Claire and her mother Meg.Credit: Mark Naglazas
Claire and Meg: ‘It’s a standing family joke that somebody will always talk about excreta because we all have pets’
MEG: Joke-telling family in the social sense is not a big part of our family tradition, but there’s still plenty of humour. It comes from a shared history. Our jokes would be completely wasted on people outside the family. It’s a family standing joke, for example, that somebody will always talk about excreta because we all have pets. And at some stage during a meal, someone’s going to mention something about their dog or the cat doing something and — bingo! — we all have a laugh and get on with our meals.
CLAIRE: It’s sort of the same with my circle of friends. Most of our jokes come from our past. My friends are people I have been friends with for a really long time. So most of our jokes go back to when we were young. The friend I was with last night drew a fish in primary school that looked like a bum. We were remembering and still laughing about it.
MEG: People are now talking about the older generation being critical of younger people for killing humour because they’re so critical of the insensitivity of old-school jokes. But I’m completely comfortable about where that’s coming from and where it is going and I am happy to be a part of that.
CLAIRE: I’m a big fan of British panel shows and of a lot of older comedians. 8 Out of Ten Cats Does Countdown is my favourite. But if I was telling a joke I think I would be careful about what I say. I guess I am politically correct and so are most of my friends. I don’t talk about it. It’s just a natural reflex. And my friends are a pretty tightly knit group so we tend to be on the same page about what is appropriate and what is not appropriate.
MEG: My husband is a little bit older than me and is not quite on board with the new sensibility. He does push back a little. He hasn’t progressed as much as me!
CLAIRE: Humour is important to me when I am choosing something to see at the cinema or watch on television. I can’t just sit down and watch an action movie. It has to have something funny going on. To be honest I don’t watch a lot of movies or TV. I tend to watch short pieces on YouTube. And streaming has changed everything. It’s not really a thing for my generation to meet up and use your day to go to the movies when it is all available all the time.
MEG: I used to go to a lot of comedy shows. I lived in Melbourne a couple of times, so I would often catch up with people that I like. Tom Gleeson, Adam Hills, Dave Hughes in his day. I loved The D-Generation. Magda Szubanski, Kath and Kim. I was a rusted-on ABC fan. They don’t do as much now, which is a bit of a shame.
CLAIRE: I think comedy is not as big a part of the lives of younger people because the state of the world is so frightening. It puts a dampener on things. Things just don’t seem so funny when you get reports from the Middle East or the American elections. I also think my generation is not as carefree as my mum’s. I won’t go anywhere without my phone in case something happens. It is annoying to have it on all the time but that is just me. And comedy is something that should be spontaneous but we are not as spontaneous as people were in the past. I love the idea of being spontaneous. I’d love to just book a flight to New Zealand. But when you think about doing it, it just seems hard.
Anton is all smiles at work.Credit: Mark Naglazas
Anton: ‘Nothing makes me laugh more than my work colleagues’
A day doesn’t pass at the office when we’re not falling about laughing. I’m always making my colleagues laugh. I don’t even care that it is at my own expense because I’m self-aware enough to know that I am a goofy guy. There are a lot of ups and downs in any workplace, so the ability to have a laugh is how you get through it. Our days are filled with laughter. Nothing makes me laugh more than my work colleagues.
In my other life I am a DJ. One of the funniest things I have ever seen happened during the opening of Flight Club, a really cool venue in Murray Street where you can play darts while you have a drink. A woman who had clearly partaken of too much of the free champers shook her head so frantically her hair extension flew off and across the room, landing on the table of another group of revellers. It was so funny and so lovely. The people at the table got up and started dancing and even tried to re-attach her hair. I love comedy like that — not contrived but pops out over every day life.
When it comes to film and television I tend to veer toward humour that is on the dark side. I particularly like British programs such as Peep Show and The League of Gentlemen. A lot of my taste in comedy comes from my parents. They are Iranian but they had a passion for black English comedy such as The Goon Show, Monty Python and Douglas Adams.
