Founder of The Shovel satire news service, James Schloeffel heads to the capital with a group of the biggest satire heavyweights Australia has to offer in The War on 2023: Annual Comedy Gala at Canberra Theatre Centre on Wednesday 6 December. CW caught up with Schloeffel ahead of the show to discuss satire, 2023 and The Shovel.
1. What can audiences expect from the show?
It’s part stand-up, part cabaret, part sketch show, part chaos. Basically, the idea is to look at the biggest stories of the year in a whole heap of different ways. Charles and I look at the funniest headlines from The Shovel and The Chaser, Mark Humphries does these wonderful character sketches, and Gabbi Bolt ties everything together with song. There’s also an awards ceremony recognising the defamation stuff-ups of overconfident litigious men. And we’ll show the audience the secret formula for creating their very own News Corp column. So there really is something for everyone.
2. 2023 has offered a lot for comment. Do you have a particular topic of interest?
Not really. The fun is in trying to capture the full essence of the year. This was the year that the Voice was voted down and war broke out in the Middle East. But it was also the year that Elon Musk named his eleventh child Techno Mechanicus and Peter Dutton refused to support the Matildas until he was given more detail on exactly how the World Cup would unfold. So, we want to cover it all.
3. How did The Shovel come about and who writes all the content?
I started The Shovel in 2012, mainly because no-one else would publish my ridiculous satirical articles about Australian politics and culture. It’s got a bit bigger since then. I still write a lot of the content, but there’s a small, disparate group of other writers who contribute as well.
4. Why do you think Aussies love satire?
I think our instinct as Australians is to try and find the funny side of things. Probably the most common message we get from people is along the lines of ‘Life’s pretty grim right now, thanks for giving me a laugh’. But satire can have a serious edge too – it can get to the heart of a complex issue in just a few words, in a way that mainstream news reporting sometimes can’t.
5. What’s next for you?
This year, Charles Firth and I started a side project called Wankernomics, which is all about the bureaucracy, bullshit and buzzwords of the working world. So as soon as The War on 2023 finishes, we’ll start putting together our Wankernomics live show (called ‘As Per My Last Email’), which kicks off early next year.
Catch James Schloeffel in The War on 2023: Annual Comedy Gala at Canberra Theatre Centre on Wednesday 6 December 7.30pm; canberratheatrecentre.com.au
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