ROBBIE NICOL Idea Worth Spreading

What do you favour in a satire target?

Ideally we favour someone who represents a whole system of absurdity and chaos and bad decisions. We like to pick someone who’s very powerful and can be our standin, our foil, to represent a bigger idea that we’re trying to take apart.

Who do you think is leading the way in satire internationally at the moment?

I think what’s good about satire in the postJon Stewart era is satire is extremely popular and heaps of people are doing it in totally different ways. John Oliver leads the way in great research, Samantha Bee leads the way in terms of emotional passion, and Sacha Baron Cohen leads the way in terms of grossout humour.

What sort of satire has inspired you?

I think it’s who you’d expect satirically, Charlie Brooker, Jon Stewart, John Oliver, these are the guys we read through our monologues to make sure it matches that voice, and whenever we’re totally lost we can read it in a David Mitchell voice and say ‘‘does it sound funny?’’

What have been the most amusing topics you have covered this year?

I think the most fun topic for us to write about has been university funding. Once we started writing it we realised how much boiling rage we had under the surface when we look at student debt. It’s a lot easier to write jokes when you’ve been personally affected by it, and you’ve got that seething rage.

You do clips on YouTube, how does your live show differ?

We’ve got to fill an hour, that’s the biggest difference. We want it to be a great narrative arc so the audience leaves feeling totally satisfied, and that it was worth the price of admission.

Do you promise not to be mean about Dunedin, and not to swear?

We absolutely do not promise not to swear, so for sensitive ears come anyway, and just block your ears when you think a swear word is coming. We promise not to be mean about Dunedin. I can make that commitment.