Chilled with proper jokes and new comedy voices: Behind the scenes of The Weekly

EXCLUSIVE:

9:30am. It’s a Tuesday morning when I arrive at the production office of The Weekly with Charlie Pickering at ABC Southbank studios. Thinkative TV’s open plan space feels like I have walked into Utopia, but it’s accrued telltale props and photos in between faux ferns, a Hard Quiz brass mug (it’s surprisingly heavy) and books on Quotations and even Olivia Newton-John.

It’s also “show day” for the team, the culmination of a week of writing. By 6:30pm tonight there will be an audience ready for Pickering’s take on the week in news ahead of a Wednesday broadcast.

There are 10 staff huddled around a large table ready for a script reading lead by Pickering. Amongst them are Executive Producer Chris Walker, Co-Exec Producer Frank Bruzzese and Head Writer Scott Abbot. Pickering mentions he is recovering from a migraine.

The Weekly‘s format rests on a Thursday – Wednesday commentary of Australian and world news events, interjected by sketches / interviews this week involving Rhys Nicholson, Zoë Coombs Marr and “Instant Expert” Bronwyn Kuss.

The script read of the news events will last around two hours. While the day will encompass fine-tuning over gags, here is where all the heavy lifting is done. Script sketches about Elon Musk, the Pope, the election campaign, Clive Palmer spam texts, Anzac Day coverage are read aloud for group discussion.

Pulling apart gags and questioning their merit is analytical stuff. Syntax is dissected. Is it too wordy? Too heavy? Too long? There are questions around a reference to Elon’s actual wealth, but agreement the fewer times he is mentioned by name is probably “better for the world.”

There are also questions around the legalities of sketches, but one neo-Nazi is self-declared. References to a deep fake of South Australia’s Opposition Leader don’t state anything about snorting cocaine (he wasn’t). Watching video of booing at Anzac Day is confronting. Someone finds the length of it troubling. Pickering believes it is important to sit in all its ugliness, contrasted by the fact media then gave the protestor airtime via interviews.

After hearing jokes twice I’m not really laughing anymore (and by day’s end I will hear them many more), so I deduce it’s important not to lose sight of why the humour worked in the first place. Welcome to the business of being funny.

10:40am. I can’t help but notice food is ferried into the office on a trolley. It reminded the tea lady was once an ABC tradition. Script work rolls on. An election debate over the price of eggs has been turned into a Price is Right gag with a fake showcase graphic (should a VCR should be above or below a microwave?). If there is uncertainty over any gags, it’s deemed a later rehearsal on the studio floor will determine their fate.

One sketch around the 20th anniversary of YouTube is abandoned entirely. Originally planned for “Charlie’s Heroes” it is considered the weakest of all sketches and not a great one to finish on. Goodbye gags about Crazy Frog, Unboxing, Joe Rogan and Baby Shark. Writer Scott Abbot suggests another sketch about Valerie, a daschund found on Kangaroo Island after being missing for 2 years, could be elevated to “hero” status. Tick.

Nick Maxwell

11:40. After the script meeting I hear a voice in the office which sounds familiar. It is Senior Writer / Producer Nick Maxwell, who you will hear narrating video sketches, this week on “Albo’s F***ing Dog.” When the PM’s team once came to visit, they too recognised his voice and loved his work.

12:30. After scoffing down a chicken wrap, I jointly interview Walker and Pickering, who’s now feeling much better which I presume is the healing medicine of laughter.

The Weekly has a Thinkative staff of 33 (excluding ABC crew) and begins the writing process each Wednesday. There’s even a small Sunday team although Pickering doesn’t always get involved.

“If we go into the weekend and we don’t have enough, it’s been a slow news week. Then I’ll get more involved on Sunday on zoom. … but it’s also refreshing to see what they come up with away from my ideas,” says Pickering.

Chris Walker notes, “The biggest writing day is Monday by far, 85% of the show is in its structural form. Someone will be writing a story on a Monday but then we will start the process of reading and re-reading.  I think it’s something like 7 or 8 drafts, by the time we hit today … but after rehearsals it gets close to 10.”

Charlie Pickering, Chris Walker

Over its 11 years the show’s format has evolved. Previously an opening monologue would power through the week’s news allowing for more ‘deep dives’ into topics. In recent years the week has formed the backbone of the show, under the slogan, ‘We watch the news so you don’t have to.’

“We just learned that the week is a structure that people understand,” Pickering explains. “The purpose of our show, or our understanding of it, changed over time, in that people were giving us a lot of feedback, saying, ‘I watched your show, and I know what happened this week.’ When Prime Minister Anthony Albanese came in for Rhys to interview him, I made a joke about how he’d be way too busy to be watching our show. And he said, ‘Normally I watch it on the weekend, and sometimes it’s how I catch up with what happened this week.'”

