 00:05:33.500 events the nrl and afl grand finals which are 00:05:33.500 --> 00:05:36.639 huge massive for context the nrl is the national 00:05:36.639 --> 00:05:39.199 rugby league and the afl is the Australian Football 00:05:39.199 --> 00:05:41.759 League. These are the two dominant winter sports 00:05:41.759 --> 00:05:44.339 in Australia, and their grand finals are basically 00:05:44.339 --> 00:05:46.579 the equivalent of the Super Bowl. Right, so millions 00:05:46.579 --> 00:05:49.399 of people watching. Millions. Roy and HG called 00:05:49.399 --> 00:05:51.939 these broadcasts the Festival of the Boot Parts 00:05:51.939 --> 00:05:55.439 1 and 2. Fans would literally mute their television 00:05:55.439 --> 00:05:58.079 sets and turn up their radio to listen to Roy 00:05:58.079 --> 00:06:00.160 and HG call the game instead of the official 00:06:00.160 --> 00:06:03.019 network commentators. Muting the official broadcast 00:06:03.019 --> 00:06:06.379 to listen to the parody instead. That is the 00:06:06.639 --> 00:06:09.339 ultimate compliment. It really is. It means they 00:06:09.339 --> 00:06:11.199 were more entertaining than the people actually 00:06:11.199 --> 00:06:14.620 paid to analyze the sport seriously. And they 00:06:14.620 --> 00:06:17.560 didn't stop there. They also provided live commentary 00:06:17.560 --> 00:06:20.629 for the iconic Melbourne Cup. Oh, the horse race. 00:06:20.790 --> 00:06:24.089 Yeah, the Melbourne Cup is a horse race so deeply 00:06:24.089 --> 00:06:26.949 ingrained in the culture that it is literally 00:06:26.949 --> 00:06:29.709 a public holiday in the state of Victoria. A 00:06:29.709 --> 00:06:31.930 public holiday for a horse race. It is called 00:06:31.930 --> 00:06:35.250 the race that stops a nation. And they also called 00:06:35.250 --> 00:06:38.449 all three matches of Rugby League's annual State 00:06:38.449 --> 00:06:41.339 of Origin series, which is. arguably the most 00:06:41.339 --> 00:06:44.100 brutal, hyper competitive sporting rivalry in 00:06:44.100 --> 00:06:46.199 the country. OK. So they were providing this 00:06:46.199 --> 00:06:49.680 surreal, completely satirical audio track to 00:06:49.680 --> 00:06:51.639 the most sacred cultural moments of the year. 00:06:52.000 --> 00:06:54.560 Which perfectly illustrates the making the serious 00:06:54.560 --> 00:06:57.019 trivial concept. But what fascinates me in the 00:06:57.019 --> 00:06:58.720 source material is that they didn't even limit 00:06:58.720 --> 00:07:00.839 themselves to sports. No, they didn't. They took 00:07:00.839 --> 00:07:03.519 these two sports obsessed characters and dropped 00:07:03.519 --> 00:07:05.980 them into wildly inappropriate non -sporting 00:07:05.980 --> 00:07:08.519 settings. For instance, they provided live coverage 00:07:08.519 --> 00:07:11.220 of the Australian Bicentennial celebrations on 00:07:11.220 --> 00:07:14.360 January 26th, 1988. Yes. I am just picturing 00:07:14.360 --> 00:07:17.139 these two treating a solemn historical milestone 00:07:17.139 --> 00:07:20.180 complete with tall ships and political speeches 00:07:20.180 --> 00:07:22.509 like a weekend. rugby match. That's brilliant. 00:07:22.810 --> 00:07:25.949 Analyzing the pacing of the politicians, critiquing 00:07:25.949 --> 00:07:28.790 the form of the flag bearers. It is absurd. It 00:07:28.790 --> 00:07:31.310 highlights the versatility of their format perfectly. 00:07:31.589 --> 00:07:34.230 The cadence of sports broadcasting can be applied 00:07:34.230 --> 00:07:36.509 to almost anything if you are committed enough. 