NZ/Australian Comedian and Satirist John Clarke Dies

[mike carey]

I hesitate to post this to a mainly American audience, but I felt I must. John Clarke has been a fixture in Australian public life for 40 years. For most of the last 30 years he has appeared on ABC TV in mock interviews where he 'is' a prominent figure in the news but with no effort to look or sound like the person he portrayed, but who we 'was' was unmistakable. He has been a writer, comedian and satirist beyond compare. He challenged people across the political spectrum without hinting at his own political views. After his death while hiking in a national park (natural causes, not misadventure) there has been little else discussed in the media here today, with politicians on both sides, comedians and others paying tribute. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-39524202

 

An example from almost 20 years ago, when an oil tanker failed causing a signicant oil spill in the Indian Ocean.

[+ WilliamM]

Yes, it has to be an international known person to be news in the U.S. For example, I saw the original version of "The Boy from Oz" in 1998 in Sydney at, I believe, Her Majesty Theater. At any rate, it was the theater where Marlene Dietrich fell off the stage, thus ending her cabaret days.

 

I would never have remembered that fall, but for a plaque in the theater. But, it was international news when it happened.