The Ronnie Johns Half Hour
Photograph by Zeitfixiereron Flickr.
He advocates bizarre initiatives such as giving homeless people violinists to play sad music so that you can tell if the person is genuinely homeless. Henry has ruined Cochese s beer, fruit punch and fondue.
Ranger Dan appeared to commit suicide in the final episode of series one, however, he somehow made a return in Series 2 to announce that ugly people would be given a guitar to make them more attractive. Other complaints he made included wanting to change the nickname of the Australian soccer team because a socceroo isn t a real animal, and that George Orwell s Nineteen Eighty-Four is incorrect because its events did not occur in 1984.
Complaints from Muslims: Nil. (SMH February 27). In this sketch, the Ronnie Johns team employed two children to act in a GI-Joe style commercial for the Jihadi Joe action figure. Green Man makes the time to walk noise and cars can be heard crashing afterwards.
On their holidays they meet people who they bore and annoy with their barrage of tedious elderly conversation. A parody of TV shows like Ripley s Believe it or Not and Guinness World Records hosted by an unnamed character played by James Pender. Read stated he wanted to look after his two sons in his last years.
Kageti is a good cop loose cannon who has to constantly deal with the aforementioned Chief. Ronnie appears in the opening and closing scenes of the show, as well as occasionally interjecting between sketches, commenting on them and warning the audience about potential bad taste.
He also starred in two other ads that change his catchphrase to put it on your pole . Some sketches have Jesus teamed up with Mohammed, portrayed by Ilic. A puppet dog (voiced and controlled by Ilic) with a left political outlook.
You may see characters from previous sketches hiding in the background or a prop or product reused. The sketch made it to air but in an edited form.
In a later sketch he sings nursery rhymes. Wayne is a full-time Jihadist for Al-Qaeda.
She is continually embarrassing her school-aged daughter, Jemima (Ward) in front of Jemima s friend Steve (Pender) with her nature/fertility rituals. Henry Limpton (Pender) is a man with an unfortunate compulsion. Wayne s terrorist ways often create trouble for their relationship.
Cundall, a celebrity gardener, reads from famous novels but ends up being sidetracked by references to gardening and manure. A terrorist (Raskopoulos) appears on a low quality video warning the Australian public. This generated a great number of complaints from Christian groups.
Kevin says that they must turn to homosexuality to survive for warmth and safety and that there s no shame in this. The sketches often end with Rastus owner, Miles (Franklin), being persuaded not to put up with the person any longer and telling the character No, Rastus is quite right, I think you re full of shit. Phillip (Raskopoulos) is a bearded man in an overcoat who goes shopping.
This is the main example of faux English slang which the characters habitually use. In another he was challenged to avoid towel-flicking someone s bottom and on another occasion he was the spokesman for High Five a Muslim Day .
Red Man usually calls Green Man a dick. Also known as The Finger Guy, Stephen (Pender) is a man who pretends to be pulling an object from his pocket but in facts flips off the person, followed by oohs and aahs. Unfortunately, with that person gone, the Social Suicide Bomber then often turns his sights to the person who called him, creating a situation that was more awkward than the one to begin with. Simon (Franklin), Gretchen (Ward) and Sigmund (Pender) are a trio of apathetic Germans who dress in black and speak in monotonous voices.
They forget to take their lunches with them and the mum shoots it at them with the tank s cannon. A set of pedestrian traffic light containing a Red Man (Pender), and Green Man (Raskopoulos). For example there was a sketch about South African Cola.
Towards the end of the series an American backpacker, Chuck, joined the duo. In the pilot, the character was called Henry Lipton , until this caught the attention of Unilever, owners of the Lipton tea brand.
According to the Season 1 DVD commentary, when Heath Franklin appears in one of these sketches he is the only actor to do his naked scenes in the nude, the rest of the cast wore flesh-coloured underwear. Poofta Bogân is a brand for the Australian bogân, who is also a bit gay. Chopper also makes many threatening statements directed at Neville Bartos, a character based on a real person who the real Chopper allegedly shot before going to prison, but with whom Chopper is now good friends.
The humour comes from the fact that the activities are things that shouldn t be done at all, naked or otherwise such as eating a surfboard, towel whipping a bear or impersonating the Crazy Frog ring tone. Sometimes these sketches break character continuity.
The warnings initially point to a terror attack ( Don t catch a train on Sunday ) but in the end are revealed to come from genuine concern ( .There s going to be track work on the red line ). Arnie (Franklin) is a drug addicted koala. The sketches often become bizarre and absurd in a style reminiscent of Abbott and Costello s Who s on First? .
