Charlie Pickering is hard at work. He’s head down creating the end-of-year show for The Weekly called The Yearly.
One of the challenges is: How does a comedian and satirist satirise Trump, the man who seems to do a pretty good job of it himself?
‘I have parked Trump to one side until I come up with a good idea of how to deal with him, like the rest of the world I guess…’ laughs Pickering.
‘I just spent a couple of months doing standup in the States, and he is everywhere in the forefront of people’s minds but finding a new way to talk about him is the challenge.’
Pickering muses on the concept of an incompetent man in such a powerful role and the impacts that has had on how the world sees ‘The President’.
‘It’s amazing how non-resilient a brand can be in the wrong hands – a Rolls-Royce is a prestigious car, but if an elephant took a shit in it it wouldn’t be so amazing is what it feels like; UNICEF are great, they do wonderful work around the world, but if they were led by Warwick Capper it wouldn’t be so good…’
Back in Australia, Pickering believes there’s no belief in politics, especially by Australian politicians.
‘Its just a bunch of scared people who are scared they won’t have their job in three years time. There is no plan. They don’t stick to their beliefs… If you look at what is happening in the world, look at what China does.
China is funding infrastructure projects in Africa, helping them build and get better at farming. And to have better industries. That’s planning. They want to run the show in 50 years and they want people who will run with them. We are well located in Australia to be really interested. We have so much sun and wind. If they didn’t feel it was so good for their election to be angry at windmills then we would be way ahead of all this shit. Millions of people have solar on their houses because they wanted it and in the end they don’t trust the government so they’re going to go with solar.’
As a comedian, what does Pickering think Shorten needs to do over the next eight months? ‘Keep his mouth shut,’ he laughs. ‘He doesn’t have to be a magician; it’s a pretty easy job from here.’
Pickering has just returned from the US. where he was performing regularly in New York. This really hones a comic’s material.
‘It’s a tough standup scene. They want lots of jokes very quickly. A nice 10-minute routine for them has them fatiguing at three minutes. I had an hour show come down to eight minutes!. It makes you work really hard. It’s taken a while but I now know how to do standup there.
What I enjoy the most is starting at zero again. I have been a comedian here for almost 20 years and I have been very fortunate with my opportunities. I walk on stage and people have an idea of me before I get there. In New York I’m pretty well hitting as an unknown.’
As a TV host Pickering says although it’s cliched, he still loves standup.
‘Every comedian with a TV and radio show always say standup is their favourite, but it’s still the most fun, and it is still important to have situations where there is no-one between you and the audience; when you make TV there are producers and network and lawyers and editors and so many people between you and the audience. There is a skill to that but I also love being in the room and being able to talk to the audience; that’s why I am excited about the gig next week in Byron.
I haven’t done a gig for three or four months and am really excited to be back and getting loose and talking with the audience.
‘It will be my first one in Australia since coming back from New York!’
Charlie Pickering headlines at the Byron Bay Brewery on Thursday with Damien Power as support and Mandy Nolan as MC. Show starts at 8pm. Doors at 7pm. TICKETS $25. Bookings www.trybooking.com/SLDY
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