00:07:36.750 --> 00:07:39.529 That's true. They proved this again decades later 00:07:39.529 --> 00:07:42.310 during the 2007 Australian federal election. 00:07:42.589 --> 00:07:45.350 They tackled the democratic process of choosing 00:07:45.350 --> 00:07:48.069 a nation's leader with a broadcast hilariously 00:07:48.069 --> 00:07:52.329 titled Indecision 07. Indecision 07. Right. They 00:07:52.329 --> 00:07:55.149 took the ultimate serious event, stressful, rigid 00:07:55.149 --> 00:07:57.769 political campaign, and gave it the rampaging 00:07:57.769 --> 00:08:00.310 Roy and HG Nelson treatment discussing politicians 00:08:00.310 --> 00:08:03.550 as if they were sweating overpaid athletes struggling 00:08:03.550 --> 00:08:05.610 in the final quarter. That visual transition 00:08:05.610 --> 00:08:07.990 has to be difficult, though. How do you take 00:08:07.990 --> 00:08:10.149 a radio act that relies entirely on the theater 00:08:10.149 --> 00:08:12.230 of the mind and put it on a television screen? 00:08:12.470 --> 00:08:15.670 It is notoriously tricky. Watching two guys sit 00:08:15.670 --> 00:08:18.029 behind microphones for an hour doesn't exactly 00:08:18.029 --> 00:08:21.399 make for riveting television. especially when 00:08:21.399 --> 00:08:24.819 the whole joke relies on you visualizing the 00:08:24.819 --> 00:08:26.899 absurdity they're describing. And their very 00:08:26.899 --> 00:08:29.500 first attempt at television was wildly experimental 00:08:29.500 --> 00:08:32.279 because of that exact problem. In 1988, they 00:08:32.279 --> 00:08:35.080 transferred their radio format to an ABC television 00:08:35.080 --> 00:08:37.740 show called Blah Blah Blah. Okay. But they made 00:08:37.740 --> 00:08:40.840 a very strange creative choice. On that show, 00:08:40.940 --> 00:08:43.210 you could only see them in silhouette. Where 00:08:43.210 --> 00:08:45.549 they move to a visual medium and they actively 00:08:45.549 --> 00:08:47.809 hide their faces. Yes. How does a television 00:08:47.809 --> 00:08:49.950 show even work if the audience is just staring 00:08:49.950 --> 00:08:53.350 at shadows? It was a beautifully weird way to 00:08:53.350 --> 00:08:55.870 introduce a radio duo to a television audience 00:08:55.870 --> 00:08:58.190 without breaking the illusion of their characters. 00:08:58.490 --> 00:09:01.029 By staying in silhouette, they kept that voice 00:09:01.029 --> 00:09:03.789 of God radio mystique intact. That makes a lot 00:09:03.789 --> 00:09:05.909 of sense, actually. From there, they had a real 00:09:05.909 --> 00:09:07.929 mix of hits and misses as they figured out how 00:09:07.929 --> 00:09:10.259 to exist visually. They found a major success 00:09:10.259 --> 00:09:12.899 with a show called Club Buggery, which ran from 00:09:12.899 --> 00:09:16.259 1995 to 1997. Club Buggery. It was so popular 00:09:16.259 --> 00:09:19.200 it won a Logie Award for Most Outstanding Achievement 00:09:19.200 --> 00:09:21.500 in Comedy. Remind me what the Logies are. The 00:09:21.500 --> 00:09:24.279 Logies are Australia's premier television awards, 00:09:24.379 --> 00:09:27.039 essentially their Emmy Awards. Got it. But there 00:09:27.039 --> 00:09:29.559 were also stumbles as they tried different formats. 00:09:30.600 --> 00:09:33.100 When they moved to the Commercial 7 network in 00:09:33.100 --> 00:09:36.120 the late 1990s, they hosted an adaptation of 00:09:36.120 --> 00:09:38.879 the American game show Win Ben Stein's Money. 