In one episode Chopper introduces a Puppet version of himself, Mini-Chopper , and teaches children about Stranger Danger . The shows runs for approximately 30 minutes. The cast of the show came from a series of stage shows called The 3rd Degree, produced by Laughing Stock Productions, which featured selections from Australian university revues, and consists of Heath Franklin, Jordan Raskopoulos, Dan Ilic, Felicity Ward, James Pender, Caroline Fitzgerald and Becci Gage.
In a more recent episode, Paulie confronts the owner of an Adult Sex, shop telling him that the edible undies should have a nutritional value printed on the box, just in case a vegan is starving to death and needs to know that there is no beef in them. The second series began airing on August 17, 2006 at 9pm on channel 10, and is 13 episodes in length. In 2006, the show received a Logie nomination for Most Outstanding Comedy Series, and Franklin was nominated for the 2006 Inaugural Graham Kennedy Logie Award for Most Outstanding New Talent.
A staff member of Sydney Aquarium has since confirmed this. . Whenever Rastus encounters statements that he doesn t agree with, whether it be a right wing house guest or a talk-back radio host Rastus responds with barks, growls and even attacks.
The show hasn t been on since November 2006 and has not been on Network Ten s programming since. The 3rd Degree, although not officially disbanded, since 2006 has worked on solo projects, notably Heath Franklin as Chopper and Jordan Raskopoulos in The Axis of Awesome. The Ronnie Johns Half Hour Merchandise including Series DVD, tshirts and posters can be bought online at www.ronniejohns.com In Dec 2009, it was announced via Laughing Stock that that there will be a best-of reunion national tour of The Ronnie Johns Half Hour - live on stage in 2010. The Ronnie Johns Half Hour (full name The Ronnie Johns Good Times Campfire Jamboree Half Hour Show (Now on Television)) is an Australian sketch comedy show produced by Jigsaw Entertainment and the Ten Network, which premiered in October 2005.
This was followed up by a number of fake television commercials advertising the day and finally a montage of vox pops of the publics opinion towards High Five a Muslim day. Perhaps to prove a point, the scenarios are often shown later on in the episode. On the Season 1 finale, it was revealed that Paulie s campaign against gnocchi began when his parents both ordered it at a restaurant, thinking it was pasta, and died from potato allergies. Poppy (Ward) is depicted as a small, innocent girl, who asks a stranger (most likely Pender) if they would like to look at her picture book.
However the Ronnie Johns team consulted a number of prominent members of the Australian Islamic community with the sketch. He drives away the unwanted person with banal comments or bizarre actions, like demonstrating his pterodactyl impersonation.
The sketch involved two toy twin towers which the kids then crash a plane into and begin to celebrate (à la 9/11). He has openly stated that constantly consuming alcohol is damaging his liver because he refused to receive a liver transplant. The Social Suicide Bomber (Raskopoulos) is an awkward-looking man in a burgundy blazer and salmon-pink shirt who is summoned by people who are stuck in unpleasant social situations - such as an unattractive man flirting with a woman who doesn t want that kind of attention - by pressing a large red button.
Sketches often involve his friend (Ilic) making a double entendre comment only for Single Entendre Man to respond with an explicit comment that has the same meaning as the double entendre about a relative of the friend. Ranger Dan (Ilic) provides the public with the 3rd Degree s community service announcements. Two episodes later, they referred to these complaints and played an identical scene with Mohammed on the cross instead of Jesus, claiming it to be in the interests of equality. As part of the first Season, the Ronnie Johns Half Hour advertised a fictional Australian National Awareness Day, February 28 was announced as High Five a Muslim Day .
Throughout the series you would see characters drinking this beverage in other sketches. The Ronnie Johns Half Hour often features risqué material on subjects such as sex and religion. He has also endorsed a product called Cocoa Poops (a parody of Coco Pops). A mum just like any other, apart from the fact that she drives a tank.
He recently featured in an ad for a Russian men s magazine, Rolph (a parody of Ralph). For example on their second appearance Green Man asks Red Man to swap places.
Chris McDonald, creator and producer of The 3rd Degree stage shows, acts as the shows head writer and co-producer. Their names are Stan (Raskopoulos), Tom (Pender) and Kevin (Franklin).
The sketches are in reference to the fact that eucalyptus leaves have a doping effect when they are eaten. Trevor (Franklin) and Dianne (Gage) are an elderly couple who enjoy caravaning. The uncensored version of the sketch was released online shortly after the first episode aired, and also appears under the Special Features on the DVD release of the series. One of the early sketches portrayed Jesus nailed to the cross having difficulty answering his mobile telephone.
