It’s been a large year. New house, new car, new phone, new baby. Pretty much compressed all of being an adult into a few months.
Also wrote on the final 2 seasons of Mad as Hell before catching Covid at the wrap party. Here are some of my favourite things I got on the air this year:
Like I said after the finale in September:
Sitting in the Hoddle Street Hungry Jack’s at 1AM this morning after the #madashell wrap party, I realised this was also where I went after getting the email from Shaun in November 2013 offering me a job on the writing team. I couldn’t believe it. I literally dropped everything and drove to the closest Jacca’s to give myself a burger treat.
I started writing on series 3 in 2014 and kept getting just enough gags on the show to justify being invited back and somehow managed to do that for 13 more seasons. It’s been the greatest job. Getting to hang out with some of my best friends and just think of funny stuff feels like a scam.
When our comedy idol Shaun Micallef gives one of our scripts the nod of approval and it’s brought to life by the absolute best cast and crew in the business, and it gets a laugh, it is an unbeatable feeling. So many things have to go just right.
We’re all feeling many things about Mad as Hell ending. Personally I can’t be sad because the show gave me so much laughter. I can’t think about it for long without remembering something hilarious and smiling.
Thank you to everyone on the team. It’s been like flying first class. I hope I can work with you all again someday. And thank you to the audience. It’s certainly a rare thing in Australia for a local television show to be so beloved. But we never took it for granted.
Got a pretty nice souvenir from the show:
Also very much enjoyed Shaun’s autobiography ‘Tripping Over Myself: A Memoir of a Life in Comedy’. Especially stories from his time at Sacred Heart. One particular prank he pulled with the school’s PA system had me laughing out loud. Should make a nice telemovie or miniseries some day.
Made some new VHS Revues this year and currently writing more. They bring me much joy. This one is probably my favourite of the latest batch thanks to John Hnatowych’s amazing VCR animation:
In May, I moved back to Coburg after a ten year absence. The place hasn’t changed a bit. Literally.
This local milk bar for example:
A closer look in the window…
Following advice from several real estate agents, Annika and I made sure to buy our first house right at the top of the market. But it has radiators and air conditioning and art deco features, plus a beautiful backyard with several fruit trees and plenty of places for Rockley to explore.
Shortly after in June, we welcomed Gustav Luke Green into our lives. To quote my favourite Futurama episode, he was “named for his uncle, to carry on his spirit.”
He is objectively the cutest baby.
Already getting him started on Thomas the Tank Engine and very much looking forward to teaching him how to play Donkey Kong Country and Heroes of Might & Magic 2 when the time is right.
Was a nice change to get the extended family in Adelaide coming to visit us in Melbourne several times this year, instead of us going to them.
I did make three trips to Adelaide though before Gus was born. First for Dad’s 70th birthday back in February, where we enjoyed a wonderful dinner at The Lenzerheide (my favourite Adelaide restaurant) and a very nice 1982 Grange.
In April, I attended the wedding of my good friends Tim and Daniel, which had been postponed twice due to various lockdowns and border restrictions over the last couple of years. I made a pretty good speech.
And then just a few weeks later I was back again for my sister Hannah’s wedding to her partner Nick. I emceed that one. I love this photo of the two of them. The gum tree looks like a watercolour painting.
Other things, wrote my first piece for The Guardian.
Still panelling radio for SEN and in April it was 10 years since I started working for them (back when it was called Crocmedia). Once again put on a suit to panel the AFL Grand Final. It’s a tradition that’s starting to catch on among the panel operators, with young Matt Donald taking up the tie this year as well.
After 11 years of sheer driving mediocrity, I said goodbye to my 2000 Toyota Corolla. Donated it to the good people at Kids Under Cover.
There have been some truly awful events this year. Russia’s blatant disregard for human life and the international rule of law in their invasion of Ukraine created traumatic scenes many believed would never be seen again in Europe; incompatible with our modern age. But the swift global condemnation as well as the remarkable resilience from the Ukrainian people and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been one of the most inspiring things I’ve ever seen.
A seemingly never-ending run of natural disasters around the world should ring alarm bells for us all that man-made climate change is quickly making parts of our planet uninhabitable. We need to stop burning fossil fuels and transition to renewable energy FAST. We clearly don’t have the infrastructure to adequately deal with these floods, fires, heatwaves and storms now and they’re only going to get worse.
Some hope though and there was a collective sigh of relief in May when Australia finally voted out the Morrison Government, which had left the country in neutral with the engine running in the national garage for the last nine years. Thank Christ for that because I could not take another term of Coalition corruption, rorting and their complete lack of accountability and leadership in practically every facet of Australian culture. Good riddance.
Whoops getting a bit political here. Quick, here’s a picture of Rockley in front of the Christmas tree:
Travel, renovations and putting my precious things on progressively higher shelves are my major plans for 2023.
I’m also open to more comedy writing work if ya know of any. Or if you wanna grab a coffee and talk about life and stuff, send me a message sometime.
All the best to you and yours.
-DMG
