Mel Toupe
Photo by James Penlidis
Created in 1988 for a revue show I was directing at Melbourne University called A Fridge Too Far, Mel Toupe was not only an Australian Tom Jones (as far as he was concerned) but also my vehicle into the world of stand-up. I first performed him at my brother's wedding, inspiring more bemusement than amusement.
I had no idea what I was doing, but the only way with that type of performing is to simply get up and do it. I thought if I looked funny (ie 'daggy'), sang deliberately badly and invaded people's personal space I would be able to fill a fifteen minute spot (and make a living).
I used to turn up to gigs with a set of tapes, marked in order, for me to sing along with. Talking it up I would say it was a kind of clowning, as I had very little material, and essentially worked on a kind of rubber-faced stupidity to get a laugh out of people. I would jazz-scat in a ludicrous manner, reminiscent of Mel Torme, the indirect inspiration for Mel.
The highlight of 'being' Mel as a stand-up character was performing at The Brighton Senior Citizens' Club in Melbourne in, I think, 1990. On the bill that afternoon were Trevor Wight, for whose Mum we were doing this favour, Jimeoin and Judith Lucy, two of Australia's favourite stand-up comedians, both of whom performed as little as possible on the day.
The 'sound system' was a tiny cassette player the club members used to play the national anthem each day. It was so powerless I could hear the sound of my own shoes tapping on the parquetry stage above the music while performing an interpretative dance to the theme from Shaft. Those of the audience that weren't asleep had probably left us for good.
I had no idea what I was doing, but the only way with that type of performing is to simply get up and do it. I thought if I looked funny (ie 'daggy'), sang deliberately badly and invaded people's personal space I would be able to fill a fifteen minute spot (and make a living).
I used to turn up to gigs with a set of tapes, marked in order, for me to sing along with. Talking it up I would say it was a kind of clowning, as I had very little material, and essentially worked on a kind of rubber-faced stupidity to get a laugh out of people. I would jazz-scat in a ludicrous manner, reminiscent of Mel Torme, the indirect inspiration for Mel.
The highlight of 'being' Mel as a stand-up character was performing at The Brighton Senior Citizens' Club in Melbourne in, I think, 1990. On the bill that afternoon were Trevor Wight, for whose Mum we were doing this favour, Jimeoin and Judith Lucy, two of Australia's favourite stand-up comedians, both of whom performed as little as possible on the day.
The 'sound system' was a tiny cassette player the club members used to play the national anthem each day. It was so powerless I could hear the sound of my own shoes tapping on the parquetry stage above the music while performing an interpretative dance to the theme from Shaft. Those of the audience that weren't asleep had probably left us for good.
Lervsexy was a one-man show I wrote and performed in 1993 (at least I think it was then... Melbourne still had seven-digit phone numbers).
I did some stand-up, followed by a character who was a Christian Brother giving a sex-ed talk featuring the life cycle of frogs as an example, and then, after a slide show featuring Mel covering my change, I burst upon the audience as the man himself. (That's not my body, by the way... believe me. The image was a mock up from a Prince album cover). You may notice who 'presents' the Lervsexy show. Phil 'Boom Boom' Shrimpton was a fabrication. My brother played the role in bad wig and glasses in the slide show I included as part of the performance. One afternoon a man from children's charity The Variety Club wanted to book Mel and rang, asking (quite seriously) to speak with Mr Phil 'Boom Boom' Shrimpton to check Mel's availability. Life and art, eh...? The show was directed by Lynda Gibson, a fellow performer from whom I was to learn much. I'd met Lynda working on Bob Franklin's panto for adults 'Who's That Guy With The Axe?'. We went on to create another two shows, Wall 2 Wall: The Shagpile Floorshow and From Dragges To Riches, ending our professional partnership in 1996, after performing at the Adelaide Fringe Festival. |
The Australian Tom Jones?
Photo by James Penlidis
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