Jonathan Biggins, Phillip Scott, Drew Forsythe and Amanda Bishop

Only true masters of satire could confront the darkest reaches of the human experience and hit back with humour so clever and defiant and funny, it makes you laugh till you cry.

Such is the Wharf Revue’s latest offering, Waiting for Garnaut.

Nine years into their partnership, satirical stalwarts Jonathan Biggins, Drew Forsythe and Phillip Scott are joined this season by triple threat troubadour Amanda Bishop.

In a nod to Waiting for Godot, the revue’s first and last scenes feature a rag-tag of characters awaiting the arrival of a uniting presence – in this case, Australian climate change economist Ross Garnaut.

The writing and performances are arguably at their best when tackling the governments of the day. One rapid-fire sketch sees a hopelessly inept Dr Iemma and Nurse Reba Meagher losing their stricken patient, New South Wales. The cast also has loads of fun at the expense of the Rudd government, but the real marvel is in their well-honed, finely-tuned impersonations of Kevin Rudd (Scott), Julia Gillard (Bishop) and Paul Keating (Biggins).

Bishop matches the stellar talents of the troupe’s veterans blow for blow with deft comic timing and delivery. Her latte-swilling rich bitch lands a few good punches on rampant consumerism (neatly tied to climate change) and socialism for the rich: “Welfare’s too good to be wasted on the needy!”

Conservative ideologues are gleefully lampooned as imperious nineteenth-century hangovers: Piers Akerman, the crusty old codger; Keith Windschuttle, the top-hatted dandy; and Miranda Devine, the delicate flower in bonnet and bow. The fine acting and costumes here are especially impressive.

Equally unsparing are parodies of iconic Aussie expats John Pilger, Germaine Greer, Clive James and Robert Hughes, who bursts to life with a brilliantly melodramatic treatment by Biggins.

The music, lyrics and singing are exceptional throughout. Most memorable is the African folk music-inspired performance of the ‘Harare Gospel Choir’ who belt out a spirited satirical song about corruption and oppression in Robert Mugabe’s Zimbabwe – only to change their tune when an unseen assassin starts picking them off from the shadows.

Given the overwhelming strengths of Waiting for Garnaut, it’s easy to forgive the odd misfire. The portrayal of Barack Obama as a gold-encrusted, hip-hopping rapper falls a bit flat, but then again, no one has worked out how to effectively satirise Obama – just ask The New Yorker.

Other skits seem to end a tad too soon – for example, one piece where two penguins waddle about in confusion, surveying their disappearing habitat. Here, the comedic deliveries give the characters such a winsome charm that even predictable lines hit their mark with heart-rending resonance: “Used to be an ice sheet here.” “Oh yeah … Oh bugger.”

Speaking to Vertigo, Biggins showed little patience with the inertia obstructing a real response to climate change, the over-arching dark force that haunts Waiting for Garnaut.

“I find it extraordinary that we’re having a conversation about climate change and people are complaining it’s going to cost more,” he says. “Well, of course it’s going to cost more! It’s like Waiting for Godot, all this existential angst. We’re waiting for someone else to come along and solve this, to take responsibility. We blame the traffic while we’re sitting in a car.”

Does he think humanity will reach a ‘tipping point’ when climate change and climate-related pollie follies just won’t be funny anymore?

“No, it’s always funny,” says Biggins. “Humour is the great saviour of the downtrodden, the oppressed. It’s always been the role of someone to tell the unpleasant truth using humour. Court jesters and fools were given a license to say things, and it was palatable when they said it. But at the same time, it was the truth.”

That may go a long way in explaining the true genius and timeless appeal of political satire; Waiting for Garnaut leaves no doubt that Biggins and his truth-telling cohorts are indeed masters of their craft.

Waiting for Garnaut is now playing at Wharf 1, Sydney Theatre Company, Pier 4 Hickson Road, Walsh Bay until 6^th September.

Bookings: 9250 1777 or www.sydneytheatre.com.au.

First published in Vertigo

The Iraqi informant known as “Curve Ball” – whose fake story about Saddam Hussein’s alleged weapons of mass destruction program helped build the case for the US-led invasion of Iraq – has been identified by the CBS 60 Minutes Program.

