The Chaser - interview

Does the election of the comparatively milquetoast Rudd government mean the end of political satire in Australia? Quite  the opposite - our jokes about John Howard were becoming as old and tired as the man himself. Kevin Rudd offers a bold new era of jokes that are very similar to the Howard ones, only written in bureaucratese.

Are you limited in you can do with The Chaser in Australia these days, having had the level of success that you've enjoyed, since people can now see you coming? We have developed a fallback plan: targeting the blind.

Now that a couple of you have been arrested, does that it make it more difficult for you to go to/work in the US? As Lindsay Lohan and George Bush have proven, it's mandatory for all public figures in America to have a few embarrassing arrests on their record. We just need a few more drink-driving convictions among the team, and we've a great chance of making the A-list.

Quote a song lyric that means something to you. "Steve Irwin lived in khaki, a cartoon kamikaze, who taunted crocs and tots so frequently" means a lot to all of us - a lot of complaints, that is.

Are you really looking at a $6m ABC deal next year? Unfortunately, that Sun-Herald article was erroneous. They mixed up our wage with the show's weekly legal budget.

What's the most ridiculous piece of gossip you've ever heard about yourself? See previous question. Oh, and there was one report that we were responsible for Damir Dokic leaving Australia because of an story we wrote saying 'Australia to Dokic: Win or it's back to Serbia.' Apparently he failed to see the joke. If there's any truth in it, then we can be happy that we've made at least one positive contribution to Australia.

Have you ever vetoed a stunt for being in too bad taste? If so, what was it? Our record of consistent insensitivity speaks for itself. The ABC did veto a stunt involving the loss of Private Kovco's remains, though, because they were worried about offending his family.

Which stunt put you in the most physical danger? It'd be a tie between Chas dressing up as Osama bin Laden in front of a phalanx of APEC snipers, and Craig giving Mark Latham a foam baseball bat. That guy was dangerous.

If you could ask Osama bin Laden one question, what would it be? Can you put us in touch with your publicist?

What do you hate most in the world? Bankers, and it's nice to feel in recent months that finally the rest of the world has joined us.

What's the biggest mistake you've ever made, and what did you learn from it? The 9/11 edition of The Chaser newspaper. We learned that in the event of a catastrophe where the world watches thousands of people being killed live on television before our very eyes, it might be a good idea to hold off for a few days instead of rushing into print on September 12.

You've got a poncey literary Q&A coming up to plug your new book? Can you predict what Q's you will be A'd? That's easy: when we did this last year, over 85 per cent of the questions involved Andrew's hair.

If you could go back and do it all again, would you do the APEC stunt using only the power of Andrew's hair? Andrew's hair would be useless for trying to sneak in somewhere. It's so loud they'd hear it coming from miles away.

For your chance to experience Andrew's hair, The Chaser Annual Q&A is at UNSW Roundhouse on 17 Dec. 
The Chaser Annual 2008 is at all good bookshops. And some crap ones.

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