By Belle Dunning
Lawrence Mooney’s Turnbull is scarily good. In this one-hour show, Mooney embodies the Prime Minister in all his arrogance, charm and apparent love of swearing. The accent, mannerisms and political smack-talking about fellow party-members and opponents alike is entertaining in its familiarity.
The show takes the format of a new tonight show entitled ‘Malcolm’, hosted by Malcolm himself. Mooney begins by warming-up the audience and introducing them to a more personal side of our PM, through various disparaging ‘back-room’ stories about other politicians and the goings-on at private dinner parties of our political elite. In the second-half, an audience member is invited to the couch for a one-on-one chat with Malcolm, although this is characteristically dominated by Malcolm himself.
Throughout the hour, the audience are invited inside a private world where Malcolm feels safe to share a little more than we usually see. His various monologues in the ‘ad breaks’, as he becomes distracted by his own witty remarks and favourite stories, are both entertaining and leave you wondering how much is really true.
Despite the genuine substance and seriousness of some of the topics covered, the crude swearing and everyday political facts — from Barnaby to submarines — had the audience laughing the hardest. That and Mooney’s impeccable enunciation of words such as ‘Parliament’, ‘fire hydrant’ and ‘sex-sual’. Don’t worry, you too will learn how to speak like a well-educated, upper-class, powerful AND rich member of the political elite.
Mooney is an excellent impressionist and does the character that is our PM justice in this show — both on a superficial and deeper level. The main downfall was the television-show format itself — with the structure between pre-show, ads and the show itself a little unclear, and the pre-determined multiple-choice question and answer section falling a little flat.
Regardless of your political leaning (which Malcolm will try to get out of you), this show is a fun look at the ridiculousness of our political system. No real political knowledge is required. Although the audience was mostly of the baby boomer generation (and they were certainly laughing the hardest), you’ll still have a good time if you like your politics with a good dose of cynicism and wit. Even Mooney himself had to break character and laugh a few times. A guaranteed good night out before you trundle off, in Malcolm’s words, to your middle-class dining experience.
Kryztoff Rating 3.5K
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