The first series began airing in New Zealand on the C4 Network from July 25. To this end, t-shirts and posters were printed and distributed around Australia at a variety of venues and events, including the Tropfest Film Festival. Initially, Network Ten were reluctant to screen the episode due to the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy.
The Chief and Kageti both enjoy donuts but think that coffee tastes like shit. Not only are there recurring characters, there are also recurring themes in the show. These sketches begin by announcing an activity that shouldn t be done whilst naked and assigning the activity a number. In one sketch he was trying to reach his mobile phone while crucified.
Red Man initially refuses but then agrees. Every month he receives $1.50 from the 3rd Degree.
The Green Man is continually annoying the Red Man by making the time to walk noise at inappropriate times. Much of the humour in Chopper s segments derives from his penchants for swearing and violence, as well as his lack of education, as demonstrated in the bingo sketch where he points out I can t even fuckin count, and I m gonna host bingo! It s just like bloody dingo but it s safer with your kids, isn t it? .
This is played out in mime with campy sitcom music. Several of these complaints claimed that the 3rd Degree wouldn t dare do the same thing about Muslims .
He sends in drawings and letters describing what he has done with the money and usually complains about what a pittance it is. without euphemisms).
The character is generally depicted as a young man in a gray hoodie but has also been portrayed as a politician and a medieval knight. Three men have survived a plane crash at sea. Franklin s portrayal of Read is as much based on the real Chopper as it is on Eric Bana s take on the man as portrayed in the 2000 Andrew Dominik film of the same name. In the second season, rather than Chopper having a new job every week, the sketches are set in his apartment.
Gage only appeared as a supporting cast member in the first series but has a more significant role in the second. Whilst backpacking through Australia they grow quite bored of the sights and often complain about everything.
However almost all of the sketches quickly lead to them relieving their boredom by indulging in their favourite past-time of kicking each other in the janglies - each takes turn to kick the other between the legs. For details, www.laughingstock.com.au As well as many stand-alone sketches, The Ronnie Johns Half Hour features a number of characters who have appeared in multiple episodes. The title character of the show, Ronnie Johns (Franklin) is the comedy cowboy ; he rides upon the Good Taste Pony (a papier-mâché horse worn around his waist).
Tom and Stan have want to light a fire and set up help signals on the beach. The sketch then turns to heaven where Jihadi Joe has been rewarded with 72 virgins. The first and second series are available on DVD and are distributed through Sony. Several interesting items were revealed on the DVD commentary: During the DVD commentary, cast member Dan Ilic admitted he once made love to a dolphin.
The book contains pictures of often controversial issues such as the Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse or the Ku Klux Klan, but Poppy s narration describes them more naively, suggesting they are, for example, performing acrobatics routines or playing dress-ups. Her parents are drug addicts while her father is a Vietnam veteran and has an older brother who is homosexual, an older teenage sister who is pregnant, an uncle with a mail-order bride and has a gambling addiction which sends him homeless (and without a kidney) and a grandfather who is a WW II veteran. At the end of the day when asked about the response the producers reported T-shirts sold: A couple of hundred. Complaints from Christians: Five.
He makes a small inquiry about the item he wants to purchase, usually a foodstuff (mangoes, ice-cream, free-range eggs and some ming dynasty vases) and after he purchases three of the item he throws them on the floor and steps on them dramatically. The sketches depict different people on the show performing tasks which are quite mundane.
He can t help but dunk his scrotum (known as Teabagging) into his friend, Cochese s (Raskopoulos) food and beverages. During the Christmas episode he teabagged a chimney while Santa was descending.
He has a slight obsession with prairie dogs. Paulie (Raskopoulos), a young man of unknown Mediterranean heritage, dressed in a green-and-pink striped polo shirt, confronts various people to complain about what might be termed pedantic issues. For example, in his first appearance, he explains to a cashier at a store that gnocchi is actually made of potatoes, and should not be placed in the pasta aisle.
Jesus (Pender) finds himself in many sketches on the show however his sketches don t have a common stylistic or narrative link. In one skit she drops her son and daughter off at primary school.
Nikos Andronicos and Justin Heazlewood are credited as non-performing writers. The first season of the Ronnie Johns Half Hour ran for thirteen episodes The first six aired from October 2005 and the remaining seven aired from February 2006. The Garys shifted from only complaining about Australia to also making fun of Chuck and his country of origin. One of the few depictions of a real person, the infamous criminal Mark Chopper Read (Franklin) appears as a special guest in various incongruous situations, such as reading a story for children a la Play School or calling numbers for bingo.
