Tuesday 1 April 2003

Rod Quantock-The Axis of Stupidity , April 1, 2003

Rod Quantock  - The Axis of Stupidity  

Melbourne Comedy Festival
 Victoria Hotel,  March 28 to 20, 2003 
Reviewer: Kate Herbert

As far as this reviewer is concerned, attendance is compulsory at Rod Quantock shows. Of course, this smacks of conscription and Quantock is not in favour of conscription of any kind.

Nor is he in favour of the War. He makes no bones about it. The Coalition of the Willing is the Axis of Stupidity in his book. There are no sacred cows for Quantock - particularly on the political Right of our world stage.  He derides George Bush and Tony Blair but saves his vitriol for John Howard.

Quantock is well versed in all the information of war that pours out of our televisions and radios. He sacrifices sleep for us in order to be informed. All the interesting stuff happens at 3am, he quips.

This show has huge belly laughs but it is often so close to the truth of the mad events in our world at present that we laugh with an ache in our bellies. Quantock's target used to be Jeff Kennett and his jobs for the boys in Victoria. His attitude to Bush and Howard makes Kennett look like a pussy cat.

The Left does not get off unscathed. Simon Crean gets a pasting too. Other punching bags are our own Herald-Sun.  he surrounds the Stage with banner headlines from all the newspapers.

He highlights the fact that the Herald-Sun had the Flower Show and the Fashion and Food shows on the front page a week or so into the invasion. Andrew Bolt, political writer, Quantock says, is sent to give him ulcers. He is his own weapon of Rod's mass destruction.

His style is still conversational and always shambolic. He blames George Bush for any confusion. He just wouldn't call Rod back in time for the Comedy Festival to tell him whether the war was going ahead.

What is always fascinating and compelling in a Quantock show is how much he knows about world politics and how he draws together disconnected threads to form an absurd picture of the chaos we face.

He keeps his praise for some lesser known public figures: Hans Blick  that cuddly UN weapons inspector and the French Defence Minister who is smart and chic.

By Kate Herbert









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