Mates rates

Source: The Herald Sun (Melbourne) 16th July, 2008

Rove McManus and Peter Helliar have shared each other's highs and lows since meeting in a comedy pub, writes Darren Devlyn

ROVE McManus is acutely aware you need a tough old hide to endure in show business. There are those who reckon McManus has had a dream run leaving Perth for the bright lights of Melbourne's comedy scene in 1995 and 13 years later finding himself on BRW magazine's rich list with reported annual earnings of $4 million.

But McManus is proof you can be feted and ego-stroked one minute, then deal with being attacked in the media and paid little or no respect the next.

It's been said you find out who your mates are when you're experiencing a morale-thumping low. There's also a theory you find out who your genuine friends are when you're at the peak of your powers because success, even among people who seem close, can breed jealousy.

Perhaps this is why McManus and Peter Helliar have formed such a strong bond.

Their mateship has not wavered since they met and were negotiating the sometimes brutal stand-up comedy circuit 12 years ago.

They've shared every moment of their subsequent success in TV, but have been at hand when each has had professional and private heartache and needed support.

 

Tell us about meeting for the first time.

Peter Helliar: I remember doing a gig at the Elbow Grease comedy room (1996). I was at the bar afterwards having a well-earned pot and I got a tap on the shoulder and it was Rove. He said, "that was a great spot'' and that he enjoyed my work. It was a bit of a mutual admiration society there for a while. Not long after that Rove was going back to Perth for a holiday, so I organised a "Roveathon'' a pub crawl. I think he was still wearing his Davenport vest around at the time.

Rove McManus: I still had the long hair. Pete and I came to like each other instantly. It does help when you like what someone's doing on stage. It accelerates the friendship.

PH: Rove was actually my understudy for a show once, in my first year. Billy Bragg also had a show on that I really wanted to see so I asked Rove if he'd be my understudy.

RM: It started out as a gag, but I actually did the show. You (Helliar) gave me permission to use your material. I started the show with a bit of it, then panicked. I thought, "I feel dirty doing this''.

 

When did it occur to you both that you were genuine mates?

PH: I've had this feeling with Rove, a bit of a giddy kind of feeling. It's that thing where, when you see a mate, he makes you smile. For a second there I go, "hang on, remind yourself here that you do like women . . . but this guy makes me feel pretty good!''

RM: Is that what they call a man crush?

PH: It is a man crush. But it's really not a conscious thing of wanting to be friends with someone. You just gravitate towards them.

 

What kind of experiences have reaffirmed the mateship you have?

PH: I just remember one night a long time ago Rove and I went out and got drunk on vodka and we were going,"how cool is this?'' We were about to start this adventure not knowing how long it would last.

 

Mateship is about being around when times are tough. Rove, has Pete helped you through tough times?

RM: For sure. Friends are there for you no matter what. When Belinda (Emmett) passed away (in November 2006, after a prolonged battle with cancer) I just disappeared. There wasn't much anyone could have done. It was a "me'' thing. It wasn't for anyone else or about going to anyone else (for support). It was all about what I needed, though it's nice to know those friends are there for you.

 

Pete, were you thinking at the time that Rove simply needed time alone?

PH: There were times, over a decent period, where I would just ask how he was going. Sometimes I'd think that the last thing he (McManus) needs is to be asked about stuff. I might have got that right, I might have got that wrong a couple of times. Part of being there as a mate is to sometimes take your mind off things. If there was a chat to be had, I was there.

RM: For me, the indicator of a really good friend is someone you might not see for a while, but when you do it's like you'd seen them yesterday.

PH: I was lucky enough to score a pretty good gig (Rove) and not many people get the opportunity Rove did. Rove got to go to a major network and choose the team to take with him. Usually, the network identifies the talent, then puts other talent with them and often these people don't even know each other.

 

What have you been up to in time you've had off?

RM: I went to Britain, Cambodia, Sumatra and Perth.

PH: I went to Dromana. The in-laws have a place there.

 

Tell us about your conservation work.

RM: It's Flora and Fauna International and I became an ambassador for them last year. David Attenborough is their international patron. I'm very much into conservation awareness and they said to come and have a look at some of their projects.

 

What did you (McManus and partner Tasma Walton) see on the trip that excited you?

RM: Wow, where do you start? It'll bore you, be careful. I will bore the living s--- out of you if you get me started. At least let this man (Helliar) go. We (McManus and Walton) tracked elephants, rode elephants, played with baby bear cubs. We trekked through the Cambodian jungle, had an orang-utan brush past me. We slept in a cave, only to find out when we were packing up and leaving that a tiger had been seen in the area three days before.

 

You released a picture of yourself and Tasma. Was that a deliberate attempt to dilute a bit of that media interest in you?

RM: We took one pic for the papers, that was fine. Another one was sold to the women's magazines. That wasn't fine.

PH: I made a fortune.

RM: You're officially looking at a source (Helliar) close to the couple!

You've been quite disturbed about some of the stuff written about you and Tasma...

