David M. Green: Purveyor of fine humour

  • Um… The Middle?

    Hey TV fans,

    I took a rare deviation from my usual meal-time cable television ambience this evening and tuned to Channel 9. There I saw about 90 seconds of their latest US sitcom import, ABC’s “The Middle.” Even though I only watched it for 90 seconds, it was overwhelmingly obvious to me that this show is nothing but a blatant carbon copy of “Malcolm in the Middle.”

    Take a look for yourself…

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgyOqrMg–o&feature=player_embedded

    Here are the similarities I’ve passively picked up on:

    1. The title of the show “The Middle” is but one proper noun and one conjunction short of “Malcolm in the Middle.”

    2. 3 of the cast members are DEAD RINGERS for their “Malcolm in the Middle” counterparts, ie. Patricia Heaton/Jane Kaczmarek (Frankie/Lois), Neil Flynn/Bryan Cranston (Mike/Hal) & Atticus Shaffer/Erik Per Sullivan (Brick/Dewey). Not only that, they seem to be practically the same characters.

    3. Both shows are single camera, have no laugh track, use similar transitions and both employ similar musical stings that abruptly stop and start for comic effect.

    4. Patricia Heaton’s character is named “Frankie.” A possible reference to Frankie Muniz? He of course played Malcolm on “Malcolm in the Middle.”

    5. Both shows break the fourth wall and speak to the viewer directly (“Malcolm in the Middle” through Malcolm speaking directly to the camera and “The Middle” via Patricia Heaton’s voice-overs).

    Now I’m admitting I haven’t even watched a whole act of this show. Or the opening title sequence, so I’m sure there’s even more similarities. And I’m sure there’s plenty of differences too. Of course, it’s easy to criticise. I’m the first to admit there are no new ideas in comedy, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t employ some freaking subtlety! I couldn’t believe how obvious it was! Surely I’m not the only one to notice this?

    But of course, what do I care? I probably won’t watch it anyway. On the other hand, recent television shows that I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend: Mad Men, Curb Your Enthusiasm Season 7, The Cleveland Show, John Adams and John Safran’s Race Relations. All great shows I’ve seen in the last 12 months.

    Kind regards,
    David M. Green
    Marvel at my recent “star rating system” and “thumbs up/thumbs down” plug-in blogging applications!

  • Newsflash: I’m moving to Melbourne!

    Hello!

    Well yes, as you can guess from the title of this blog, I have indeed reached that point that every young Adelaidean reaches when they realise they must leave. After much speculation I can now officially announce that I’ll be moving to Melbourne in mid-February to study a 1-year post graduate diploma in journalism at RMIT University. Hopefully this will give me some legitimate media skills that will make it harder for me to be replaced with a computer (ala my stint as a panel-operator at SAFM).

    But why go to Melbourne to do journalism? Can’t you do that in Adelaide? Good point and well made. Sure, I could do journalism at Uni SA’s fabulous Magill campus. But what would be the point? The radio elective practical is reading the news on Radio Adelaide. Whoop-dee-doo. I’ve already done 4 shows on Radio Adelaide, each with 13-week seasons, plus 27 weeks of  student radio. I want a new scene. I want a new audience. Melbourne’s where it’s at. And I do hope to make the most of my time there and do some more comedy, radio and possibly some TV. They have RMITV after all, where Rove and Hamish & Andy cut their teeth. I couldn’t recommend eating glass. Not even for a freak show segment…

    So the plan is to get over there, find a place to live, possibly some student-type accommodation, study journalism, find a new casual job, make new friends, continue writing comedy and recording sketches and voice-overs and basically live the dream. Piece of cake, right? It’s going to be a big life change, but it’s something I have to do. I’ve really enjoyed the last 2 years since I finished my behavioural science degree at Flinders University. I did some community radio, worked for SAFM, stopped working for SAFM, went back to community radio, dated a wonderful girl named Jemima, wrote a novel that no publisher is interested in, applied unsuccessfully for about 40 different radio jobs, somehow tricked Triple M into letting me and some friends make a once-off comedy show, waited by the phone as promise after promise failed to materialise and miraculously got probably the best casual job possible at the Palace Nova cinema. But I can’t keep doing this forever. I can’t keep mooching off my parents. I’m 22. I need to get a proper job. And there’s only one thing I want to do, and it ain’t working at a cinema full time. It’s radio. It’s comedy. It’s goofing off in front of a camera. Sure, journalism isn’t the definitive answer, but it’s a step in the right direction. I’d rather read the news at a country radio station or be a newspaper reporter than serve customers at the candy bar 40 hours a week. Something’s gotta give! And if it means getting a job as a journalist in order to support myself and pursuing comedy-related ventures on the side, then that’s the way it has to be. As Mr Mister said: Welcome to the Real World.

    So appreciate photos like the one above, because there will be less images of David M. Green with Stobie Poles orderly alined in the background. In 2010, I’m living in Melbourne.

    Kind regards,
    David M. Green
    Live in Melbourne? Be my friend! Reasonable prices.

  • “Interview” with Tony “Captain Catholic” Abbott

    Greetings,

    It’s been a while since I’ve done an interview, and hey, I’ve just bought a new microphone, so for no other reason than to pursue the TRUTH… I stormed right up to Parliament House and demanded to speak to the Prime Minister. However, Kevin Rudd was busy. Think he was out to lunch. But newly elected opposition leader Tony Abbott had nothing better to do… I’ll also take this opportunity to test out this new embedded audio player, which should help to make podcasting fun, instead of the tedious chore that it presently is. Enjoy.

