Wil Anderson is the vitriolic darling of Australian comedy. Paired with his handsome looks, his sharp acidic tongue is disarming. Case in point- his recent Tweets during the Gold Logie’s, sneakily done under the table. Yes, he may have implied that Sigrid Thorton was Gollum or that Eddie McGuire is a homophobe… but seriously, these are all things we were thinking ourselves, sitting at home, bored out of skulls watching the Bogies sorry, Logies.
Anderson tells it like it is. If that means being a little harsh, or a little cutting, then so be it. It may put people offside, but clearly not so many that he can’t get nominated for a Gold Logie. It’s his charm which endears him the most, that and a passion for social justice, as evidenced in his adamant stand on gay rights and same-sex marriage.
This May, Anderson hits Perth for his new show Wilful Misconduct. He took some time out to chat to OUTinPerth about Bieber Fever, tsunamis and rough trade with Dave Grohl.
So being in New Zealand. do you have Bieber Fever right now? Bieber is here now, y’know. I was at a radio station yesterday and I saw the back of Justin Bieber’s head as he was surrounded by bodyguards and radio people. But I was about 15 metres away from him. If I had been a Bieber suicide bomber or Bieber stalker or something I could’ve made it to him without people getting in the way. That hair is brilliant. Although if I had any time alone with Justin Bieber I’d go on to Google or YouTube and show him Hanson and talk him through the careers of these superstars and how he should be investing his money and saving for a house.
So what are you doing in New Zealand at the moment? I’m at the New Zealand Comedy Festival, which brilliant, because at the moment the exchange rate is so great that every Australian dollar is worth a $1.20, so it’s like free money. It’s like playing for the Melbourne Storm, I love it. It’s such a fun festival.
And you’re heading over here for your new show, Wilful Misconduct? Yes, we’ve just added two shows, which equals 1000 seats. All of which will be sniffed by Troy Buswell. He’s obviously looking for work now
I think it’s really important that you’re giving out-of-work politicians work. Well Malcolm Turnball’s my local member and he’s just been going around doing bob-a-jobs. He came around the other day and cleaned out my gutters. He’s been doing a lot of dog walking.
So what topics will Wilful Misconduct be tackling head on? The show’s kind of about how the world is full because we keep morons alive. The theme of the show is that we should let the morons go so that the rest of us can evolve as a human species. It’s based around the story in North Queensland which came out six weeks ago where the tsunami warning happened and thousands of people flocked to the beach to check out the waves. And it said on the news that the authorities had to be sent in to avert a tragedy. That would not be a tragedy. That would be natural selection. Let those dozy bastards wash back into the ocean so the rest of us can evolve.
Where do you stand on gay rights and gay marriage? I don’t think it’s any of our business who anyone fucks. My attitude to life is just very simple: I don’t care what you do, as long as you don’t hurt anyone else. You should be able to have sex with whomever you like, take whatever drugs you like, as long as you aren’t hurting other people. And I think as long as we live by that rule the world be a better place. There’s a lot in this show about Tony Abbott’s comments, stuff out of Queensland about parliamentarians saying gay dads shouldn’t be allowed to adopt kids. I’ve just got a bunch of stuff around those topics. I’m going to keep talking about it until something changes and I don’t have to talk about it anymore.
Who would you turn gay for? I would say… if I had to make a snap judgment just right now… I reckon Dave Grohl from The Foo Fighters.
Really? Yeah.
With or without the goatee? I could do the goatee. I think I’d like a manly man looking man. I think I’d like a bit of rough trade. A little bit of sweaty rock ‘n’ roll rough trade.
Wilful Misconduct opens at Octagon Theatre at UWA on Thursday May 13 for three nights only until May 15 with two shows on both Friday and Saturday. Tickets are available now. www.bocsticketing.com.au
Scott-Patrick Mitchell
