Watching Tim Ferguson return to the stage for the world premier of Cane and Able, four words came to mind – laughter, luck, friendship and courage.
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© The Ponder Room
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One third of the highly successful Doug Anthony All Stars, he began the evening by describing himself as an aged Justin Beiber,and it was clear from the outset that his time away had dulled none of his wit or comedic timing. Neither had it diminished his political incorrectness, with the audience oscillating between laughter and gasps that masked thoughts of …’oh no he didn’t’.
Beginning with a behind the scenes look at the All Stars as they took over the world of comedy, it was fascinating to hear about their living arrangements, how they conquered the hostile crowds at The Bear Pit in a uniquely Australian way (by singing the national anthem), and the long, long hours involved.
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© The Ponder Room
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After the All Stars Tim made game show Don’t Forget Your Toothbrush and then spent three years at Channel 9 writing 13 pilots.
This recollection prompted a fascinating, brutally honest, warts and all view of the inner workings of Channel 9, including the treatment of Mick Molloy, Shaun Micallef, Rove and most recently Ben Elton.
Rather than continuing to reshape his ’round peg into their square hole’, Tim is back on stage, touring the world, writing and teaching stand up comedy through his course Cheeky Monkey Comedy Writing.
As he walked off stage the giggling faded and I was left pondering four words:
- Friendship. Having finally told his All Star partners about his growing health issue, their reaction was a beautiful display of mateship. Not only did they keep his secret, they put their own public images on the line to do so. Publicly the group started a rumour about a rift within the trio, and maintained this as the reason for the split rather than Tim’s health.
- Courage. Watching Tim stand for an hour and deliver his stream of consciousness without missing a beat, it’s easy to forget he’s battling a major health issue (MS). It was only when he moved off his mark, and later on when he left the stage, that we were reminded his left side doesn’t always come to the party. Talking to some of the staff afterwards we agreed it was not only a show about comedy, but also immense courage.
- Luck. While Tim says he is ‘one of the lucky ones’, I think any of the students attending his standup course Cheeky Monkey, are the lucky one. Yes they’ll learn about comedy writing and stand up, but I’m sure they’ll also be learning some valuable life lessons. like strength and determination.
- Laughter. If laughter is the best medicine I hope at least a smidgen of the laughter Tim sent out into the audience, bounces back to engulf him.
