Road Trip
Damo & Mickey met wearing sandwich boards on Rundle St during the Adelaide Fringe in 2000 and have been mates ever since. While touring together on the Melbourne Comedy Festival Roadshow they discovered they shared a mutual passion for incorporating local material into their routines. One night whilst winding through the fog on a wintery night in. Bathurst they were musing about why there was a Captain Cook Motel in this particular land locked town some 3 hours from the coastline navigated by the British explorer. From that moment there began ti muse about the idea of doing as show that was completely devoted to local colour. In 2013 Road Trip became a reality.
Backed by Country Arts SA who saw great potential in show of this nature that engaged so extensively with the community, a team was forged to do a trial tour of regional SA and there show was an immediate hit. In 2014 the team was funded by Playing Australia to tour the country where they managed to cram 23 individually tallied show into 11 weeks. The unique blend of edited film packages, photo montages, on stage stunts, improvisation and stand up and audiences wishing the show could be related so the recalcitrant members of their community could see it. But the team would just shrug, pack the tarragon and head off to the next town and start all over again.
Comedians Damian Callinan & Mickey D have packed the Tarago and are en route to your town to put on their show. Only problem is they don’t have a show … Yet!!
After years of travelling Australia performing comedy from Karratha to Capella, Damo & Mickey are elite comedy commandoes: Dropping out of the sky in the dead of night to surgically locate the local funny before being winced out for the next mission. ‘Road Trip’ takes their skill for localising material a step further. The whole show will be about your town!!
Having armed themselves with the last few months local papers, Mickey and Damo, accompanied by award winning documentary film-maker John Cherry & Hamish McCormack, set out on their adventure to your town 2 days before the lights go up. From the moment the Tarago rolls out of the driveway the camera starts documenting everything between you and them.
When they arrive they hit the ground running. Damo visits the Tourist Information Centre while Mickey hits the pub to get the lowdown from locals on what to do and what not to do before attempting both. Over the two days the boys accumulate observations, anecdotes, experiences, characters, jokes, pictures and footage.
Will Mickey get a run in the C grade netball team? Will the military museum curator let Damo drive the Sherman Tank? Will Mickey beat Damo to the top of Bald Nut? Will they track down Gwen and Bill Pargiter’s missing ornamental Pink Flamingos?
All the while our film makers are compiling and editing preparing for the moment when the lads pull all this together and hit the stage. The images and footage will be used to compliment the stand-up and banter with the audience ensuring the show is fast paced.
Even before the show the audience can get involved by filling in a survey about the town and getting online and visiting the ‘Road Trip’ Facebook page. Here they can see footage from previous ‘Road Trips’ and send the team an email with recommendations of what they should do when they come to the area. Combine this publicity with the impetus of meeting locals as they research and going on local radio to canvas for suggestions and the show will be sure to sell out.
‘Roadtrip’ is a show for your town about your town from an outsider’s perspective. While shots will be fired the show will be celebratory in tone. Punters will go home happy that it is their home but forever aware that the town clock is too small.
2013 – Regional SA Tour
THE TEAM
Hosts – Mickey D, Damian Callinan
Film Makers – Charlie Hill Smith & Gus Kemp
Tour & Stage Manager – Zillah Morrow
THE TOWNS
Port MacDonnell, Bordertown, Lameroo
2014 – National Tour
THE TEAM
Hosts – Mickey D, Damian Callinan, Gavin Baskerville [WA leg]
Film Makers – John Cherry, Hamish McCormack, Gus Kemp [SA leg]
Stage & Tour Manager – Zillah Morrow
Advanced Tour Co-ordinator – Peta Spurling Brown, Michelle Kotevski
THE TOWNS
SA – Goolwa, Yankalilla, Balaclava, Roxby Downs, Port Augusta
Victoria – Warragul, Shepparton, Werribee, Ballarat, City of Stonnington
NSW – Griffith, Parramatta, Taree
Queensland – Caloundra, Mackay, Cairns, Townsville
WA – Geraldton, Esperance, Kwinana, Moora
