Category: Podcasts

By Lisa Clark

The Shelf Podcast accompanies a comedy room curated by yourself and Adam Richard, was there always going to be a companion podcast?

That was always the plan.  We originally wanted to record the game show and put that up as a podcast but it would have cost way too much to put together.   We may do something like that in the future but for now it will be Adam and I with the occasional guest.

Was the podcast always planned to keep going at times when the show itself was not on?

Definitely.  Since we decided that The Shelf would be produced season to season the idea of a podcast that bridged the gap was always the plan.

You are both workaholics from what I can gather and have discussed on The Shelf the stress this can create.

Apart from preparing for upcoming festival shows Adam Richard has recently hosted the Showdown on Sunday afternoons and Justin Hamilton has been in Adelaide for The Fringe Festival.

Justin Hamilton – The blog and Podcasts Can You Take this Photo Please? And Dig Flicks

Adam Richard, – The radio gig/s, online blogs, promoting Outland and looking after Fab’s online presence as well as podcast The Poofcast.

Have I missed anything?

The work Adam does every day for radio is out of control.  I think he works three different markets every morning all over Australia so it isn’t just Fox FM in Melbourne.  I am staggered at the amount of work that goes into what appears to be a breezy grab each day.

I have also been producing a late night show in Adelaide for the Fringe Festival while working for the Talk Fringe website interviewing performers and audience.   While in Adelaide I also hosted the Adelaide Comedy Gala, performed in the Adelaide Debate and hosted the South Australian final of Raw Comedy. I produce and host a show out in Berwick that happens once a month.  I also have a weekly movie and TV review spot for Botica’s Bunch in Perth, their number one breakfast radio show that I’ve been lucky to be a part of for the last five years.  In my spare time I am finishing up the latest draft of my first manuscript that will hopefully see the light of the day at the end of the year. 

Oh…and I’m directing Tegan Higginbotham’s first solo MICF show. 

You’re only here for a short time, no point in lounging around.  People are quite surprised to know I’m usually working anywhere between 9am to midnight most days.  I know people don’t believe me when I tell them that I’m busy but this is what my life has been like for at least the last five years.

How does the Shelf podcast fit in with the other podcasts you both do?

This is 100% what Adam and I sound like when the mics aren’t on.  That is one of the things we love about the podcast and I think it has worked even better while I’m in Adelaide.  We really are just catching up.  If you listen to our latest podcast you will hear us talk about everything from Yumi Stynes to The Dark Knight Rises to my disdain for bread that won’t toast properly.  “Can You Take This Photo Please?” is more about interviewing comedians and the like about their process and history in regards to their craft with anecdotes to pepper the tales while “Helliar and Hammo Dig Flicks!” is really just two movie buffs getting extremely nerdy with each other and our guests.

Do you see this as an avenue to explore different topics to your other podcasts?

We literally do no preparation for the Shelfcast.  Invariably when the show starts is exactly when we’ve begun talking to each other.  I love the spontaneity of it.  I’m as surprised as anyone to hear what we’ve talked about when I listen back to the show.

Has the podcast has morphed into something beyond its original scope?

The great thing about podcasts is that is there is no governing regulation stating what makes a good show and what makes a bad show.  Therefore it is completely creative and isn’t trapped by a set of didactic guidelines that try to dictate how a podcast should work.  I would hope that all the podcasts I’m involved with are slowly morphing over time.  My prediction is once they introduce podcasts awards; if they haven’t already; we’ll see a conservatism begin to sneak in as people chase the “prize”.

You often talk about how you love to get together and chat at your favourite café. I think you’ve captured that well on the podcast. Listening in to your conversations is like sitting at a nearby table and listening in to your private conversations. Do you sometimes forget that there is an Audience listening?

Without a doubt.

Have you thought about the difference between performing this sort of chat live & it being recorded for posterity?

When you’re performing live there is a sense of responsibility to go for the laughs more but since people are listening to podcasts driving or going for a jog etc I think there is an easy going nature to just recording your conversations and letting the jokes flow a bit more naturally.  It is good to think about what you’re saying though.  I was quoted from one podcast recently in regards to the Jim Schembri scandal.  You never know who is listening out there.

Are the recordings edited afterwards?

Adam and I don’t but we’ve had guests on who like to change something a little bit later.

In the first series, last year I noticed that you had some Shelf regulars as guests, such as Tegan Higginbotham and Gatesy and Not as many guests in 2^nd series of podcasts.

That is purely down to time and distance.  I’m still in Adelaide and Adam can call me first thing in the morning to record.  Have you ever attempted to organise a gaggle of comics?  It can be a nightmare!

Can we expect that the live Shelf shows during Melbourne International Comedy Festival will be like the previous versions of the show?

I think there will be elements that will be similar, there will be the chat with Adam and I, possibly even some guests for that part.  I remember the night we flew Wil Anderson down just for the chat was a highlight.  I also enjoyed performing an old Bunta Boys song with Gatesy a lot.  I hadn’t warbled in public in over 12 years!  The singing might have needed some work but it was gratifying to see a 15-year-old comedy song still get big laughs.  We’re re-introducing the game show for the MICF.  We will also have a few new regulars and special guests.  We’ll always keep you guessing.  The idea behind the show was never to reinvent comedy.  The idea was to provide a show that was exactly that:  a show.  That way we could intertwine skits, character comedy, stand up, musical comedy and games.  I’m very proud of everyone who was involved in the first two seasons, I think it inspired them to some of their best work yet.  This was the kind of room I would have loved to have seen when I was a young man.

Monday nights are becoming increasingly popular for performers. Please give our readers 5 reasons to choose to come and see The Shelf during The Melbourne International Comedy Festival.

1. 1.     We have some very special guests who are going to make cameos every night alongside our regular crew.
2. 2.     For a measly $25 you will be treated to a two-hour show that is unlike any comedy show in Australia. 
3. 3.     You will see some of your favourite acts in a way that you’re not used to seeing them eg Gatesy performing stand up, Wil not performing stand up, Tegan Higginbotham and Adam Rozenbachs nailing the news etc
4. 4.     You won’t see this show on TV because we want this show to be naughty, dangerous and exciting…something that TV executives just don’t understand.  This is what a comedy night should be.
5. 5.     European Man.

You can get tickets or a season pass to see the naughty, dangerous and exciting The Shelf live during the Melbourne International Comedy Festival here