Drum Media 23 April 2002

"Ah, shit," sound of phone clattering to floor, and Paul McDermott scrambling to catch it. "Sorry, just putting my shirt on," the former Good News Week host, Doug Anthony Allstar and general snarkily funny guy for hire explains. Though its about 3 in the afternoon, Mr McDermott has apparently taken to rock and roll time, dressing for breakfast at this late hour as he works his latest product, gud be thy name.

Swear to Gud- Paul McDermott's music and comedy mix by Ross Clelland.

Anyway, between dressing, grooming, carrying on another chat with whoever he's about to breakfast with, heading down in the lift, and walking down the street, we get some of the some questions and answers in edgeways as to what it's all about.

"Umm, Gud? Kind of the highest and purest spirit. But just slightly corrupted," is the explanation of the name. The press release has it down as 'hard core cabaret', but McDermott isn't quite sure of that definition: "Cabaret always has me thinking of the full 1930's Weimar Republic German thing- but at no point do I wear leiderhosen, or the Liza Minelli suspenders." On behalf of the public, I express our thanks.

"It more just came from having a stockpile of songs that Mick (Moriarty, Gadfly) and Paul Mac and I had going back to Good News Week. We just never seemed to get out of the house with them. And then Paul Mac went off to be a hugely successful pop star and it all just got put off and off."

"But Mick loves a festival, and suggested we should do it for the Melbourne Comedy one. And I've got the one-man show, and sort of umm'ed and ahh'ed, but then Cameron Bruce (Club Luna, sometime Karma Countyian) expressed some interest and we've ended up doing a season of it."

Thusly, the bags are being packed almost as soon as the lights go out in Melbourne, and the enterprise is being brought to Sydney. "And it's the day after Anzac Day, isn't it?," he muses, "I reckon we can get an ode to that in somewhere."

"The other advantage of doing it so soon after Melbourne, is we can probably remember most of the show as we've doing it." Always good when you don't have to come up with much new material I suppose.

"The show is evolving. It kind of had to, the original backbone of the whole thing was talking about the Queen Mother - and then she inconviently died about a week into it," he laments the loss of the old sausage.

"It hasn't really stopped us doing the jokes, though. We just ask the audience if it's OK. Only a few feel like they need their souls cleansed afterward. We might have to move on to Reagan of The Pope, they're probably the next in line to kick off."

Are they the same people who might be expecting that nice boy from the television? "Could be. But there's not much a stretch from who I was on GNW to this. Maybe just a bit more potty-mouth. I tend to use the word 'fuck' as a fullstop, so I can't really cut it out from my speech."

The show in word and song also covers a range of other topics. "There's a section devoted to Australian folk heroes." Umm, The Don?, Ned Kelly? "C'mon, no. Ivan Milat of course." Naturally

"And some advice for young adults. That's a part of the show that's still developing. We started off doing just over an hour, but one night last week it was about two and a quarter, which was mostly Cameron recalling the horrors of his high school years."

The kids are getting a bit uppity it would appear. The young comedy upstarts of The Election Chaser even choosing to skewer McDermott himself by finishing the series with a pained run of Hunters And Collectors Throw Your Arms Around Me, the tune that McDermott tende to trot out in his serious musical moments. But he's fairly unconcerned.

"I didn't actually see it, but I did hear about it. I hadn't met them at the time, but if they wanted to have a shot at me, go for it. Funny thing, when I was introduced to some of the The Chaser guys, they were all really apologetic about doing it. And I may have regretted some of the things I've said - I tend to just open my mouth without thinking - but I don't think I've ever said sorry about it."

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