Scared Weird Little Guys
Encyclopedia
Scared Weird Little Guys (also referred to as SWLG or The Scaredies) were an Australian comedy
music duo formed in July 1990, comprising John Chaplin-Fleming (vocals, guitar, mandolin) and Rusty Berther (vocals, guitar, banjo). The Scaredies performed their last ever live show in Brisbane in May 2011.
group comprising David Holmes, Ramsey Collins and Rusty. The group performed aboard a Fairstar
cruise as well as touring RSL
clubs around Sydney
. They performed during most of Expo 88 in Brisbane. In 1989 Rusty and John joined The Phones, one of Australia's top a cappella groups, which boasted members such as Paul Keelan, Michael Dalton and Reg Ellery. Performing at comedy and cabaret
venues around Australia, the group also held a regular TV spot on Channel 7's Bert Newton Show
. Following the group's break-up in 1990, John and Rusty teamed up and moved away from a cappella to concentrate on musical comedy routines.
The duo has had much success touring Australia, as well as more than 20 tours of festivals and college campuses in North America, and three tours of the UK in 1997, 1998 and 2001.
The name "Scared Weird Little Guys" comes from a line in the Al Pacino
movie Cruising.
The Scaredies announced on 1 August that the act would be coming to an end after 21 years. They will embark on a national farewell tour named 'Enough Already', which will run until mid 2011. The duo have released a final CD entitled "Enough Already" which includes recordings from their Mount Gambier
, Horsham
and Warrnambool
shows.
The Scaredies performed their final show in Brisbane on 22 May 2011.
, the Adelaide Fringe Festival
as well as the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and the Spiegeltent. They featured at the closing ceremony of the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games, warming up the 90,000 strong crowd for 45 minutes.
They have also made noteworthy appearances as The Scared Weird Little Guys Superband. This usually consists of John and Rusty with the addition of a full rock band including horn section
. The Superband has been a fixture at the Melbourne Comedy Festival for many years and features guest appearances from international and local comedians singing cover songs. Guest singers have included Ross Noble
, Rich Hall
, Maria Bamford
, Rove McManus
, Jo Stanley
, Jimeoin
, Lano and Woodley
, Bob Downe, Alan Brough
and Adam Hills
.
and radio
since 1990.
's breakfast radio show The Cage
in Melbourne and Sydney since 2001. They finished up on Triple M in July 2007 and can currently be heard most Fridays on ABC 774 Melbourne as part of the Drive program with Lindy Burns.
"Stump The Scaredies" is One Song To The Tune Of Another
, where listeners send in requests to hear one song performed to the tune of another. This segment appeared on Triple M's drive program The Shebang in 2003-04, but moved at the beginning of 2005 to the Breakfast shift.
The "Song of the Week" is a wrap-up of current affairs
, sport, culture, celebrity news and more, often performed to the tune of a relevant song.
The Scaredies' 2004 album Bits and Pieces contained examples of both of their radio segments as well as some original material.
In 2005, 2006 and currently (2007), The Scardies' have also been performing weekly on the Western Australian Radio show Botica's Bunch, Mix 94.5. On Tuesdays they perform their "Stump The Scardies" and on Friday, their "Take On The Week".
On Triple M
's Adelaide
show John Blackman and Jane Reilly
, The Scared Weird Little Guys have been appearing Weekly on Monday's and Wednesday's for "Stump the Scaredies" and Fridays for their "End o' week song"
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
music duo formed in July 1990, comprising John Chaplin-Fleming (vocals, guitar, mandolin) and Rusty Berther (vocals, guitar, banjo). The Scaredies performed their last ever live show in Brisbane in May 2011.