00:09:39.059 --> 00:09:41.279 Oh, I remember that show. Right. Well, they called 00:09:41.279 --> 00:09:44.620 it Win Roy and HG's Money in the year 2000. But 00:09:44.620 --> 00:09:46.919 the format just didn't quite click with their 00:09:46.919 --> 00:09:49.779 specific brand of conversational satire. But 00:09:49.779 --> 00:09:52.000 2000 certainly wasn't a bust for them because 00:09:52.000 --> 00:09:54.620 according to our deep dive sources. That was 00:09:54.620 --> 00:09:57.679 the year they struck absolute undeniable gold. 00:09:57.860 --> 00:10:01.299 Oh, absolutely. The Sydney 2000 Olympics. They 00:10:01.299 --> 00:10:03.500 launched a late -night commentary and interview 00:10:03.500 --> 00:10:06.039 television program on the Seven Network called 00:10:06.039 --> 00:10:09.779 The Dream with Roy and HG. The Dream. It wasn't 00:10:09.779 --> 00:10:12.340 just a hit. It became a total cultural phenomenon 00:10:12.340 --> 00:10:14.539 during those games. The Dream was a revelation. 00:10:14.620 --> 00:10:17.919 It was so universally watched and quoted that 00:10:17.919 --> 00:10:20.220 it actually won the Logie Award for Most Popular 00:10:20.220 --> 00:10:22.919 Sports Program in 2001. I need to stop you there. 00:10:24.120 --> 00:10:27.200 A late night comedy parody show won the National 00:10:27.200 --> 00:10:29.399 Television Award for the most popular sports 00:10:29.399 --> 00:10:32.379 program. Yes, it did. That has to be the ultimate 00:10:32.379 --> 00:10:35.519 proof that they completely blurred the line between 00:10:35.519 --> 00:10:38.779 satire and reality. It really is. And the reason 00:10:38.779 --> 00:10:41.519 it worked so seamlessly during the Olympics is 00:10:41.519 --> 00:10:43.720 because of the sheer volume of obscure sports 00:10:43.720 --> 00:10:46.179 that suddenly fled television screens every four 00:10:46.179 --> 00:10:48.659 years. Right. Normally, audiences are watching 00:10:48.659 --> 00:10:51.279 sports. They understand. But during the Olympics, 00:10:51.500 --> 00:10:53.399 millions of people are watching Greco -Roman. 00:10:53.419 --> 00:10:55.559 women wrestling or dressage or track cycling, 00:10:55.700 --> 00:10:57.779 and they have no idea what the rules are. I certainly 00:10:57.779 --> 00:11:01.320 don't. Exactly. Roy and HG exploited that knowledge 00:11:01.320 --> 00:11:04.279 gap. They use their mock serious tone to deliver 00:11:04.279 --> 00:11:06.840 entirely fictitious facts about the international 00:11:06.840 --> 00:11:10.019 competitors' lives, their strange training methods, 00:11:10.100 --> 00:11:12.639 and their bizarre occupations back home. Just 00:11:12.639 --> 00:11:15.279 making it up as they go. Entirely. The audience, 00:11:15.279 --> 00:11:17.679 who knows nothing about these niche sports anyway, 00:11:17.940 --> 00:11:20.980 is suddenly listening to these incredibly authoritative, 00:11:21.019 --> 00:11:23.759 confident voices telling them absolute nonsense 00:11:23.759 --> 00:11:26.220 and half the time people believed it. I saw some 00:11:26.220 --> 00:11:28.059 of the terminology they invented in the notes, 00:11:28.100 --> 00:11:30.779 and it is incredible. They didn't just lie about 00:11:30.779 --> 00:11:33.519 the athletes. They invented wild terminology 00:11:33.519 --> 00:11:36.120 for the venues themselves. Oh, yeah. During the 00:11:36.120 --> 00:11:38.539 spinoff they did for the 2002 Salt Lake City 00:11:38.539 --> 00:11:40.500 Winter Olympics, which they called the Ice Dream, 00:11:40.679 --> 00:11:44.460 they focused heavily on the luge events. What 00:11:44.460 --> 00:11:46.450 did they end up calling the track? They referred 00:11:46.450 --> 00:11:49.450 to a highly specific dangerous section of the 00:11:49.450 --> 00:11:52.710 Salt Lake City luge track as Gobbler's Gulch. 