David M. Green: Purveyor of fine humour

Tag: 3AW

  • 31 Questions Season 2 Episode 4

    It was 31 Questions S2E04’s premier on C31 Melbourne & Geelong last Saturday evening. And now available in fabulous web-based YouTubed form (where available).

    Special thanks again to Dan Ilic and Rex Hunt, who both made cameos in Ep 4. And the fabulous editing work from Dan Jones and Anthony McCormack.

    Coming up on tomorrow night’s show, it’s the John Blackman episode with special guest… John Blackman (SURPRISE!), as well as Dicky Knee!

    PLUS our Ep 5 contestants are recently evicted Big Brother housemate Rohan Mirchandaney (CAN YOU BELIEVE THE TIMING!?!?!) AND the wonderful Dani Leever!

    John Blackman was on Melbourne radio station 3AW with Philip Brady and Simon Owens again on Thursday night. He made some downright lovely comments about me and the show:

    [display_podcast]

    Good on Philip Brady for asking the tough questions. Parking is shocking around RMIT University, especially during the day.

    Couldn’t have done it without an incredible team.

    And in late breaking news, 31 Questions has an ALL NEW time slot for New Zealand’s Face Television. We’re now on Thursdays 9.30PM, starting September 12. Apologies to my Kiwi friend(s) for our ever-changing start date.

    Fortunately, there’s always YouTube.

    Kind regards,
    David M. Green
    Where would we be without YouTube? Though it helps IF YOU HAVE A FREAKING INTERNET CONNECTION…

  • 31 Questions Season 2 Episode 2

    31 Questions S2E02 aired on C31 Melbourne & Geelong on Saturday 3 August 2013. Could we have conjured a more “game showy” picture than the one in the above YouTube preview image?

    If so, I’d like to see it.

    Anthony McCormack did a sensational job editing/booty-shaking this one. And I love his Don Bradman gag. Sequentially, this was actually the third episode we shot for this season, and from memory there were quite a lot of problems that night. So it’s good to see it wasn’t a complete write-off (like the first two!).

    Other 31Q things…

    Thursday evening marked my first time on Melbourne radio station 3AW. I had a chat with Philip Brady, Simon Owens and John Blackman about the show (mainly mine, not so much theirs). Both John and Simon have made appearances on 31 Questions. Their episodes are coming up in the next few weeks.

    Amazingly in this media-saturated modern world of ours, the 3AW webcam video of my interview was on YouTube within minutes. Saves me uploading the audio myself. Check it out (stay watching right til the end to see some innovative signaling from the panel operator):

    Here’s an interesting bit of news. I was about to reveal it on 3AW before getting sidetracked, but in our upcoming fifth episode – which was actually the sixth one we taped and will air in Melbourne on August 24 – not only is that the episode John Blackman makes an appearance, but the dude contestant that week is Rohan Zorz, who just Monday entered the Big Brother house as a “latecomer” contestant on Channel Nine!?!

    I find this all very bizarre. Usually Big Brother contestants appear on game shows AFTER they’re kicked out of the house.

    Read Rohan’s profile on the Big Brother website (if you dare visit a reality television website).

    Unfortunately, a cursory glance at the #BBAU tweets shows a general hatred of Rohan. Exactly how this legion of teenage girls with anti-Rohan agendas will affect 31 Questions is yet to be fully understood.

    And lastly, due to repeated requests for fabulous 31 Questions merchandise, I’ve set up an online store on Big Cartel. Check out our NEW 31 Questions 31-Stop Shop!

    At the moment, we’ve got the classic DMG mug for sale for the reduced price of $20. We’re working on some new designs, so keep checking to see what we’ve got in stock. All proceeds will go towards the future of 31 Questions (there’s already been talk of a third season 😉 ).

    See you Saturday for Ep 3.

    Kind regards,
    David M. Green
    Still not going to watch Big Brother.