History
In 1987 John joined Four Chairs No Waiting, an a cappellaA cappella
A cappella music is specifically solo or group singing without instrumental sound, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. It is the opposite of cantata, which is accompanied singing. A cappella was originally intended to differentiate between Renaissance polyphony and Baroque concertato...
group comprising David Holmes, Ramsey Collins and Rusty. The group performed aboard a Fairstar
TSS Fairstar
The Twin Screw Steamer TSS Fairstar was a popular Australian based cruise ship operating out of Sydney for 22 years...
cruise as well as touring RSL
Returned and Services League of Australia
The Returned and Services League of Australia is a support organisation for men and women who have served or are serving in the Australian Defence Force ....
clubs around Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
. They performed during most of Expo 88 in Brisbane. In 1989 Rusty and John joined The Phones, one of Australia's top a cappella groups, which boasted members such as Paul Keelan, Michael Dalton and Reg Ellery. Performing at comedy and cabaret
Cabaret
Cabaret is a form, or place, of entertainment featuring comedy, song, dance, and theatre, distinguished mainly by the performance venue: a restaurant or nightclub with a stage for performances and the audience sitting at tables watching the performance, as introduced by a master of ceremonies or...
venues around Australia, the group also held a regular TV spot on Channel 7's Bert Newton Show
Bert Newton
Albert Watson "Bert" Newton, AM, MBE is an Australian television personality, known for hosting television series such as In Melbourne Tonight, Good Morning Australia and 20 to 1. Newton has also hosted the Logie Awards on numerous occasions through his career.-Early life:Newton was born in...
. Following the group's break-up in 1990, John and Rusty teamed up and moved away from a cappella to concentrate on musical comedy routines.
The duo has had much success touring Australia, as well as more than 20 tours of festivals and college campuses in North America, and three tours of the UK in 1997, 1998 and 2001.
The name "Scared Weird Little Guys" comes from a line in the Al Pacino
Al Pacino
Alfredo James "Al" Pacino is an American film and stage actor and director. He is famous for playing mobsters, including Michael Corleone in The Godfather trilogy, Tony Montana in Scarface, Alphonse "Big Boy" Caprice in Dick Tracy and Carlito Brigante in Carlito's Way, though he has also appeared...
movie Cruising.
The Scaredies announced on 1 August that the act would be coming to an end after 21 years. They will embark on a national farewell tour named 'Enough Already', which will run until mid 2011. The duo have released a final CD entitled "Enough Already" which includes recordings from their Mount Gambier
Mount Gambier, South Australia
Mount Gambier is the largest regional city in South Australia located approximately 450 kilometres south of the capital Adelaide and just 17 kilometres from the Victorian border....
, Horsham
Rural City of Horsham
The Rural City of Horsham is a Local Government Area in Victoria, Australia. It is located in the western part of the state. It has an area of 4,239 square kilometres. In 2006 it had a population of 18,492...
and Warrnambool
Warrnambool, Victoria
-Cityscape:The original City of Warrnambool was a 4x8 grid, with boundaries of Lava Street , Japan Street , Merri Street and Henna Street . In the nineteenth century, it was intended that Fairy Street – with its proximity to the Warrnambool Railway Station – would be the main street of...
shows.
The Scaredies performed their final show in Brisbane on 22 May 2011.
Albums & Releases
- Scared (1994)
- Macadamia (EP)
- Bloody Jeff (EP)
- Death Lounge (EP) (1998)
- Live At 42 Walnut Crescent (2000)
- Bits And Pieces (2004)
- The First 15 Years (DVD) (2005)
- Scared Weird Little Songs (2009)
- Mindless Stupidity for the Thinking Person (2010)
- Enough Already (2010)
Notable Performances
The Scared Weird Little Guys have performed regularly at the Melbourne International Comedy FestivalMelbourne International Comedy Festival
The Melbourne International Comedy Festival is the third-largest international comedy festival in the world and the largest cultural event in Australia. Established in 1987, it takes place annually in Melbourne over four weeks in April typically opening on or around April Fool's Day...
, the Adelaide Fringe Festival
Adelaide Fringe Festival
The Adelaide Fringe Festival is an arts festival held annually in the South Australian capital of Adelaide. The event is the Southern Hemisphere's largest arts event and the second-largest fringe festival in the world, second in size only to the Edinburgh Fringe...
as well as the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and the Spiegeltent. They featured at the closing ceremony of the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games, warming up the 90,000 strong crowd for 45 minutes.
