Hello,
I was extremely shocked and saddened today to hear that comedy writer and radio personality Richard Marsland died yesterday at the under-ripe age of 32. This tragedy has touched me personally because of our shared comedy ideals, and also because he was an acquaintance of mine. I would like to say friend, but I don’t think I knew him well enough. Although you don’t have to know him well to know he’s one of the nicest guys in radio. He was also VERY FUNNY and in my opinion, “Get This” with Tony Martin, Ed Kavalee & Richard Marsland on the buttons is the funniest radio show of all time. Having to pull the car over to the side of the road due to uncontrollable laughter was a regular occurrence. I actually had the good fortune to interview Richard once for my community radio show I was hosting at the time. It took place December 29th 2007, just over a month after “Get This” was axed. You can hear that interview here.
That interview was only the beginning of a short but serendipitous relationship I had with Richard. Around the time of our interview, I got a call from SAFM/Today Network Program Director Craig Bruce. Eventually he got me a job as a panel-operator at SAFM, a job which Richard had had about 10 years earlier. When I went to Melbourne in July this year for a short holiday with my girlfriend Jemima, Richard was nice enough to agree to meet me, and he bought lunch for me and Jemima at one of those Melbourne alley cafes (that’s where the photo of me giving him that shirt comes from). We talked for about 2 hours about all sorts of stuff; radio, comedy, writing, TV, old sketches from Get This. Eventually Jemima left out of boredom. I’m very lucky to have had such an experience and I can tell you it is one of the greatest things in the world, to go up to someone you admire and tell them you love their work. I’m glad for the opportunity, but still sad that he’s gone. My thoughts are with his friends, family and everyone he touched with his humour over his short but brilliant life.
Panel in peace Rich.
EDIT – On December 12th we dedicated the second episode of our Radio Adelaide comedy show ‘On The Yacht’ to his memory. I broke character to read a short tribute just before the show, which can be heard here.
Yours sincerely,
David M. Green