00:11:52.970 --> 00:11:55.950 Gobbler's Gulch. Yes. They delivered it completely 00:11:55.950 --> 00:11:59.029 deadpan, acting as if Gobbler's Gulch was a highly 00:11:59.029 --> 00:12:01.309 technical, internationally recognized engineering 00:12:01.309 --> 00:12:04.929 term for a curve on a sheet of ice. That is so 00:12:04.929 --> 00:12:07.470 good. And because real sports jargon is already 00:12:07.470 --> 00:12:09.929 inherently ridiculous, think of terms like pick 00:12:09.929 --> 00:12:12.809 six in American football or a googly in cricket. 00:12:12.830 --> 00:12:14.950 Gobbler's Gulch sounded perfectly plausible to 00:12:14.950 --> 00:12:17.580 the casual viewer. That combination of high stakes 00:12:17.580 --> 00:12:20.039 Olympic drama and lowbrow invented terminology 00:12:20.039 --> 00:12:23.759 is so potent. But they pushed the joke even further 00:12:23.759 --> 00:12:26.419 than just calling the races. I saw a note about 00:12:26.419 --> 00:12:28.159 a fake Olympic bid they launched during the Winter 00:12:28.159 --> 00:12:30.679 Games. What exactly was the Smig and Holes campaign? 00:12:31.100 --> 00:12:33.620 This is a perfect example of their escalating 00:12:33.620 --> 00:12:36.320 absurdity. During the ice stream, they didn't 00:12:36.320 --> 00:12:39.419 just cover the sports. They launched... A fictitious, 00:12:39.620 --> 00:12:42.299 hyper -patriotic bid for the 2010 Winter Olympics 00:12:42.299 --> 00:12:45.620 to be held in a place called Smiggenholes. Smiggenholes. 00:12:45.720 --> 00:12:47.820 Smiggenholes is a real place. It's a very small, 00:12:47.980 --> 00:12:51.139 very modest ski resort in Australia. The idea 00:12:51.139 --> 00:12:54.940 of this tiny village hosting the massive, multi 00:12:54.940 --> 00:12:57.039 -billion dollar infrastructure of the Winter 00:12:57.039 --> 00:12:59.899 Olympics is completely laughable. Right. But 00:12:59.899 --> 00:13:02.659 they treated it with utmost sincerity. They created 00:13:02.659 --> 00:13:04.799 merchandise -rallied viewers and pushed these 00:13:04.799 --> 00:13:08.220 hilariously crass fake slogans on national TV. 00:13:08.080 --> 00:13:10.320 television. I've seen these. The slogans were 00:13:10.320 --> 00:13:13.320 Unleash the Mighty Mongrel, Winter Wonder Down 00:13:13.320 --> 00:13:15.639 Under, and the absolute masterpiece. If you've 00:13:15.639 --> 00:13:17.419 got the poles, we've got the holes. I am amazed 00:13:17.419 --> 00:13:19.460 they could say, if you've got the poles, we've 00:13:19.460 --> 00:13:21.259 got the holes in the national television with 00:13:21.259 --> 00:13:23.940 the completely straight, earnest faces of veteran 00:13:23.940 --> 00:13:27.720 sports anchors. That requires an unbelievable 00:13:27.720 --> 00:13:30.159 amount of discipline. It highlights a really 00:13:30.159 --> 00:13:33.059 crucial aspect of their comedy. They start with 00:13:33.059 --> 00:13:35.539 a believable premise, a host city bid, which 00:13:35.539 --> 00:13:37.919 is a staple of Olympic broadcasting, and they 00:13:37.919 --> 00:13:40.100 push it until it breaks, but their tone never 00:13:40.100 --> 00:13:43.580 wavers. Incredible. The dream format was so universally 00:13:43.580 --> 00:13:45.820 loved that they brought it back for the 2003 00:13:45.820 --> 00:13:48.440 Rugby World Cup with a show called The Cream, 00:13:48.659 --> 00:13:51.940 and again for the Athens 2004 Olympics. So it 00:13:51.940 --> 00:13:55.100 was a proven success. It was. However, the world 00:13:55.100 --> 00:13:58.039 of television broadcasting is notoriously fickle. 