They have also made noteworthy appearances as The Scared Weird Little Guys Superband. This usually consists of John and Rusty with the addition of a full rock band including horn section
Horn section
In music, a horn section can refer to several groups of musicians. It can refer to the musicians in a symphony orchestra who play the horn . In a British-style brass band it refers to the tenor horn players. In popular music, it can also refer to a small group of wind instrumentalists who augment a...
. The Superband has been a fixture at the Melbourne Comedy Festival for many years and features guest appearances from international and local comedians singing cover songs. Guest singers have included Ross Noble
Ross Noble
Ross Markham Noble is an English stand-up comedian, brought up in Cramlington, Northumberland, England.Noble rose to mainstream popularity through making appearances on British television, particularly interviews and on celebrity quiz shows such as Have I Got News for You...
, Rich Hall
Rich Hall
Richard "Rich" Hall is an American comedian, writer and musician.-Early life and career:Hall was born in Alexandria, Virginia and grew up in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. He is part Cherokee Indian...
, Maria Bamford
Maria Bamford
Maria Bamford is an American stand-up comedian and voice actor. She is best known for her portrayal of her dysfunctional family and self-deprecating comedy involving jokes about depression. Her comedy style draws upon surrealism and incorporates voice impressions that good-naturedly mock various...
, Rove McManus
Rove McManus
John Henry Michael "Rove" McManus is an Australian comedian, television presenter, producer and media personality. He was the host of the self-titled variety show Rove, and is the owner of the production company Roving Enterprises...
, Jo Stanley
Jo Stanley
Joanne "Jo" Stanley is an Australian television and radio personality.Stanley has appeared as the host of Network Ten's Bread TV program, a show that focuses on small business and is currently the host of The Matt and Jo Show on Austereo's FOX FM, a show she joined in 2003.- Biography :She...
, Jimeoin
Jimeoin
Jimeoin McKeown, who performs under the name Jimeoin , is a stand-up comedian and actor from Northern Ireland. He came to public attention between 2005 and 2008 while performing an "over the top" comedy tour Australia's outback and major cities, which was filmed for the BBC Northern Ireland...
, Lano and Woodley
Lano and Woodley
Lano and Woodley were one of Australia's most successful Australian comedy duos of the 1990s and 2000s. They are perhaps most famous for their stand-up comedy and slapstick theatre, as well as their television show The Adventures of Lano and Woodley, which aired on the ABC network in 1997 and...
, Bob Downe, Alan Brough
Alan Brough
Alan Brough is a New Zealand actor and comedian.Brough worked as an actor in Wellington and Auckland, mainly in live theatre...
and Adam Hills
Adam Hills
Adam Hills is an Australian comedian and television presenter. He has appeared on Australian and British television and is best known for his role hosting the Australian ABC music trivia show Spicks and Specks...
.
Awards
The duo have won several awards throughout their career, as well as being nominated for various high-profile awards.Winner
- Victorian Campus Activities Association "Best Comedy Act" 1994
- Canadian Organisation for Campus Activities "Best Variety Act" 1994-5
- US National Association for Campus ActivitiesNational Association for Campus ActivitiesNational Association for Campus Activities is an organization designed to provide information and resources for campus activities programmers throughout the United States and Canada...
(NACA) "Best Comedy Act" 1995 - Mo Award "Comedy Group Of The Year" 2000
- ARIA Award "Best Comedy Release: Bits and Pieces" 2004But
Nominations
- Mo Award "Comedy Group Of The Year" 1994-1999, 2001–2004
- ARIA Award "Best Comedy Release: Scared" 1995
- Mo Award "Best Comedy Act" 1997
- US National Association for Campus Activities (NACANACA- Organizations :* National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, the forerunner of the U.S. federal agency NASA* National Association for Campus Activities, an organization for programmers of university and college activities...
) "Entertainers Of The Year" 1995
Media appearances
The duo have performed regular spots in both televisionTelevision
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
and radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
since 1990.
Television appearances
The duo have performed on almost every live Australian television show, some notable examples include:- Hey Hey It's SaturdayHey Hey It's SaturdayHey Hey It's Saturday was a long-running variety television program on Australian television. It initially ran for 27 years , debuting on the Nine Network on 9 October 1971 and broadcasting its last episode on 20 November 1999. Its host throughout its entire run was Daryl Somers, who would later...
