It’s one of the most sought after gigs in showbiz, and it seems, one of the most secretive. “It’s like a Black Ops operation,” says Eddie Perfect. “No one knew anything about it – or they weren’t speaking.” But after years of dropping hints to everyone he met in the industry, Perfect has finally landed the job he’s always wanted, joining the ABC’s long-running children’s show Play School as a regular presenter, with his first episode airing on Monday.
It’s a role tailor-made for the Melbourne triple threat: actor, comedian and award-winning writer/composer of Shane Warne: the Musical. “Play School’s transition from spoken word to song to dance to toys to storytelling is all stuff from my music theatre background,” he says. “It’s just the content is different.”
Like so many Australians, Perfect has fond childhood memories of watching presenters Benita Collings, Noni Hazlehurst and John Hamblin front the show in the 1970s. He even worked with another star from Play School’s golden era, John Waters, on the hit Channel Ten drama Offspring.
“It is slightly strange when you meet someone who you spent a lot of time watching because they are a part of your life,” he says. “There is a deeper connection. I don’t think there is anything more powerful than being part of someone’s childhood.”
Adult audiences may know Perfect for his political satire. As well as the Shane Warne musical – currently in hibernation, he says – his solo stage shows include Misanthropology, Drink Pepsi, Bitch!, and Angry Eddie, which featured songs with titles like John Howard’s Bitches and Some Of My Best Friends Are Aboriginal.
He has never shied away from provocative content but has no patience for the current strain of misogynistic comedy. “My comedy has always been about tackling and smashing the barriers that stop our society being inclusive and equal and fair,” he says. “So I think comedy that seeks to marginalise women or anyone is pathetic.”
Instead, he’d like comedians to recognise a responsibility to their audiences. “Comedy is one of the most powerful weapons on the planet and it’s a dangerous weapon. People are scared of comedy because it’s seductive. If you can get an audience laughing at your perspective, they are already seeing things your way.”
Currently writing for TV and theatre, though cagey as to what, Perfect would like to produce another musical, but hasn’t settled on a concept that would sustain itself to opening night. “You really want to be sure you are in love with the idea, to get into bed with it for three years, because there are going to be nights where you wake up and really question the relationship,” he says of the process.
For now, he’ll revive Stories from the Middle, his 2010 song-cycle with the Brodsky Quartet based on his childhood in the Melbourne suburb of Mentone, as part of the upcoming Adelaide Cabaret festival and as a one-night only performance at Melbourne Recital Centre, alongside his filming commitments for Play School.
As the father of two young girls, he has had plenty of practice in front of the show’s target audience. “The directive is look down the camera and perform to one three-year-old. I thought that’s easy, I’ve got one of those in my house. Being an idiot in front of my own kids has been exceptional training for this gig.”
He puts Play School’s longevity (the show has been on Aussie screen since 1966) down to its ability to stay true to its roots. “Children’s television programming is much more sophisticated than it used to be. It deals with multiple ideas, it comes at you thick and fast in a bid to compete against all the other noise in a child’s life. Play School is like a less needy version of that. It trusts that the child is going to use their imagination.” Not to mention crafting cardboard toilet rolls and egg cartons into new and fantastical things – an extra skill-set to add to the Perfect resume.
While being a father hasn’t exactly mellowed him, it has made him more efficient, he says. “Creativity is 90% making a decision, and having compacted time forces you to make decisions quicker. I write more than I ever did even though I have less time and more responsibility.” It has also freed him from cynicism.
“When you’re a family, you cultivate your own brand of weirdness. It’s me, my wife and my two kids within these four walls. We’re always singing and playing, those moments where you turn the stereo up really loud and you all dance like crazy. I used to go out to nightclubs with my friends. Now my nightclub is on a Saturday morning in our living room dancing to Katy Perry on the radio.”
- Play School airs on ABC KIDS and is also viewable on ABC iview