    [display_podcast]

    Kind regards,
    David M. Green
    The Star of David is his Kryptonite

  • He’ll have to give me my own Recording Studio…

    Hello!

    Frustrated by the lack of support I’ve received from the majority of Adelaide radio stations (community, commercial AND government), I loosened my extremely tight belt and forked out $254 for a decent microphone: The Zoom H2 Portable Audio Recorder.

    Since I began my love affair with radio and audio-based comedy circa 2006, I’ve never actually had my own microphone. I’ve always relied on the facilities of which ever radio station on which I was currently broadcasting, or at times resorting to sneaking into a station on which I was NOT broadcasting (Some of our recent Triple M show was recorded at Radio Adelaide! Funnily enough I think neither radio station wanted us on their property). But now… screw them! I’ll make my OWN DAMN RECORDINGS!

    Verdict: I LOVE this microphone! As these photographs clearly demonstrate:

    The Zoom H2 is incredibly versatile. I takes 2 AA batteries and it’s portable so I can record anywhere. It’s actually got 4 small microphones inside it, so it can record stereo in 2 different directions, allowing for surround sound recordings. I can hook it up to my PC using a USB cable and record directly into Adobe Audition, which is great because I’ve had a lot of trouble in the past with Vista and microphones. And I’ve finally solved the problem of recording straight off the sound card. Ever since I upgraded to Vista in 2007 I haven’t been able to record what’s playing through the speakers into Adobe Audition. Why would I need to do that, you ask? Sound effects for sketches. You can’t always download an audio file. Sometimes you can only stream it, or it’s in a weird format, or you want the audio from a video. With Windows XP I could just change a setting in Audition and press record and get an instant recording. With Vista they changed the “Windows Mixer” or something and it just didn’t work. But now I can use the Zoom H2 almost like a mini broadcast panel, and record onto the SD card from the computer speakers, and then copy the recording back onto my PC. And this is great that this has happened now, right at the start of my first summer in 4 years where I’m NOT doing a radio show!

    I have to admit, there’s no creative motivation like having 60 minutes of air time to fill every week. But even when I’m not doing a show I still get ideas for sketches and segments. I’m at my happiest writing, recording, editing and listening back to radio sketches. In that order, obviously… I mean, I’m hardly going to listen back to it before I’ve recorded it. So even though I’m not doing a show on radio this summer, I still plan to make some new sketches. I’ll still call them radio sketches, because that’s what they are. “Off-Air Radio Sketches,” if you will. So to kick off David M. Green’s “direct-to-Internet” summer of podcasting, please enjoy this sketch, which I did mainly simply to test out my new microphone…

    Sim City 2000 A Cappella

    Overlooking the appalling singing, I think the audio quality is excellent. It sounds like it was recorded at a radio station like all my other sketches. And apparently it’s not just me who thinks the same. I went to a music industry charity luncheon yesterday for the SALSA Debonairs, hosted by Radio’s David Day. To my total surprise, resting on the podium in front of him was a Zoom H2 recorder. The exact same model I’d just purchased. Not only that, another radio/production veteran, Greg Clarke, had one too! They’ve both had them for years, and I had no idea! I mean, I’ve already decided I like my Zoom H2 based purely on performance, but knowing that these two legends of the industry also use one confirms my suspicion that this was $254 well spent.

    Kind regards,
    David M. Green
    Unemployed radio comedian

  • An Evening of Wrestling

    Good evening,

    Yesterday I acquired four complimentary tickets to see the National Wrestling Alliance’s “Re-Emerging” wrestling performance at Adelaide’s Thebarton Theatre. After calling all of my friends, I was unable to find one who wanted to go. Wouldn’t even see it for free. Fair enough. Even I didn’t particularly want to go. But my attendance was requested by my new comedy friend, Ben Rosenthal. Ben is the head writer for these wrestling shows. How about that? I mean, I knew they were all completely rigged, but I didn’t give a second thought to how it was all put together. I guess I always just assumed they made it up as they went based on the level of cheers and boos from the audience. Apparently not.

    So I went by myself anyway. I’ve had some good times at “The Thebby” (Weird Al Yankovic, Devo, Weird Al Yankovic the second time). Unfortunately, on this occasion I happened to be sitting right in front of the loudest, most crazed wrestling fan in the whole theatre. She was standing right behind me, jumping up and down and thumping the back of my seat, yelling right in my ear, informing the whole auditorium exactly which wrestlers were “faggots” and screaming randomly. Thankfully after about 30 minutes she snuck down to steal a closer seat. I was able to film a sample of what I had to put up with. See for yourself…

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhlJhlaqFaU

    She did start talking to me at one point. I really had no idea what she was talking about; names of wrestlers and shows I am unfamiliar with, telling me who she hopes will win. I considered telling her, since I knew the writer and the evening’s outcome, but decided that probably wasn’t a good idea, considering her love of violence. Wrestling. What a bizarre combination of sport and theatre. In which other sports do people accept match-fixing on such a fundamental scale? Could you imagine if football or soccer was rigged? Well, arguably those sports contain some equally poor over-acting.

    Anywho, my review of the evening from the perspective of a non-wrestling fan: 3 hours of egocentric men in tights jumping around, containing maybe 10 minutes of highlights. This has nothing to do with the strength of the writing, or what have you. It’s just that… wrestling is stupid. I hate it.

    Kind regards,
    David M. Green
    Although, I did like the bowling ball in the groin. Now that’s comedy!