RM: They (magazines) can push it pretty far and that's always a problem. They aren't getting the calls from people asking if the stuff written is true. You are left to clean up the mess. The other thing is, having photographers outside your house, I think it's a bit rude. It's like they want to take a picture of you every time you leave your house until they get something interesting. I try not to think about it, but I'd be lying if I said it didn't bug or annoy me and that I wish it wasn't there. There are more important things to worry about.

 

The assumption has been made that you're in love. Is that wide of the mark or is it the closest thing to the truth that's been written lately?

RM: I'd think getting married and having babies is probably widest of the mark.

 

But you seem in a fairly happy place now.

RM: I am happy, yes.

McManus hosts variety show Rove and is soon to appear in a new season of his quiz show Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? Helliar, a Rove show regular, also co-hosts with Myf Warhurst the Triple M breakfast radio show, Pete & Myf.

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It's all good news for Carrie

Source: Herald Sun (Melbourne) - 16th of July, 2008

 

HALFWAY through her audition for variety show Rove, Carrie Bickmore realised something wasn't quite right.

Bickmore thought she was auditioning to take over from Sandra Sully as the show's late-night newsreader until she started reading the script, which was punctuated with newsy jokes rather than headlines.

Instead of replacing Sully, Rove's producers wanted someone who could look and sound like a newsreader while delivering jokes.

With her journalistic training and natural warm wit, Bickmore fit the bill to a tee. And though she didn't realise she was auditioning for a comic role or considered herself overly funny, Bickmore impressed the show's producers enough to be offered the role that same afternoon.

"I always wanted to be a TV newsreader that was what I wanted to do when I studied journalism at Curtin University in Perth,'' Bickmore says.

"I wanted to do radio as well, but my first love was TV.

"When I was asked to read for Rove I thought I was going to be the next Sandra Sully. I thought it would be my dream come true.

"But the way it turned out is 10 times better than I could have hoped for.'' Now, after years working alongside Rove McManus and Peter Helliar on Rove and Dave Hughes and Kate Langbroek on Nova's breakfast show, Bickmore has found her niche in comedy. She's as surprised as anyone by the turn of events.

"I get to go to work every day and laugh with a bunch of great guys,'' she says.

"I'm surrounded by brilliant comedians but I'm not trying to match them I'd never call myself a comedian.

"I have learned a lot from them.

"After working in breakfast radio and on a TV show like Rove, I have a new respect for what they do. "It's hard work making it look easy.''

Now that she's had a taste of the lighter side of television entertainment, Bickmore says it would be difficult to return to a straight news-presenting role. It's the love of the job that drives her out of bed before dawn every day to read the news on Nova.

A mother of Oliver, born last September, Bickmore gets around in a "delirious haze'' of exhaustion most days. For the moment, though, the early hours suit her lifestyle, allowing her to spend her weekdays at home with her son.

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Q & A with Ryan Shelton

Source: Herald Sun (Melbourne) - 7th of July, 2008

 

Sunday nights are never sacred with Ryan Shelton's ramblings on Channel 10 chat show Rove

Describe your weekly segment on Rove?

"Investigation-ing'' explores and exposes the truth about topics such as mobile-phone idiots and first dates. It's like a mini-version of Today Tonight just a bit "truthier''.

Where do you get your ideas from?

Sometimes they sprout from one little idea and grow into something bigger. For example, I might think, "I'd really like to act like an idiot with a Bluetooth earpiece on''. Then I try to create a whole bit around that. And then other times the topic comes from something topical like on Mother's Day I exposed the truth that all mums are liars.

You and radio stars Hamish Blake and Andy Lee teamed up in 2003 for Channel 31 show Radio Karate. Are you jealous of their success?

They're doing well, are they? Oh, that's great to hear. I haven't seen those guys in years. No, of course I'm not jealous. I'm rapt for them because they work harder than anyone I know. We're great mates and still work on projects together.

You do a radio show on Nova with Monty, who dates the producer of Hamish and Andy's FOX FM show. How do you cope with rivalry with mates and dates?

It's absolutely not a problem at all. Everyone is very supportive of one another, but off the record, the rivalry is extremely fierce. Ever since Monty and I started on Nova, the relationships are in tatters and I've heard that Hamish in particular is taking it so badly that he cries himself to sleep every night to deal with the pain.

You helped Chris Lilley write We Can Be Heroes. What would you like to see him do next?

Chris has been quite clever in choosing what he does and how he does it. I'd miss him if he left, but I'd love to see him succeed in America. It seems as if they're much more open to the idea of non-Americans on their televisions now, and I think if anyone can do it, Chris can.

Who or what makes you laugh?

Steve Carell, Chris Morris, Ricky Gervais and Will Ferrell. And there is one movie that no one's heard of that I laugh at every single time I watch it, and I'm constantly trying to get people on to it. It's called Wet Hot American Summer. Find it, buy it, enjoy it.

Rove asks his guests this, so we have to ask you: Who would you turn gay for?

A lot of the guests say Rove, but he hogs the bed. I would turn gay for Marty McFly from Back to the Future. Damn, he's cool.