FUNNY BUSINESS AN ART

“Good comedy is a reflection of what’s taking place in society,” Marty Sheargold tells siobhan duck

MARTY Sheargold initially chose to play the Fisk character of Ray Gruber to keep his family entertained during the pandemic.

The comedian and radio presenter stepped into the shoes of the laid-back lawyer when his friend Kitty Flanagan, Fisk’s co-creator, producer and star, couldn’t find the right actor for the role and called him to audition.

“They asked me to put something down on tape – or whatever you call that now – because it was the middle of lockdown,” Sheargold says.

“This is how desperate we were for things to do in lockdown in our house; I got my partner to read the lines with me and my kids to film it on the iPad. So it became a half a day’s activity.”

After becoming a runaway success for the ABC in 2021, the gentle comedy about Helen Fisk (Flanagan), a lawyer who leaves her high-flying job to work at suburban wills and probate firm Gruber & Gruber, is now returning for a second season – no mean feat given how few local TV comedies find an audience.

Sheargold believes that’s because comedy is often a lot harder to get right than drama. And that has made many TV programmers gun-shy about adding them to their line-ups.

“You’ve had things like [2016 Nine Network series] Here Come The Habibs and things like that. Big attempts. Those kinds of glossy, magazine-style comedies aren’t working, and I think that unless you’ve got funny people at the core of the project, well, you’re never going to have a successful comedy,” he says.

“I also think sometimes in that world of commercial TV that they don’t understand what’s funny.”

And yet, Australians are known for our sense of humour. So why isn’t that translating onto the screen?

“We used to make a lot more [great comedies] when I was a kid,” Sheargold reflects. “I think of things like Kingswood Country and some of those old 1970s and ’80s comedies.

“What Kitty has done really well is she has cast people who are really wonderful improvisers and actors, like Julia Zemiro [who plays Ray’s sister Roz], or she has cast, in a lot of cases, comedians, which makes a huge difference to the comedy of the thing.

“I know that sounds basic, but it’s integral to timing and understanding where the joke is.”

As such, Fisk features a veritable who’s who of Australian comedy in both the core cast and in guest roles. Season two, Sheargold promises, will be a similar “cavalcade of comedy talent” with Harley Breen,

Marg Downey, Stephen Curry and Denise Scott among the Aussie comedy names slated to guest star.

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