Ross Noble's Australian Trip (2009)

It’s not often I watch anything on Five – I’ve only been able to receive it since moving to Leeds in March – despite the preponderance of US imports such as CSI (which I watch on DVD) that I usually enjoy. For Ross Noble, however, I made an exception, and even had to watch/record the show on Fiver.

I’ve seen Ross Noble live (in York) twice, and he never fails to make me laugh until it hurts. His DVDs are amazing, and packed full of content that gives my chuckle muscle a full workout. And now Ross Noble’s Australian Trip shows once more what a great observational and improvisational comedic force he really is.

The premise of the 6-part series was Ross riding his motorcycle around Australia (in 2007), visiting lots of towns, cities and villages, gigging along the way. So the show was a sort-of travelogue – but with Ross’ comedic observations more than factual information providing the commentary – interspersed with clips from the 95-day Fizzy Logic tour. The way Ross’ comedy works is not no 2 shows are the same, there’s no ‘script’ and no limits to where his imagination will take the audience. In the context of the TV series, Ross visits Aussie towns; taking in the sights and the locals, and then clips of his performance in that town displays the comedy that can be gleaned from his experiences. Analysing comedy performances in this way is very dry and shows nothing of the genius frequently displayed.

So what does Ross Noble’s Australian Trip teach us about his adopted homeland (his wife is Australian)? Every other town Ross arrived in shuts early. Australian towns are full of giant monuments: clamshells, bulls, whales, fruit, veg, you name it! There is a country within Australian ruled over by Queen Shirley and her husband. Kangaroos and other wildlife like to run across the open roads after dark, scaring motorcyclists. Dolphins like to drink wine in the wild. There is a Blue Lake full of water, and a Green Lake with none. Pig’s nipples and pickled calf brains are delicacies in some areas. And much, much more!

The beauty of the series is that it combined what could have been a dry travelogue with Ross Noble’s crazy imagination to provide snapshots of the scattered and varied communities to be found in Australia, many of which are perfect for Ross’ observational comedy. I hope he tours again soon!