“We felt over time, there was a real benefit in just capturing the news for the week and delivering it in a way that you now know what happened. If you watch Have You Been Paying Attention? you’re actually more up with the news than most people,” Walker suggests.

“Our Tuesday meeting is pretty efficient, everyone knows what they’re doing. But we’ve had a very democratic Writers’ Room for a long time. If you write on this show, you will see your work on screen,” Pickering explains.

“I think for our writers, this is a pretty rewarding TV writing job. They get to make proper jokes… (Chris and I) would both rather make the best joke we possibly can and apologise for it afterwards, than censor ourselves beforehand. Not all shows have that approach.”

Over that same period, comedy and the way we tell jokes has also shifted. But there is still ample room for humour and context is everything.

“You have to be careful, if you’re not part of a (specific) group, that to generalise or to speak on their behalf, can land badly. You have to remember that your perspective is your perspective. You don’t necessarily have anyone else’s perspective,” says Pickering.

“The thing that we concern ourselves with is that human frailty hasn’t changed. There’s always going to be things to make fun of,” Walker suggests.

“It’s exhausting hearing people go, ‘You can’t make jokes anymore,” says Pickering. “Like, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, there’s more comedy in the world than ever before. If you’ve not evolved with society, that’s up to you. We’re fortunate that the audience is in our mind the whole time. Despite my name being on the show, it’s not about me, it’s not about Chris, it’s about what is great for the audience and what’s the best thing that we can give the audience?”

The show has also evolved its segments including introducing the Instant Experts sketch with emerging comedians. This week Bronwyn Kuss becomes an expert on How to Live Forever.

“It came from the fact that there are fewer scripted comedy shows on TV. There’s nothing ‘off Broadway’ anymore. There used to be The Feed, The Roast, ABC had Tonightly,” Pickering continues.

“We’ve had new writers who haven’t written for TV, even if it’s just one day a week, and starting on some very simple writing, not necessarily writing a whole story, but teaching them how to find the clips, how we structure a script. So we’ve had new voices within the writers room and within the show, which is good.”

1:45pm. In studio it’s time for the Autocue Rehearsal with Floor Manager Serge Adimari. The same production team are now perched on the end of the host desk ready to make further script tweaks. Some camera shots are also assigned here. Pickering, acknowledging his own delivery stumbles concedes, “Terrible read so far today!”

I learn that behind Pickering’s desk is a sticker that reads ‘It’s just a TV show’.

“It’s what Chris once said to me before a particularly hectic episode when I’d just bitten my tongue and bleeding profusely. He was so relaxed about it and we weren’t ready, but then it all went fine,” he explains.

“It’s the last thing I read before each episode. It serves as a reminder that while the team takes making the show very seriously, there’s no need to be too serious about it. The show’s job is to be funny. And the first step is making sure you have fun.”

Rhys Nicholson

2:55pm I’m in the Control Room as director Peter Ots, Walker and Bruzzese lead a full rehearsal. There’s about 17 people in the darkened room full of monitors and tech desks. Walker on headset talks directly to Pickering for any changes while Ots runs the crew. It’s the first time I spy Rhys Nicholson and hear their routine about school parent group chats. “It’s good, there’s just one bit to come out,” Pickering advises.

During this rehearsal the crew pepper the gags with some chuckles, hearing them for the first time (it’s needed by now). That long vision of booing at Anzac Day is still raw when seen for the first time by some in the Control Room. As heads quietly shake I sense even seasoned pros feel affected by what went down that day….

4:15pm. After rehearsal I ask Walker about balance given the script has two gags around Peter Dutton. He reminds me of Nick Maxwell’s sketch on Albo’s dog, which equates to longer airtime. Fair point.

6pm. Genial warm-up man Ben Lomas is welcoming the studio audience into the ABC foyer, asking them to break the ice by introducing themselves to a stranger. And please check out his Instagram where they can send a question which forms part of the studio warm-up.

6:30pm Episode filming begins. The audience and Pickering are both very happy to see one another and as the recording proceeds there is some chit-chat in between segments. Lomas keeps the ball in the air, jokingly guessing someone’s occupation based on their coffee orders. The shoot runs smoothly, with little need for pick-ups. There’s a promo or two to film at the end, plus a further segment with Concetta Caristo to screen later.

8pm As I depart ABC studios I reflect on how chilled the day was given it was “show day.”  I’m reminded of Pickering telling me he often listens to an NFL podcast directly before showtime.

“NFL is a great example, because you’ve got a quarterback, this one person who throws the ball, right? Everyone has a job to do but there’s one person who’s delivering the play. And once I got my head around that, I was like, that’s literally the way I want this show to work,” he says.

“So I have to be able to focus, have the right mindset, not be distracted and be calm to deliver the show the best I can.  If we’ve done all our work for six days before we record, I’m executing a good plan, and that’s it.”

The Weekly with Charlie Pickering 8:30pm Wednesdays on ABC.