What do you know about the country town Esk in Queensland? Apart from watching out for wandering deer, it is also home of the Kranksy Sisters.
When Brisbane’s Topology dropped in for a weekend, a whole new show was born. The Matriarch of the family, Mourne Kranskyl is excited about their brand new collaborative show Tunes from the Television being performed at the Byron Community Centre this week.
‘We don’t often have visitors,’ says Mourne, ‘We once had a boarder who stayed in a caravan, but he suddenly disappeared and never came back…
‘Topology popped up to Esk for rehearsals but Bernard bought his TV because he didn’t want to miss the grand final, we have never had a TV. Mother told us it was evil and was banned. When they went home they left behind the TV. We did resist it for about two days but we were curious, I turned it on and didn’t mind what I saw so we started watching it and nothing bad happened.’
And this is how the sisters came up with their new show. No longer Songs from the Wireless, but Songs from the Tube.
‘We ended up doing songs of the TV – there are so many of them, one of them about a boy learning to control his wand, one is a vicar who lives in a village, always looking for love, there is also one for a judge who tells people to shush!
‘We also have a tune and we sing about people who live downstairs who clean for the upstairs people and put their clothes on, they can’t even put their own clothes on, the upstairs people, they have to use the downstairs people to help them!’
As for the instruments, as usual the girls are inventive.
‘We use the kitchen mincer in this one, and the grater, cheese graters come in nice and handy and glad wrap as well, it makes a sort of foop sound or woop woop – we have the kitchen knife block and of course the toilet brush, and the kitchen pot and rice shaker and Topology are wonderful musicians with all their fancy instruments.’
So can the Kranskys keep up on their kitchen equipment?
‘Obviously they think we can’, says Mourne, ‘otherwise they wouldn’t want us to play. We are in awe of what they do, fancy us wanting to play along with the penny whistle!’
Towards the end of the visit I couldn’t help asking – how’s Dawn?
‘Dawn – she is over at Mrs Evermore’s house, she is probably listening to the dryer, it plays in E flat, she no longer lives in our house. Her bed was infested with red back spiders – Mrs Evermore uses the Mortein, we have a nice life in our house, our mother’s room is still locked up, the lamington’s are still up there after mother read our school reports, when she disappeared and never came back…’
So what should we expect from the new show?
‘Your favourite tunes from the television and we will tell the story of when Topology came to visit, some strange things occurred, some will enjoy taking part in the quiz, you get to guess what song from the television it is, we won’t make it easy and you have a chance to win a prize!’
There’s an awkward silence. Mourne closes the conversation with an unexpected bit of information.
‘Oh well, off to siphon the thunder box in the backyard now.’ Click.
Catch the brilliant musical mash-up of popular TV and film themes combined with the hysterical humour of the Kranskys and ARIA-nominated Topology at the Byron Community Centre on Wednesday. Tickets at the venue. Tickets: 6685 6807 or byroncentre.com.au.