  • John Blackman on 31 Questions!?!?! It happened… Season 2, Ep 6 Taping

    A wise man once told me breakfast time last Friday that the 6th episode is usually when a TV show hits its stride. He was proved right once again with OUR 6th episode, which was laid down on tape Monday, 22 April 2013.

    We were honoured to have veteran TV and radio performer JOHN BLACKMAN in the studio, who I fondly remember from a childhood spent watching “Hey, Hey It’s Saturday!” and my teenage years listening to the breakfast show on Adelaide’s Triple M (on the rare occasion I woke up before 9am).

    DMG Fun Fact! I did actually have my clock radio defaulted to Triple M circa 2002 (when chart music started not doing it for me any more) until 2007 when “Get This” was taken off the air. Except for that period in 2003/04 during that weird format switch with SAFM. But that’s another rant.

    John popped up several times throughout the episode. He also brought Dicky Knee and I got to do some schtick with him! It’s quite bizarre being on the OTHER SIDE of Dicky Knee. I have a whole new level of respect and sympathy for Daryl Somers, who really was just at the mercy of John Blackman.

    We also had a huge studio audience turnout this week. Maybe 30 people (including my sister Hannah all the way from Adelaide!). And a couple of dozen people in that little RMITV studio makes for a great atmosphere.

    John Blackman, what a pro. And what an absolute pleasure to work with. We had his segments roughly scripted, but there was room to ad lib and go with the flow. He added a bunch of extra gags on the fly. Just wonderful. The way television should be.

    Have I thanked Antonio for setting this one up? I haven’t? Does the question count as a thank you? Urgh… Big thanks to our fabulous director and media industry player Antonio Cafasso for arranging for Mr Blackman’s 31Q cameo!

    And, unbelievably, John Blackman had such a great time on 31 Questions he actually called 3AW on his drive home and gave us a plug! He even called me a “honey”.

    At least I think that’s what he said…

    Hear for yourself, audio courtesy of 3AW:

    [display_podcast]

    Bruce Mansfield on 31 Questions next… what do you think?

    Aside from Mr Blackman, the rest of the show went splendidly. Two more upstanding contestants. Great crowd. Great crew. Gags aplenty. Flushing things down the toilet (literally). You know, the usual.

    That’s most of the team down there. Best in community television.

    Reminder, you can join us in the studio this Monday 29 April for our next taping!

    Join the event on Facebook, or materialise 8.30PM:

    Studio A, Level 2, Building 12
    RMIT University
    on Melbourne’s fabulous Swanston Street
    (near the corner of Franklin Street)

    See you there, then and who!

    Kind regards,
    David M. Green
    Honey to work with.

  • From the ashes of MTR

    The dream is over.

    When I applied for my 76th job for the year in May 2011 – a  “talent bank” advert for Melbourne Talk Radio – I had little hope it would turn into anything more than an unread email, and no idea it would actually turn into a full time position as the panel-operator & audio producer for The Steve Vizard Show, plus the guy who manages the station’s social media accounts and podcasts.

    And that’s what I’ve been doing for the last 6 months. It’s essentially been my life.

    Since moving from casual weekends to The Steve Vizard Show at the start of October, I never missed a shift. I panelled a total of #99 3-hour live talk radio shows and racked up 505 hours on the buttons.

    I can panel that show in my sleep.

    Working at MTR has been the most incredible experience of my life. And I don’t say that lightly.

    Hey, I would have been content if all I got out of this job was my first ever dedicated office phone line…

    I could finally put something in the (W) section of a standard application form!

    But MTR was obviously so much more to me than that.

    The people I had the great pleasure to work with every single day are some of the most talented and hard-working individuals I’ve ever met. In any industry.

    But it broke our hearts on Friday when the talk station went into administration and shut down, switching back over to easy listening.

    It’s a loss for Melbourne. It’s a loss for the Australian media landscape.

    Speaking now as an employee of no radio station, I can say without bias that the Melbourne radio market is easily big enough to support a second commercial talkback station. Just look at Sydney. And in terms of advertising dollars, Sydney has the smaller market.

