The End of the Wharf
After 25 years of tickling funny bones, Jonathan Biggins, Drew Forsythe and Phillip Scott are retiring their quills with one final national tour of their political satire. David Spicer caught up with the Wharf Revue team to ask them what makes them laugh, and what’s changed in comedy over the century.
It began as a bright idea from Sydney Theatre Company’s then artistic director Robin Nevin – an hour of comedy on the set of whatever play was on stage in the Wharf Theatre.
Some of the early sketches were on the innocent side, including The Koala from Sofala and The Retirement Village People.
Soon it became the STC’s number one box office hit, with the tight combination of razor-sharp sketches and parody songs filling the company’s coffers.
The three writers each brought something different to the table. Phil Scott is a brilliant pianist and stickler for good lyrics, Drew Forsythe is an outstanding character actor and Jonathan Biggins is an all-round wit.
The trio, and their permanent female ensemble member Mandy Bishop, split from the company a few years back, and spread their wings across NSW and the ACT with forays into Brisbane and Melbourne, clocking up 150 performances a year.
Their final six-month tour won’t be a retrospective of their classic sketches, but many of their favourite characters will make encore appearances.
Drew Forsythe can squeeze a laugh from the dryest lemon just by walking on as Pauline Hanson. Then he opens his mouth and deliciously mangles the English language.
Jonathan Biggins’ impersonation of Paul Keating is so good it has given birth to a whole separate play and book, The Gospel According to Paul.
Phil Scott channels Kevin Rudd and John Howard with great distinction. Mandy Bishop’s impersonation of Jacqui Lambie is priceless.
This year Biggins is looking forward to slipping into a skinny dress as Taylor Swift, and, in a blast from the past, is regurgitating the ghost of the defunct political party the Australian Democrats. (Click on the cover above to buy the DVD.)
The crew plans to use the device of a Nemesis style ABC documentary to flash back to a catalogue of politicians of yore.
But Biggins is giving Donald Trump a miss. “He used to be funny. In his heyday I would have paid to see him perform in Las Vegas but not anymore.”
A staple of their revues is one large parody montage of music. Inner-westside story was a hit a few years back. This year there will be a medley of songs from The Simpsons, with Homer Simpson being transplanted with Peter Dutton.
The Wharf Revue has become a well-oiled machine with the team touring for six months, then having a break writing the next show.
So why are they stopping now?
“We’ve had enough after 25 years,” says Jonathan. “Drew is particularly looking forward to retirement as he will be 75.”
Phil Scott says he is “stunned” they have lasted this long.
“We are good friends, and each bring something slightly different to the process,” he said.
They considered handing the baton to a younger team but decided to retire the brand.
In a thought bubble on social media, Scott lamented that younger people “wouldn’t be interested in doing the revue, because it's an old-fashioned format, and they don't know it. Then someone got in touch saying, ‘Yes, I'm young, I'd like to do it. Blah, blah, blah.’ So, I misjudged that, I think.”
I asked the revue team to name the moments that have made them laugh the most.
Scott loved getting dressed up as a Coronavirus with spikes and a silly hat.
Drew and Jonathan both mentioned a sketch about the New Zealand swim team, who are getting rashes from their Lycra swimsuits, and make plans to whip out a protest banner at the Beijing Olympics.
One of the lines was, “some hick from the sticks who’s thick as a brick, sees your prick, feels a bit sick, takes his pick, clickety click, trigger gets hit and then we’re shit!”
Biggins recalls the mayhem which followed, when Phil Scott, already struggling to get into the costume, accidentally put his foot into a sleeve.
Phil recalls, “we used to break up in that all the time. And it was a probably a mixture of doing New Zealand accents and looking silly.”
Biggins says, “The Same Sex Marriage of Figaro was pretty funny. It was years before the debate.” He was very fond of Rudd Never Dies, blending Lloyd Webber with Labor political intrigue. (Click on the cover below to buy the book.)
Another of his favourites was “the Latham diaries that Philip and I did. A sort of a song cycle, in the style of Benjamin Britten. I came out of the west childhood and broken home taking a ladder of opportunity.”