00:13:58.460 --> 00:14:00.799 Massive success one year doesn't guarantee a 00:14:00.799 --> 00:14:03.379 permanent spot. By the time the 2008 Beijing 00:14:03.379 --> 00:14:05.919 Olympics rolled around, the Seven Network actually 00:14:05.919 --> 00:14:09.100 chose not to send Roy and HG. Really? After they 00:14:09.100 --> 00:14:11.340 basically defined the cultural conversation for 00:14:11.340 --> 00:14:14.080 the Sydney and Athens games? Why would the network 00:14:14.080 --> 00:14:16.179 drop them? The network cited security concerns 00:14:16.179 --> 00:14:18.580 and believed that their specific style of coverage 00:14:18.580 --> 00:14:20.879 wouldn't suit Australian audiences because of 00:14:20.879 --> 00:14:23.700 the time zone differences. Their show relied 00:14:23.700 --> 00:14:26.259 on going to air live late at night after a full 00:14:26.259 --> 00:14:28.860 day's events to recap the absurdity. And the 00:14:28.860 --> 00:14:30.879 network felt the scheduling in Beijing wouldn't 00:14:30.879 --> 00:14:33.179 allow for that same magic. But from what I'm 00:14:33.179 --> 00:14:35.360 looking at a setback like. That didn't stop them 00:14:35.360 --> 00:14:36.980 at all. They just pivoted right back to their 00:14:36.980 --> 00:14:39.899 roots. Exactly. Instead of TV, they jumped back 00:14:39.899 --> 00:14:42.299 to radio doing a daily show on Triple J for the 00:14:42.299 --> 00:14:45.740 Bayesian Games called the Golden Ring Show. And 00:14:45.740 --> 00:14:47.419 just to make sure they fit the theme of the host 00:14:47.419 --> 00:14:50.980 nation, Root was styled as... Crouching Tiger 00:14:50.980 --> 00:14:53.519 and HG took on the moniker The Hidden Dragon. 00:14:53.759 --> 00:14:56.179 They always found a way to adapt to the moment. 00:14:56.340 --> 00:14:59.019 They did. And speaking of adapting, they also 00:14:59.019 --> 00:15:01.320 experimented wonderfully outside of the sports 00:15:01.320 --> 00:15:04.139 realm during this period, which brings us to 00:15:04.139 --> 00:15:07.659 a really unique, bizarre project they tackled 00:15:07.659 --> 00:15:10.820 in the mid -2000s. Yes. Here's where it gets 00:15:10.820 --> 00:15:13.580 really interesting. In 2005, they presented a 00:15:13.580 --> 00:15:16.360 television show on the ABC. called The Memphis 00:15:16.360 --> 00:15:18.820 Crowsers Half Hour. Yes. Now, this was not a 00:15:18.820 --> 00:15:20.759 sports show. The premise of this show was completely 00:15:20.759 --> 00:15:23.700 bizarre and utterly brilliant. What exactly were 00:15:23.700 --> 00:15:26.019 they doing with this one? It was a fantastic 00:15:26.019 --> 00:15:28.980 layer of meta -comedy. The premise was that the 00:15:28.980 --> 00:15:31.159 show was recorded in various American cities 00:15:31.159 --> 00:15:34.259 like Baltimore or Albuquerque. The idea was that 00:15:34.259 --> 00:15:36.360 they were presenting everyday Americans with 00:15:36.360 --> 00:15:39.480 new, completely fake facts about Australia. It 00:15:39.480 --> 00:15:42.600 was designed as a parody of shiny, fast -paced 00:15:42.600 --> 00:15:45.039 American talk shows. I love it. But the ultimate 00:15:45.039 --> 00:15:47.919 punchline. The show was filmed entirely in a 00:15:47.919 --> 00:15:50.600 studio in Sydney. They never left the country. 