    Talk is the future of radio. The future of music is the mp3 player.

    It can be done. It should be done. And I predict that eventually, someone with vision will come along and give 3AW a proper run for their vast piles of money.

    Other commentators will postulate why MTR failed. And there are many theories. But let me just say, we all had a hell of a good time. Towards the end, it was essentially 15 people running an entire Melbourne radio station!

    As Steve Price told us at a farewell dinner on Monday, it was a two-year long party. And I’m glad I was along for the ride for 9 months.

    For an accurate summary of the events that lead to MTR’s demise, see Michael Bodey’s article in The Australian.

    In true comic style however, I chose to sign a 12-month lease on February 29 for an apartment in Hawthorn just 5 minutes from the former MTR studios in Richmond.

    48 hours later, I lost my job.

    CAN YOU BELIEVE IT!?!

    Is it too much to ask for JUST A WEEK of convenience?!!?

    I’m moving house on Saturday. So this really is the start of a new chapter in the life of DMG.

    I’ve lived in this wonderful share house in Coburg for two years. Team Bell Street rescued me from the horrid squalor of  three weeks in Altona. However, I feel it’s time to take the next step and get my own space.

    As I’ve already made this decision, this puts me in a tricky position. I will need to find another job reasonably quickly, or risk the embarrassment of being bailed out by my Mother.

    But that’s show biz, kid. Highest of highs. Lowest of lows.

    One day you’re the most important guy who ever lived. The next, you’re some schmoe working in a box factory.

    Of course, if you’re reading this and thinking your box factory could use a little more David M. Green, by all means send me an email. We have the technology.

    On the plus side, this does give me more time to dedicate to my upcoming TV game show 31 Questions. It would have been a slightly wasted opportunity, had I not been able to put 100% into what will be the largest creative project I’ve yet undertaken.

    I will be on television later this year, with or without a job. Like some sort of radio phoenix, rising from the ashes of MTR.

    I’ll leave you with a brief look at just a fraction of what I had the great privilege of doing at Melbourne Talk Radio these past 9 months. Enjoy.

    [display_podcast]

    Kind regards,
    David M. Green
    Off the buttons. For now.

  • Shame Shame Shame.

    Hello!

    Yes, I’ve been brushing shoulders, literally, with the “Scrabble elite”. On Monday I accompanied fellow RMIT post-grad journalism student, Newspaper’s Ben Hagemann, as HE interviewed Radio (and TV)’s Derryn Hinch at the 3AW studios on fabulous Spencer Street, Docklands!

    Ben accompanied me on my recent interviews with Micallef and Vine, so I returned the favour and acted as his photographer, snapping this shot:

    Plus I kinda just wanted to meet Derryn Hinch and listen to what he had to say on the topic of “citizen journalism” (and a few Scrabble-related queries too). It was a load off not actually having to DO the interview. I just sat there. Very interesting indeed. I decided I wasn’t going to ask for a photo, because I thought that might be a bit awkward, but then after I took Ben’s, Derryn asked if I’d like one too. Naturally I jumped at the opportunity. Of course, in hindsight, I could hardly say: “No thanks, I’ll be right… Jerk.” That’s just rude.

    We were there for about 5 minutes before Ben’s interview was interrupted by Derryn’s producer, who burst in with, “Sorry Derryn, but we’ve got a huge story.” Ben and I were pushed out while a few phone calls were made. After another 5 minutes in the foyer, we were allowed back into his office, only to be informed personally by Derryn Hinch that “Carl Williams has been stabbed to death in prison”. I must admit, I didn’t really know who that was, but I’ve never seen “Underbelly”. Incidentally, later that day we learned that he wasn’t actually stabbed, but beaten to death, rather, with part of an exercise bike no less. Who ever said a little exercise never hurt anyone?

    Kind regards,
    David M. Green
    HEY! IT’S DERRYN HINCH!