Belly laughs and political satire in The Wharf Revue

The annual comedy show is back with George Christensen, Gladys Berejiklian and Donald Trump in its sights.

Phil Scott (George Christensen), Jonathan Biggins (Donald Trump), Drew Forsythe (Joe Biden) and Mandy Bishop (Jacqui Lambie) in The Wharf Revue. Picture: Jane Dempster

Thrusting his belly forward to ­resemble Nationals MP George Christensen, actor Phil Scott ­almost put his back out – such is the pain that comes with parody in the political sketch show The Wharf Revue.

“I was sticking my stomach out, and as a result I’ve had spasms in the back ever since,” Scott said on Sunday.

“I think I was overdoing it for the photo.”

Since 2000, The Wharf Revue has made an annual spectacle of political figures on both sides of the ideological fence and from across the world. The 2021 edition, called Can of Worms, which opens in Canberra on Monday before a national tour, features performances by Jonathan Biggins (as Donald Trump), Drew Forsythe (Joe Biden) and Mandy Bishop (Jacqui Lambie).

Scott is delighted that Kevin Rudd again ventured into national affairs with his phone call to Pfizer chairman Albert Bourla, as it gave him another chance to play the former prime minister on stage.

Other politicians lampooned in the show include federal ­Attorney-General Michaelia Cash, who is given a Shirley ­Bassey-style power ballad, and former NSW premier Gladys ­Berejiklian, who will sing something resembling an Armenian folk song “about how badly things have turned out”.

“What we do is not unlike what a newspaper cartoonist does – you find salient points about how politicians sound and look, and then exaggerate them a bit,” Scott said.

Scott Morrison’s trip to ­Europe and the French fracas over submarines was too recent for the comedy writers to include.

“It is mentioned,” Scott said, “but if it had happened a little ­earlier, it would have been a ­brilliant sketch to do, with Monty Python overtones.”

The Wharf Revue retained its name even after it broke ties with Sydney Theatre Company and the Wharf Theatre.

Scott said the group and STC had parted on friendly terms: there was potential benefit in The Wharf Revue being produced independently, and the show did not appear to fit the programming priorities of STC artistic director Kip Williams. “There are three older white men in this show, and one woman, which is not the gender balance they like,” he said.

“I don’t think that would have been a problem, had we not decided to go our own way anyway. It just seemed like the right time to give it a go on our own.”

Scott said the group was excited to again be performing for a live audience, as a comedy sketch show depended on it. “It’s very much a two-way thing with comedy, particularly this kind of ­current-events comedy,” he said.

“The audience have to know what we’re talking about in order to find it funny, and we share exactly the same experiences with them, which is why it works.”