00:15:50.899 --> 00:15:53.240 They were Australians in Australia pretending 00:15:53.240 --> 00:15:56.480 to be Australians. in America lying to an imaginary 00:15:56.480 --> 00:15:59.820 American audience about Australia. It is so deeply 00:15:59.820 --> 00:16:02.200 layered. Yeah. But the title itself is what gets 00:16:02.200 --> 00:16:05.090 me. The Memphis Trousers Half Hour. Where on 00:16:05.090 --> 00:16:07.309 earth does a title like that come from? The title 00:16:07.309 --> 00:16:09.669 is actually a very specific piece of Australian 00:16:09.669 --> 00:16:12.230 political history. The name was inspired by a 00:16:12.230 --> 00:16:14.889 highly publicized incident from the 1980s where 00:16:14.889 --> 00:16:17.230 former Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser 00:16:17.230 --> 00:16:19.970 actually lost his trousers in a hotel in Memphis, 00:16:20.070 --> 00:16:22.730 Tennessee, under highly scrutinized and somewhat 00:16:22.730 --> 00:16:24.649 embarrassing circumstances. That is incredible. 00:16:24.870 --> 00:16:27.190 A former prime minister loses his pants in Memphis. 00:16:27.350 --> 00:16:29.669 And over a decade later, these two comedians 00:16:29.669 --> 00:16:32.009 elevate that embarrassing piece of political 00:16:32.009 --> 00:16:35.679 trivia to the title of a national. Talk about 00:16:35.679 --> 00:16:39.320 making the trivial serious. It perfectly encapsulates 00:16:39.320 --> 00:16:41.580 their whole philosophy. And while we're on the 00:16:41.580 --> 00:16:43.820 subject of their international flavor, I want 00:16:43.820 --> 00:16:46.039 to briefly touch on their footprint in the UK. 00:16:46.640 --> 00:16:49.220 Did their incredibly Australian -centric brand 00:16:49.220 --> 00:16:52.480 of humor actually translate overseas? It did, 00:16:52.559 --> 00:16:55.100 which is a real testament to how universal the 00:16:55.100 --> 00:16:57.759 tropes of sports broadcasting really are. Whether 00:16:57.759 --> 00:17:00.620 you are in Sydney, London, or New York, the self 00:17:00.620 --> 00:17:02.980 -important sports announcer sounds exactly the 00:17:02.980 --> 00:17:05.980 same. That's a great point. In 1997, they were 00:17:05.980 --> 00:17:08.599 the stars of a massive ad campaign for Foster's 00:17:08.599 --> 00:17:11.180 Lager in the United Kingdom. And of course, they 00:17:11.180 --> 00:17:13.119 brought their unique hyper -masculine vocabulary 00:17:13.119 --> 00:17:17.079 with them, using the unforgettable tagline, Tickle 00:17:17.079 --> 00:17:18.720 it, you wrigglers. Tickle it, you wrigglers. 00:17:18.940 --> 00:17:21.180 They were even a recurring guest on the BBC One 00:17:21.180 --> 00:17:24.059 TV comedy series The Ben Elton Show in 1998. 00:17:24.779 --> 00:17:27.740 Their particular brand of satire managed to cross 00:17:27.740 --> 00:17:29.660 borders because the target they were mocking, 00:17:29.819 --> 00:17:32.619 the media itself, is universal. And looking at 00:17:32.619 --> 00:17:34.519 their modern era, they really haven't slowed 00:17:34.519 --> 00:17:37.180 down at all. After wrapping up that massive 22 00:17:37.180 --> 00:17:40.619 -year run on Triple J in 2008, they just kept 00:17:40.619 --> 00:17:42.500 moving through the radio landscape. Starting 00:17:42.500 --> 00:17:45.579 in 2009. They presented the drive time program, 00:17:45.759 --> 00:17:48.200 The Life on the Triple M Network. Later, they 00:17:48.200 --> 00:17:50.660 hosted a weekly program called The Sporting Probe 00:17:50.660 --> 00:17:53.859 from 2017 to 2018. They even spent some time 00:17:53.859 --> 00:17:56.039 in 2019 on the Macquarie Sports Radio Network 00:17:56.039 --> 00:17:58.819 with a show called Just Short of a Length. They 00:17:58.819 --> 00:18:00.660 just kept finding new platforms for the characters. 