“When I finished up on Mad as Hell I said a couple of times that I wanted to work with younger people in a different way. I wanted to help them bring their stories (to screen),” says Shaun Micallef.
“I had a good summer. I was able to do what I wanted to do for a long time -that being in the service of somebody else’s story or stories, was of some interest to me. Some of the projects I’ve been exploring involve that philosophy, and this is one of those projects.”
Inimitable TV presenter and comedian Shaun Micallef speaks of his latest television project, Shaun Micallef’s Eve of Destruction.
The 8 part talk show features two studio guests, both posed with the question: “If your house was about to be destroyed, what two things would you save?
Rule out loved ones, pets and photographs from the outset, Micallef insists, leaving the discussion with a more telling character portrait of his guests.
“What we found in the pilot was -and it was a bit of a surprise to us- that the feel of the item in the hand, the Proustian rush that they get from holding something that was significant when they were a child… they kind of become the child and tell the story in a very real way,” he explains.
“I think the fact that they actually have the items helps us get into their head a bit more.
“The other thing is they’re being interviewed on subjects that they actually want to talk about. There’s too many interview programs or chat shows about selling a new show or a program or a book or whatever product they’ve got on sale. It’s the interviewer setting the agenda and trying to drill down into their private or personal lives in a way that maybe not necessarily is always comfortable to the guest.
“One of the things that I noticed towards the end of Mad as Hell was that I was often just sitting there at the desk enjoying the performance of the person across from me. I wasn’t even pretending to be an interviewer who was interested in what was going on… just kind of enjoying whoever it was, whether it was Christie, Stephen, Emily, Francis or Tosh.
“I was often openly laughing. So I quite like that relaxed quality and I thought, ‘If we could bring that to a conversation that’s recorded in front of a live audience, and I’m just facilitating their moment… then that might be worth exploring.”
Time away from Mad as Hell has also changed the way Micallef consumes his news. Now it is no longer a source of research and comic mirth.
“It took me a bit of time to be able to get through the day without feeling the need to see what was happening on the news. It had become so second nature to have half an eye or an ear open to that sort of thing, and instinctively thinking, ‘What joke could I make out of it for the show?’” he admits.
“Treating the news for what it’s intended, rather than as a source of material took me a little while. I had to go cold turkey for a while and just not even look at it, and then eventually come back to it and receive the information as a normal human being, instead of somebody who was trying to make jokes out of it all.
“If anything, I’ve probably become a little more discerning about where I get my news, rather than just getting it from everywhere, and being so hungry and needy for events that I could do something with. I just want to be informed now with some measure of confidence.”
Eve of Destruction is filmed before a studio audience and a range of celebrity acquaintances. Episode one features actors Stephen Curry (Bay of Fires, Population 11) and Felix Cameron (Boy Swallows Universe).
“I’m not an interviewer, but I think I can talk to people. I think I can converse in a way that enables them to tell their stories,” he continues.
“I’ve got some old friends, obviously, because it’s the first season, so I’ve called in a few favours. There’s some sporting people, there’s obviously some actors and a couple of my friends. There’s people I’ve never met before, which I’m really looking forward to.
“The first guest gets to stay on for the second guest. So the dynamic is slightly different for that second guest. In that way, it’s a little bit reminiscent of what happens with Graham Norton.”
One guest is You Am I frontman, Tim Rogers.
“The only time I’ve ever worked with him was on the Micallef program. 25 years ago we did a sketch where I asked him this very question, ‘What item would you rescue if your house was on fire?’ And then I showed him, ostensibly, his house on fire. It was like a 20 second sketch. But now it’s a full blown series.
“I thought, if we’re going to do the show for real, of course I’d thank him for helping me with the pilot 25 years ago.”
There’s also a touch of the inane about the format, of course, drawing upon the title of the show.
“One of our guests suggested two items that are extraordinarily cumbersome, which is very helpful of him. So we have to actually bring them in using trucks and things like that. Other people are a bit more reasonable than they have items that could easily be brought in in one hand.
“We also have a bit of fun about the way the particular house is being destroyed each week. It might be a meteor one week, a volcano the next, but that’s not the point, that’s just a bit of fun on the way,” he adds.
“We tried to try to think of a title that wouldn’t be too alarming, but that’s the best we could do.”
Shaun Micallef’s Eve of Destruction screens 8pm Wednesdays on ABC.
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