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Chaser's death song in poor taste
19 October 2007
Jane Gardner
The Chaser's death song has copped criticism from a Sunshine Coast stand-up comedian who said it had crossed the line between humour and being lewd for the sake of it. Lindsay Webb said if the comedy team continued producing such offensive material, it would ultimately lead to their downfall.
“I think satire is excellent, but this has gone too far and too hard. It lacks respect. Anything involving Steve Irwin is way too soon. They set out to be shocking and do amazing things every week, but there’s only so long that can go on for before you have to push the bar. They’ve delved in to a concept that really should have been left alone and if you start to run water too hot, you’re going to get burnt.”
Wednesday’s episode concluded with a song defaming eight dead celebrities, including Steve Irwin. Chaser comedian Andrew Hansen performed the tawdry piano ditty, The Eulogy Song, which accuses Steve Irwin of being a “tool” and “kamikaze cartoon croc and tot taunter”, labels Princess Diana a “slut” and accuses Peter Brock of being so anti-green he drove in to a tree. The no-holds-barred attack on dead celebrities was punctuated with the chorus line of “even wankers turn in to top blokes after death.”
Yesterday Labor leader Kevin Rudd, who has admitted to being a fan of the show, warned the Chaser’s to lift their game. “This is absolutely disgusting,” he said. In a rare show of solidarity, Prime Minister John Howard agreed. “I think it just totally distasteful and despicable,” he said. “Why don’t they stick to decent, dirt-free humour that we can all enjoy.”
While jokes about the deceased have always been shaky ground, ABC television’s former commissioning editor and head of comedy Dr Geoff Portmann argues The Chaser’s confronting brand of satire is a perfectly acceptable facet of Australian culture. He believes it does have a place on television and those who don’t want to watch, should switch off. “Most comedy offends somebody,” he said. “The very nature of satire is to make us uncomfortable and push the boundaries of society forward. It’s highly subjective. How long after Princess Di died in a tragic car accident can you make a joke about it? For some people it’s never and others posted jokes on the internet within 30 minutes.
“I think (The Chasers) are a very funny and highly amusing group of comedians who perform a very valuable role; to make us as a society to look at ourselves, re-evaluate views and attitudes about the world around us. They challenge us, provoke us, make us think, make us uncomfortable, and that forces us to have a look at the world from another direction. In the end all you can say is comedy by its nature will be provocative. It is part of a good healthy society.”
Chris Taylor, who wrote the lyrics, said the song was adapted from his play Dead Caesar and was, “if anything ... slightly watered down for television.” “I think it makes a fair enough point that people who was flawed in life is often disproportionately hailed as saints in death,” he said. “We were making a joke about the inappropriateness of making a joke.”
The ABC’s media manager said in the hour after the television show screened, they received six calls about the song – three of them positive. It was only after the media sparked the debate about whether speaking ill of the dead was appropriate that the switchboard began to light up, he said.
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