00:18:00.859 --> 00:18:02.480 And eventually they found their way back to their 00:18:02.480 --> 00:18:05.490 spiritual home at the ABC. In March 2020, they 00:18:05.490 --> 00:18:08.230 returned to ABC Sport with a weekly Saturday 00:18:08.230 --> 00:18:11.470 afternoon show perfectly titled Bludging on the 00:18:11.470 --> 00:18:14.009 Blind Side. So good. And they are still crushing 00:18:14.009 --> 00:18:16.890 the Olympics coverage, too. For the delayed Tokyo 00:18:16.890 --> 00:18:19.910 Games in 2021, they hosted a daily podcast for 00:18:19.910 --> 00:18:23.210 ABC Radio called Dodging Armageddon. Nice. And 00:18:23.210 --> 00:18:26.049 just recently for the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics, 00:18:26.309 --> 00:18:28.769 they presented a show called People, Medals and 00:18:28.769 --> 00:18:31.390 Cheese. People, Medals and Cheese. Because, of 00:18:31.390 --> 00:18:32.950 course, if you are covering an event in Paris, 00:18:33.069 --> 00:18:34.789 you have to analyze the athletic achievements 00:18:34.789 --> 00:18:37.269 and then you have to apply that exact same intense 00:18:37.269 --> 00:18:39.849 scrutiny to the brie and the gruyere. They never 00:18:39.849 --> 00:18:42.829 lose that surreal touch. But beyond just being 00:18:42.829 --> 00:18:46.730 incredibly funny. There is a deeper reason we 00:18:46.730 --> 00:18:48.750 are spending this time exploring their careers 00:18:48.750 --> 00:18:51.730 today for our listener. There is. If we connect 00:18:51.730 --> 00:18:54.170 this to the bigger picture, the reason Roy and 00:18:54.170 --> 00:18:57.349 HG matter so much is because they actually provide 00:18:57.349 --> 00:19:00.650 a masterclass in media literacy. Media literacy. 00:19:00.710 --> 00:19:02.750 Think about what they are doing on a structural 00:19:02.750 --> 00:19:06.269 level. They flawlessly mimic the cadence, the 00:19:06.269 --> 00:19:08.950 pacing, the dramatic pauses, and the intense 00:19:08.950 --> 00:19:11.890 earnestness of real news and sports broadcasters. 00:19:11.950 --> 00:19:15.970 Right. car and weren't paying close attention 00:19:15.970 --> 00:19:18.730 to the specific words, your brain would register 00:19:18.730 --> 00:19:21.809 their voices as completely legitimate, authoritative 00:19:21.809 --> 00:19:23.809 figures. Right. Because we are so conditioned 00:19:23.809 --> 00:19:26.609 to trust that specific tone of voice. They sound 00:19:26.609 --> 00:19:28.390 like the news. They sound like the experts who 00:19:28.390 --> 00:19:30.569 are paid to tell us what is important. Precisely. 00:19:30.569 --> 00:19:32.509 But the words actually coming out of their mouths 00:19:32.509 --> 00:19:35.970 are absolute nonsense. By juxtaposing that highly 00:19:35.970 --> 00:19:38.250 credible, polished delivery with completely ridiculous 00:19:38.250 --> 00:19:41.230 content, they actively force the listener to 00:19:41.230 --> 00:19:43.569 question the media they consume. It wakes you 00:19:43.569 --> 00:19:46.269 up a bit. It does. They highlight the inherent 00:19:46.269 --> 00:19:48.789 absurdities in taking anything too seriously, 00:19:48.970 --> 00:19:51.670 especially in a modern media landscape that frequently 