I love British and Australian humour more than American because it relies on pushing back against taboos. And we have the ability to laugh at ourselves. I don’t seem to get the laughs from American comedy. I wonder if it was because their founding fathers are American. They were sent to America because they were such killjoys!
My dad is a real joker and loves to retell the inappropriate jokes he hears down in his local men’s shed. The only problem is that he doesn’t like to swear. He is still quite old-fashioned. He is Iranian and English is his second language. So when he tries to sanitise the jokes in his less-than-perfect English it comes out even funnier than if he delivered the punchline perfectly. He leaves us all in stitches, especially my kids.
The picture of Iran that we get through the media is of a humourless country full of angry people. But it couldn’t be further from the truth. Iranians are warm, hospitable and funny people who love the same kind of cheeky humour that Australians love. You should never judge a people by the quality of their leaders.
Ben reckons movies aren’t as funny as they used to be.Credit: Mark Naglazas
Ben: ‘The last really funny movie I saw was Zoolander and that was a long time ago’
It’s been a long time since I saw a movie that was funny. The last really funny movie I saw was Zoolander and that was a long time ago. It pains me to say that, but comedy movies aren’t what they used to be. I don’t think it has to do with political correctness. It has to do with surprise. I think films during that gross-out era went so far there was nowhere for them to go now.
On the other hand, drama on television has never been better. There are just so many amazing shows out there. Just none of it is very funny. Only Murders in the Building? You think that is funny? Come off it! It is boring. Honestly, when it comes to film and television nothing ever makes me laugh ever.
What does make me laugh are short funny videos on Instagram and YouTube. You will see the same joke over and over and failing until somebody pulls it off. I find that really funny. I think it is the new form of observational humour that is the stock-in-trade of standup comedians. People are now doing it in short videos and posting them. They will come up with something that you never thought would connect with anyone else, but they do!
I also find my industry very funny. I work in film production and everyone is so obsessed with their tools. They are obsessed with technology rather than the work that is being done. So we love to have a bit of fun with that on Instagram. It is an industry that takes itself way too seriously. Comedy is a great way to remind people in the film community to lighten up. We need to show people how accessible film is, not scare them off with talk about resolution and lenses. It should be fun.
Netta never fails to have a laugh at her animal companions. Credit: Mark Naglazas
Netta: ‘My two dogs give me the biggest laughs in my life’
I have two dogs and they never fail to amuse me. They give me the biggest laughs in my life. The little one, Cruiser, has a sassy walk that just cracks me up. And I have two grown boys, who don’t make me laugh. But they are lovely.
And Dame Maggie Smith always made me laugh. She passed away the other day, which is sad. I loved her in The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. I love the way she delivers those cutting lines. I generally like the dryness and sharpness of British humour.
But I do love a bit of stupid humour. I love it when you come home after a long day and flop in front of the television and something really dumb comes on like The Hangover. Mike Tyson and that tiger in the bathroom never fails to make me laugh.
I was a full-time school teacher until I went part-time to pursue painting. This is my first solo exhibition. Humour has always been an important tool in teaching. It helps to create that warm and engaging atmosphere that helps students to learn. In teaching your relationship with the students is the most important thing. A few jokes helps build that rapport. And most of the time those jokes are at my expense. I don’t mind sending myself up in front of the students. It creates a nice vibe.
And the kids themselves are hilarious. One of the loveliest things about my job is watching the children grow and develop their personalities. By the time they get into year 12 they have a much more sophisticated sense of humour. It is a lovely measure of human development. Humour is such an important way to interact and engage with people. It’s a kind of social glue.
There is also a lot of humour in the staff room. Teaching is a challenging job, so a few jokes helps to relieve the stress and the tension. It is just liberating after all the demands of the classroom.
A couple of weeks ago I had a commission in a shopping centre where I was painting picnic tables. They had canvases and paints so shoppers could join in. What I didn’t expect was what a joyful process it would be. People were chatting and laughing and telling jokes. So humour can come from the most unlikely of places and pursuits. And being unexpected made it that much more wonderful.
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