Rafid Ahmed Alwan first arrived in Germany as a refugee in 1999 and told authorities he had been a chemical engineer who managed a biological weapons factory, Djerf al-Nadaf, in Iraq.

Apparently, Mr Alwan told this story to increase his chances of being granted asylum in Germany. He further embellished the story when he told German officials that a dozen of his co-workers had died manufacturing biological weapons.

* * * Read the full story at BayouBuzz.com

US atomic inspectors have arrived in North Korea to supervise the first steps of disabling the country’s nuclear facilities under an agreement reached in February during the six-nation diplomatic process.

The nine-member American team will first oversee the decommissioning of the main reactor in Yongbyon, which has produced weapons-grade plutonium.

* * * Read the full story at BayouBuzz.com

The families of victims killed in the 2004 Madrid train bombings were outraged yesterday at the Spanish national court’s acquittals of seven defendants and the perceived leniency in sentences handed down to those convicted of the worst terrorist attacks carried out by Islamic militants on European soil.

On March 11, 2004 ten backpacks loaded with nails and dynamite exploded on four commuter trains during morning peak hour in Madrid. The blasts ripped apart several carriages, killing 191 people and wounding 1,841 more.

Spanish authorities brought a total of 28 suspects to trial – 19 Arabs, mostly from Morocco, and 9 Spaniards. Seven other men believed to have been ringleaders blew themselves up in a Madrid apartment three weeks after the attacks as police closed in to arrest them.

* * * Read the full story at BayouBuzz.com

US lawmakers and the head of the UN’s nuclear watchdog agency fear that heated rhetoric between the United States and Iran will escalate into a military conflict with devastating consequences throughout the Middle East and around the world.“My fear is that, if we continue to escalate from both sides, that we will end up into a precipice, we will end up into an abyss,” said Mohamed ElBaredei, director general of the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency. “The Middle East is in a total mess, to say the least. And we cannot add fuel to the fire.”

* * * Read the full story at BayouBuzz.com

In a move that has already drawn inevitable comparisons with military conscription, the State Department has announced on Friday that US diplomats may soon be compelled to serve one-year tours of duty at the American Embassy in Iraq.

The plan has been prompted by a chronic lack of volunteers for postings in Baghdad, where the US embassy now comes under daily fire from insurgents.

* * * Read the full story at BayouBuzz.com

Officials involved in the phony press conference staged by the Federal Emergency Management Agency this week are now facing disciplinary action, says Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff.“I think it was one of the dumbest and most inappropriate things I’ve seen since I’ve been in government,” said Mr Chertoff.

“I have made unambiguously clear, in Anglo-Saxon prose, that it is not to ever happen again and there will be appropriate disciplinary action taken against those people who exhibited what I regard as extraordinarily poor judgment.”

* * * Read the full story at BayouBuzz.com

Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu (D) is demanding answers from the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency after it was revealed that a bogus news conference was staged by FEMA earlier this week.“I am disappointed to learn that (FEMA Deputy Administrator Harvey Johnson) misled the press and the public by taking questions from his own staff pretending to be reporters and that the agency did not disclose this misrepresentation,” said Senator Landrieu.She also said she hoped the fake press conference was “not a substitute for the necessary reforms” needed to improve FEMA’s delivery of emergency services.

* * * Read the full story at BayouBuzz.com

Wildfires burning out of control for the fourth day have forced nearly a million southern California residents from their homes in the largest mass evacuation in the US since hurricane Katrina slammed into the Gulf Coast in 2005.With the eyes of the world on California, the federal government is anxious to ensure there is no repeat of its lackluster response in the aftermath of Katrina.

* * * Read the full story at BayouBuzz.com

Nearly a thousand homes have been reduced to ashes and 300,000 residents evacuated as wildfires continue to rage unchecked across southern California.

One person has been confirmed dead and 41 injured, including 25 firefighters.

Homes and businesses have been consumed by sweeping walls of flame that leapt highways and joined forces to torch hundreds of thousands of acres across the state’s southern regions.

California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has declared a state of emergency in seven counties so far. “It is a tragic time for California,” he said.

* * * Read the full story at BayouBuzz.com