They appear in places that are usually the source of happy, bubbly personalities, like children s TV shows, aerobics shows, or as replacements for a department store Santa, and frequently make comments on the meaninglessness and futility of life, love and other endeavours. Gretchen is shown to be harbouring much aggression, and frequently has small outbursts of anger, and it is also shown her birthday is on the same day as Simon s. The products are Pseudo-Russian Bastardisations of well known western products such as Schnickers (a parody of Snickers) and Kentucken Frucken Chicken (a parody of KFC).
At the end of each sketches Paulie recommends that the problem be solved by putting a sticker on the offending object, and assures the target of his complaint that I ve got my eye on youse . Items in the Poofta Bogân range include a cologne, dating web site pooftaboganmatchmaker.com.au, the Poofta Bogân Manwâgon (The Manwagon is a Smart Car with a tray on the back) and an alcoholic drink called Inhibition . These sketches start off with sped-up black and white stock footage accompanied by frantic music and finish with the message Don t do Drugs . Throughout each episode there are always a number of hidden jokes or cameos.
In a recent episode, they decided they need to come up with a new adjective other than Underground Peter Cundall (Ilic) is another sketch involving the impersonation of a real person. The show often receives complaints particularly from religious groups. The first episode of the series contained a sketch in which a father gave a very detailed description about his young son s conception when the son asked him Where did I come from? .
In recent episodes he has been shown as a gangster rapper named M-lak Daddy asking for A Dollar Fiddy Cent , a play on his catchphrase and the rap artist 50 cent, to help his malnourished backup singers get some booty. A mother (Ward) attempts to be cool in front of her daughter (Fitzgerald) and her daughter s friend (Gage) but only succeeds in embarrassing herself by revealing how little she knows about the topic of conversation. Sergei Haminov (Raskopoulos) is Russia s Rubik s cube champion. This event was heavily advertised on the show and the internet, with viewers encouraged to go out and find Muslims or even people who just look like they re Muslims, cause they ve been copping it too and get happy with the schlappy.
Offending words and phrases were overdubbed with a female voice saying bunch of flowers . The sketch was met with praise by Islamic leaders and the 3rd Degree were even given a fatwah by the Mufti of Australia decreeing that the sketch promoted tolerance and understanding.} The sketches began with a community announcement-style advertisement, where Jesus announced the day.
I don t like your mangoes. After each skit, as Mandrake is walking away, old horror movie like music plays. Single Entendre Man (Raskopoulos) is famous for making outrageously explicit comments in a direct manner (i.e. Nonetheless the studio audience is still enthralled and chant the phrase That s Fucking Amazing at the end of every sketch. (Voiced by Franklin; Illustrations by Raskopoulos) Mlak Mlak is a World Vision sponsor child in Africa.
The sketches then depict one of the cast members performing the activity. This has been for condoms and lubricant (called KBG Jelly a parody of KY Jelly ) .
He generally performs this act to a figure of authority such as a bus ticket collector, a police woman, or a judge. He cuts his clothes to look like a woman s and changes their help sign to Homo . (Raskopoulos) A man who cuts up human flesh (similar to a Ivan Milat/Mick Taylor type character), and gives words of wisdom to the people at the same time. The New York City Police Department which features a tough, hardass chief (Raskopoulos), who actually has a heart of gold, and his main officer Kageti (Pender).
When the shopkeeper asks him What did you do that for?!?! He then turns to the seller of the item and says that he didn t like the item e.g. At time of writing it is currently unknown if the fictional character will be portrayed in future episodes, due to the failing health of Read, who contracted Hepatitis C after using a blood-stained shaver in prison.
Unilever threatened to pull all their advertising from Channel 10, but were placated by the insertion of the m in the character s surname. The son of God. The Nihilists are based on characters that appeared in a Macquarie University comedy revue. Recently there was a sketch called Sigfeld which is a parody of Seinfeld where the trio acted similar to Seinfeld while remaining in nihilistic character. Windshadow (Fitzgerald) is an Earth Mother .
The scenes are played very melodramatically in a parody of soap operas. An emo girl (Ward) and an emo guy (Raskopoulos) stand on a street corner and attempt to outdo each other with their knowledge of obscure underground bands and music. He appears in numerous adverts endorsing products and says to put it in your hole .
The Arnie sketches feature nature documentary footage that has been dubbed with voices. Ronnie Johns himself comments on this saying If you re only a little bit ugly, I recommend the ukulele! , referencing the fact that a ukulele is a very small guitar-esque instrument. Wayne (Ilic) and Stacey (Fitzgerald) are a middle eastern couple.
