|
 |
Charlie PickeringOther than seeing him on television ('Rove [Live]', 'The Glass House'), and hearing him on radio (both Triple M and J) I've yet to see Charlie Pickering perform live. Okay, I know he's a comedian and a darn humorous one at that, but my opening and only planned question was if he was related to infamous Aussie cartoonist, Larry Pickering? "No, I'm not," he replies, nonetheless excitedly, "but growing up I was always a fan of his work. There was something very school boy and really juvenile about drawing political figures in the nude, but something I quite liked about it as well," he avers. "No, I never wished Larry Pickering was my dad," came his answer to my next, somewhat off the cuff inquiry; before considering, "but maybe a funny, wacky uncle. I mean, whenever other kids at school said that their dad's a policemen or whatever, I don't think saying that my dad draws nude pictures of Bob Hawke would've won any friends," he laughs. "I did always like my dad," quickly adds Pickering, "and I think I must state that for the record. My dad is a pharmacist and a full time practical joker and he's a real vivid character, so I got my sense of humour from him. "My main instinct is to tell a story, and that's what I probably do the most and best," Pickering says of his preferred brand of stand up. "The thing is, I grew up listening Billy Connelly and Bill Cosby tell stories, and to me there's something about a good story that's better than a good joke. I find with one-liner comedians that I'll go along and laugh from start to finish," he allows, "but afterwards I don't remember anything in particular. But when I go see a good story teller like Daniel Kitson or Greg Fleet, a couple of weeks later I'll be sitting on a bus and I'll just laugh to myself by remembering a mental picture that they've painted. I love using words to paint a picture in people's minds," he continues. "To actually create an image in people's heads and know that two or three weeks later they'll find themselves giggling just thinking about it," he smiles. "That said," Pickering reflects, "the show that I'm doing in Adelaide is a collection of stories but there's also some bits where I'll just tell jokes. Every time I come to Adelaide, my strategy is to always do a new show that I haven't done anywhere before and I try to do the funniest show I can when I arrive. Adelaide audiences have always been so giving and into it so I never get paranoid there. I can just go in there and I know that Adelaide is going to get it. One of the main reasons, other than the fact I love the Adelaide Fringe," Pickering enthuses, "is its so much fun and I've done everyone since 2002. And things like festivals are where your best ideas come from," he reveals, "you can do your freshest ideas in front of a live audience. When you get to do TV and radio, you have a lot of other considerations you have to make like censorship laws and producers. And all of those things can restrict what you do, but when you do stand up, there's no one to tell you what you can or can't do," he tells me, before concluding "Except the audience of course, and they'll tell you that by not laughing." Steve Jones |