Drew has been passionate about blending literary classics with contemporary politics. A favourite of his adapted the Welsh poem ‘Under Milkwood’ to news that Julia Gillard had become ‘Queen of the Australia’. One delicious line from a miner was “Well bend me over backwards and take me up the coal chute.”
Three years ago, I embarked on a publishing expedition to locate sketches from The Wharf Revue which are suitable for performance by community theatres.
The result was the book Much Revue About Nothing – a compendium of 40 sketches - which has been a runaway best-seller in the foyers of their performances.
Due to the expense of employing staff, and my success as a pushy merch seller, I have sold the books in the foyers at more than 100 performances over the years, and been able to size up Wharf Revue audiences.
What makes the audiences distinct is their …um…. maturity.
Phil Scott says, “I think that there are some people in our audiences in their 40s. That's very young. I think theatre generally, especially mainstream theatre, is normally out of the price range of young people.”
In the audience also are plenty of the political and entertainment elite. Ministers of crown, judges and celebrities abound. I got very excited when Barry Humphries walked in, resplendent in a three-piece suit for what was sadly his last trip to the theatre.
Although the format is largely the same – comprising just over ninety minutes of sketches and song parodies - there have been subtle shifts in what they make fun of.
Back in the day they could parody politicians of different pigments – but no longer.
“We never did yellow face,” said Biggins. “We would just be the character. I argue that any actor can be anyone by putting on a wig. I think John Clark had the perfect solution as he always appeared himself.”
The team was frustrated that a whole slate of politicians became off-limits.
“The fact that satirists can’t play certain people has kind of gotten out of hand. I would never stop a North Korean actor (portraying an Anglo-Saxon Australian). It is what I call the dead hand of neo-puritanism.”
I asked Mr Biggins to please explain.
“It’s what Obama called the circular firing squad. Where progressives shoot each other if they are not pure enough. I think that that is something that is hindering organizations, who are dampening down debates because they pander to anonymous Facebook groups. But I think we're getting through it, and we're seeing the pendulum swing back towards a bit more of sensible position.”
Phil Scott notes that a big difference in comedy these days is the speed and volume of communications that is available.
Events sometimes play havoc with their script. Like the time the Wharf Revue was about to open in Canberra when Malcolm Turnbull rolled Tony Abbott as Prime Minister. It meant their big musical parody Les Liberables (based on Les Mis) was suddenly out of date.
Phil Scott recalls that he was rolled on Monday night and they had their tech run and media commitments on the Tuesday.
“We had to get up at six o'clock in the morning to rewrite and start learning it.”
I mean, we didn't have to completely rewrite it, but we had to make a lot of changes.
How did it go?
“We pulled it off anyway. Let's say, people were amazed.”
It’s a reaction that has kept the teaming going for a quarter of a century.
The End of The Wharf As We Know It opens at the Seymour Centre on November 11. Other dates and venues listed below.
Buy The Wharf Revue scripts and DVDs at Book Nook
https://booknook.com.au/product/much-revue-about-nothing/
https://booknook.com.au/product/wharf-revue-good-night-and-good-luck/
Seymour Centre, Sydney: from November 11 – book now!
Merrigong Theatre Company, Wollongong: January 28 – February 2, 2025 – book now!
Performance Arts Culture Cessnock: February 5 – book now!
Capitol Theatre, Tamworth: February 7 – 8 – on sale soon
QPAC, Brisbane: February 11 – 16 – book now!
Riverside Theatre Parramatta: February 19 – 22 – book now!
The Art House Wyong: February 25 – 6 – on sale soon
Joan Sutherland Performing Arts Centre, Penrith: February 27 – March 1 – book now!
The Glasshouse, Port Macquarie: March 5 – on sale soon
Civic Theatre, Newcastle: March 8 – book now!
Dubbo Regional Theatre: March 11 – on sale soon
Orange Civic Theatre: March 14-15 – on sale soon
Wagga Civic Theatre, Wagga Wagga: March 18-19 – on sale soon
Glen Street Theatre, Frenchs Forest: March 24 – April 9 – on sale soon
The Round, Nunawading: April 11 – 12 – on sale soon
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