John Clarke, who was originally a New Zealander where he created the comedy character "Fred Dag"; moved to Australia in 1977 and soon entrenched himself firmly in the world of satirical comedy.
He and Brian Dawe teamed up in the early '80's to present a short segment in a commercial network's current affairs programme. They then moved to the ABC where they were a fixture every Thursday.
Although brief, their segment was biting and managed to skewer politicians and other victims relentlessly. Clarke never mimicked his subjects nor tried to look like them. He appeared as himself, yet by virtue of the very clever script - which he co-wrote, he became instantly believable.
John Clarke also ventured into films - "Death in Brunswick" for example and also was memorable for the biting satire of the Olympic Games preparations for Sydney in 2000 by way of the television series "The Games".
His presence will be sadly missed.
John Clarke dead at 68
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Donald Binks
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John Clarke dead at 68
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Donald Binks
"So, she said: "Elly, it's no use letting Lou have the sherry glasses..."She won't appreciate them,
she won't polish them..."You know what she's like." So I said:..."
Donald Binks
"So, she said: "Elly, it's no use letting Lou have the sherry glasses..."She won't appreciate them,
she won't polish them..."You know what she's like." So I said:..."
Re: John Clarke dead at 68
Amazingly, three days before Clarke passed away, the Comedy on Vinyl podcast posted an episode featuring my fave New Zealand comedian/comic actor Rhys Darby paying tribute to Clarke's Fred Dagg Anthology.
Cue the Twilight Zone theme...
Cue the Twilight Zone theme...
Twinkletoes wrote:Oh, ya big blister!