Breaking the news
Celia Pacquola and Ed Kavalee return to Haveyoubeenpayingattention?, writes Lisa Woolford
IT seems the old adage that time flies when you’re having fun certainly rings true for comedian Celia Pacquola. “Which season is it? Season six... ?,” asks the talented actor, writer, presenter ahead of the return of Have You Been Paying Attention?
It’s season nine for those of you playing along at home. Pacquola has been there from the very beginning, and notched up 50 appearances on the 10 news comedy quiz show. It’s actually the most of any of the revolving roster of comedian guests on the Logie-hogging show. And it’s an honour she never, ever anticipated.
“It is one of my proudest things,” Pacquola explains. “But right from the start I said I was a terrible choice for this show.
“I was like ‘Guys, I don’t know enough about current affairs.’ I really didn’t want to do it.”
But the Working Dog team – the brains behind HYPBA?, and other gems such as Frontline, Utopia, The Panel, Thank God You’re Here – knew better. Letting Pacquola be herself and do her “stupid puns” as she calls them. And laugh and laugh as she gears up to unleash a joke.
“I think people recognise me as the chick who will celebrate her jokes before she’s finished saying them,” she laughs.
“The rule is – the worse the joke the more you celebrate.
“(One of my first) was something about floating the dollar and I said it would be easier to float five dollars … because water and coins.
“I genuinely don’t know what it means to float the dollar. I think there’s a lot of people who don’t understand what the news means, but they still like jokes.”
Pacquola might not like current affairs – “The worst thing about is I have to watch the news that week”, but regular panellist, and regular winner, Ed Kavalee is across it all, from Prince Harry and Meghan to international politics.
“I can’t help it” Kavalee says. “I don’t want to know half of this s--- – I’m disappointed and I go ‘Oh God, that’s in my brain. God damn it, I do know that’.
He is looking forward to being back in the studio with fellow regular panellist Sam Pang and quiz master Tom Gleisner.
“For (Sam and Tom) it’s always funny to make fun of me for how boring I am,” he explains.
“But really, it’s just that we are sadly friends outside of work so we take our good-natured ribbing off each other off air to on-air.”
That good natured ribbing extends often to guest quiz masters - although Pacquola admits it’s not her strength.
“There are rules ... I can give Sam s---, but I don’t give the guests s--- cos they’re more famous and I get embarrassed,” she explains. “Dr Chris Brown came on and I turned to water. I froze and couldn’t look directly at his face because he was so handsome. There was also a car racer who I came on to and his wife was out the back. That’s generally what I’m doing –
I’m unsuccessfully hitting on the handsome ones.”
HAVE YOU BEEN PAYING ATTENTION? 8.30PM, MONDAY, 10