The Jesters

Channel: Movie Extra
Day and time*: Tuesday, 9.30 p.m. (from 8 Sep)
(*as at September 2009)

 

Molloy - jest the best

An Aussie series that’s not a cop show, reality series or sketch comedy? Surely you can’t be serious. Well, they are – and they’re not, if you know what I mean. And don't call me Shirley.

Mick Molloy’s new venture, The Jesters, is a real live actual comedy. Yes, you read it right, an Australian comedy series with a plot and everything. I know, I know, it’s hard to believe but it’s true. Even better, the show ticks all the right boxes to make it compelling viewing – if you have pay TV.

The Jesters, penned by former Comedy Inc scribes Kevin Brumpton and Angus Fitzsimmons, is a hilarious look inside the workings of a TV comedy series. But not just any comedy series; no, the writers have taken aim at their former employers, and now (arguably) fallen idols, the Chaser team. Having worked on the Chaser’s series CNNNN, Brumpton and Fitzsimmons have fashioned this series around a comedy troupe that’s a thinly-disguised version of the somewhat tarnished pranksters. Talk about taking pot-shots at sacred cows. What next, someone lampooning Rove Live… oh wait, that might not be such a bad idea.

Anyway, Brumpton and Fitzsimmons make The Jesters work by remembering one key element of comedy television – it has to be funny. On that count, they deliver in spades. Perhaps a little surprisingly, there are plenty of targets for Brumpton and Fitzsimmons to take aim at – the comedians themselves, smarmy publicists, commercial radio and flighty producers to name just a few.

The series revolves around Molloy’s character Dave Davies, a one-time TV comedian who’s now slipped behind the camera to produce a sketch show called “The Jesters” featuring a team of four sophomoric comics. The boys – played by Ben Guerens, Christian Barratt-Hill, Andrew Ryan and Travis Cotton – are basically a glorified university revue that’s been slapped on television. The old pro Davies is teamed up with smart young publicist Kat Bailey (Emily Taheny) to firstly build an audience for the show, and then keep it moving – and their efforts form the basic plot.

It comes as something of a shock that The Jesters is actually funnier than many of the sketch comedy shows it lampoons. Granted, in some cases that wouldn’t be hard, but there’s some genuinely hilarious stuff here; something not always apparent in Australian comedies.

Inevitable comparisons will be made to the Emmy-winning US series 30 Rock; which charts a similar, though not identical, course. I’m not so sure those comparisons are necessary valid because The Jesters takes on a peculiarly Australian cultural vibe. It’s certainly no pale imitation or limp local knock-off of the American series. And in any case, even if those comparisons were to be made, this production would hold its own against the Yanks.

Mick Molloy can be a bit hit-and-miss for me – loved Crackerjack, hated Bad Eggs – but here he’s back to his best. He certainly seems at ease in the role of Davies, a part into which he’s no doubt channelling some real life experiences. The boys in the troupe, I have to say, are a bit bland and at times I had trouble distinguishing one from the other; but to some extent, that’s the point. These guys aren’t the “stars” of the piece, in much the same way that Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin overshadow the “cast” members in 30 Rock. Molloy is however ably supported by some excellent female talent in the form of Emily Taheny as Kat, Susie Porter as a network exec and Deborah Kennedy as Davies’ agent.

I have to say I loved The Jesters. Someone’s finally getting Australian comedy right and it’s a rare treat. My only difficulty is that it’s taken pay-TV to get this series up and running. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not knocking their motives in doing so – in fact I applaud them for having the guts to green-light something this good – but it means that all those people without pay television will miss out, at least to an extent.

If you’re one of those people and want to catch the show, episodes will be shown via streaming on the show’s website.

Phil James

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