00:19:51.670 --> 00:19:55.109 treats a dropped ball or a minor celebrity gaffe 00:19:55.109 --> 00:19:58.089 like a profound global tragedy. Yeah, we see 00:19:58.089 --> 00:20:00.309 that all the time. They remind us to listen critically, 00:20:00.470 --> 00:20:02.789 to look past the confident tone of the talking 00:20:02.789 --> 00:20:05.509 head on the screen, and to recognize the performance 00:20:05.509 --> 00:20:08.890 inherent in all broadcasting. So what does this 00:20:08.890 --> 00:20:10.730 all mean when you step back and look at the whole 00:20:10.730 --> 00:20:14.509 picture? Roy and HG aren't just two funny guys 00:20:14.509 --> 00:20:17.490 talking about football. They have executed a 00:20:17.490 --> 00:20:20.609 masterful four decade long performance art piece. 00:20:20.690 --> 00:20:23.839 Yeah they have. They took a single concept. parodying 00:20:23.839 --> 00:20:26.500 the self -important sports journalist, and spun 00:20:26.500 --> 00:20:28.859 it into radio records, television awards, and 00:20:28.859 --> 00:20:31.220 international recognition. They transcended sports 00:20:31.220 --> 00:20:33.619 entirely. I mean, their cultural impact was so 00:20:33.619 --> 00:20:36.740 profound that in 2001, a portrait of the duo 00:20:36.740 --> 00:20:38.980 painted by visual artist Paul Newton actually 00:20:38.980 --> 00:20:41.079 won the Packing Room Prize and the People's Choice 00:20:41.079 --> 00:20:43.440 Award at the Archibald Prize. Which is huge. 00:20:43.720 --> 00:20:45.839 For our listeners who don't know, the Archibald 00:20:45.839 --> 00:20:48.200 is one of Australia's most prestigious elite 00:20:48.200 --> 00:20:51.430 art competitions for portraiture. These guys 00:20:51.430 --> 00:20:54.049 went from calling fake luge tracks Gobbler's 00:20:54.049 --> 00:20:58.190 Gulch to literally hanging in a fine art gallery. 00:20:58.390 --> 00:21:00.450 Quite the journey. It's an incredible legacy 00:21:00.450 --> 00:21:03.089 of making the serious trivial and the trivial 00:21:03.089 --> 00:21:06.130 serious. It is a remarkable achievement in character 00:21:06.130 --> 00:21:08.809 work and cultural commentary. And it leaves us 00:21:08.809 --> 00:21:10.950 with something really vital to think about as 00:21:10.950 --> 00:21:13.930 we go about our day. Let's hear it. If two comedians 00:21:13.930 --> 00:21:16.990 can perfectly parody the deeply entrenched, hyper 00:21:16.990 --> 00:21:19.549 -serious tropes of sports broadcasting for nearly 00:21:19.549 --> 00:21:23.069 40 years just by slightly exaggerating its earnestness, 00:21:23.230 --> 00:21:26.690 it raises an important question. What other types 00:21:26.690 --> 00:21:28.549 of news media or daily entertainment that you 00:21:28.549 --> 00:21:31.069 consume are just one slight exaggeration away 00:21:31.069 --> 00:21:33.609 from being a complete joke? That is an amazing 00:21:33.609 --> 00:21:35.789 thought to leave on. A huge thank you to you, 00:21:35.869 --> 00:21:37.930 our listener, for joining us on this deep dive 00:21:37.930 --> 00:21:40.130 today. We hope you walk away with a newfound 00:21:40.130 --> 00:21:43.549 appreciation for the genius of Roy and HG and 00:21:43.549 --> 00:21:45.690 maybe a slightly more skeptical ear the next 00:21:45.690 --> 00:21:47.990 time you hear a very serious announcer talking 00:21:47.990 --> 00:21:51.089 about the big game. Until next time, keep questioning, 00:21:51.150 --> 00:21:52.950 keep learning, and we'll catch you on the next 00:21:52.950 --> 00:21:53.470 deep dive.