- Good Morning AustraliaGood Morning AustraliaGood Morning Australia from Network Ten was the name of two different programs. This article is for Bert Newton's morning program, not to be confused with the breakfast news program of the same name....
- The NRL Footy ShowThe NRL Footy ShowThe Footy Show is a Logie Award-winning Australian sports variety television programme, shown on the Nine Network and its affiliates. Following the success of the AFL program of the same name, the Nine Network quickly developed a version for the rugby league market. The rugby league version has...
- Sale Of The CenturySale of the CenturySale of the Century is a television game show format that has been screened in several countries in various incarnations since 1969. The show found its biggest success in Australia, where it aired weeknights from 1980 to 2001...
A personal favourite of the group, who appeared in the giftshop. - The Micallef Programme Appeared as the mystery guests of the week. When Shaun opens the door to them, and they appear to be ready to perform a song, except Shaun shuts the door in their faces.
- You May Be RightYou May Be Right (game show)You May Be Right was an Australian television game show, jointly produced by dSPBeyond & the Seven Network, and was hosted by Dancing With The Stars judge Todd McKenney. The show was aired on Sunday nights at 7:30pm and premiered on 13 August 2006. The format pitted two teams of Australian...
The show's houseband. - Rove liveRove LiveRove, formerly Rove Live, was an Australian television talk show which premiered on the Nine Network on 22 September 1999, before moving to Network Ten which aired the program from 2000 until November, 2009. The show was hosted by comedian Rove McManus, and featured an ensemble cast, who presented...
Radio Appearances
The Scared Weird Little Guys have been appearing weekly on Triple MTriple M
The Triple M Network is an active rock radio network in Australia owned by media company Austereo, who also own the Today Network.- History :...
's breakfast radio show The Cage
The Cage (radio show)
The Cage is the name of two different breakfast shows on Australian radio network Triple M, broadcasting in Brisbane and Melbourne.Previously Sydney and Adelaide received the Melbourne version, however these cities now have their own individual shows....
in Melbourne and Sydney since 2001. They finished up on Triple M in July 2007 and can currently be heard most Fridays on ABC 774 Melbourne as part of the Drive program with Lindy Burns.
"Stump The Scaredies" is One Song To The Tune Of Another
One Song To The Tune Of Another
"One Song to the Tune of Another" was the first game played on the BBC Radio 4 comedy panel game I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue and is still almost always played every other episode. It consists of panellists singing the lyrics of one song to the tune of another song, accompanied on the piano.The four...
, where listeners send in requests to hear one song performed to the tune of another. This segment appeared on Triple M's drive program The Shebang in 2003-04, but moved at the beginning of 2005 to the Breakfast shift.
The "Song of the Week" is a wrap-up of current affairs
Current affairs (news format)
Current Affairs is a genre of broadcast journalism where the emphasis is on detailed analysis and discussion of news stories that have recently occurred or are ongoing at the time of broadcast....
, sport, culture, celebrity news and more, often performed to the tune of a relevant song.
The Scaredies' 2004 album Bits and Pieces contained examples of both of their radio segments as well as some original material.
In 2005, 2006 and currently (2007), The Scardies' have also been performing weekly on the Western Australian Radio show Botica's Bunch, Mix 94.5. On Tuesdays they perform their "Stump The Scardies" and on Friday, their "Take On The Week".
On Triple M
Triple M
The Triple M Network is an active rock radio network in Australia owned by media company Austereo, who also own the Today Network.- History :...
's Adelaide
Adelaide
Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...
show John Blackman and Jane Reilly
The New Zoo
"John Blackman and Jane Reilly" redirects hereThe New Zoo is the original name of the breakfast show broadcast on Australian radio network Triple M in Adelaide. The program hosts are John Blackman, Jane Reilly and Cosi. The name "The New Zoo" was renamed the "John Jane and Cosi" show after the...
, The Scared Weird Little Guys have been appearing Weekly on Monday's and Wednesday's for "Stump the Scaredies" and Fridays for their "End o' week song"