The Chaser comedians may have turned down big money offers from commercial television to stay with the ABC, but they are still raking in the big bucks through touring.
The group's Age of Terror Variety Hour will collect nearly $4 million in ticket sales through 73 scheduled performances across Australia, according to ninemsn estimates.
The Chaser's executive producer Julian Morrow said the stage show — which began as "a chance for some comedians sucking on the teat of the public broadcaster to face up to market forces" — was putting on extra performances at most venues to accommodate audience demand.
"The stage show is opening up a new market for us," he said. "It's our ideal in terms of being totally independent, plus you can actually earn a decent crust from it."
The Variety Hour, which features sketches, songs and some improv, kicked off its three-month national tour on March 28 and has since boasted several sell-out performances, including at Sydney's 1630-seat Enmore Theatre and Adelaide's 1990-seat Thebarton Theatre.
More than 60,000 tickets have been sold, the show's publicist said, and there are still another 21 performances scheduled.
Morrow said the theatre audience mostly comprises fans from The Chaser's satirical ABC television series. The latest incarnation, The Chaser's War on Everything, grabbed international headlines after the show's comedians drove a three-car convoy, including Chas Licciardello dressed as Osama bin Laden, through an APEC security checkpoint in Sydney last September.
But Morrow said the Variety Hour provided for better audience engagement than a television studio environment, and the repetition of stage performances allowed the production's five comedians a chance to hone their material rather than simply recording it once in front of a television auto cue.
Doing a stage show is less stressful, too.
"Compared to the absolute enema of a process of making the War on Everything, this is a walk in the park," Morrow said.
"The television studio performances are fanatically deadline-driven. You get in at 9am, having worked in the edit suite on scripts till two the previous morning, then continue with more edits and rehearse a few times before recording a 40-minute show with the audience.
"You go backstage for a beer then return to the edit suite til two in the morning working on next week's show.
"Compare that to waking up, going to the gym, having breakfast, enjoying the day to yourself, then turning up at a theatre at 6pm for a 7pm show.
"It's not hard to tell which you find more relaxing and enjoyable."
But offers from commercial television are still dangling, and not just from Australian networks.
The Chaser was recently approached by America's Fox Network to shoot a pilot for the US television market.
Such a move risks compromising The Chaser's brand of no-holds-barred humour, commentators say.
"The commercial networks are very politically aligned and might be less tolerant of people sending up society's sacred cows, as The Chaser does," UTS Insearch communication coordinator Mike Minehan said.
"In that sense a public broadcaster is a safer environment."
Dr Minehan also said that The Chaser is more likely to have a longer career at the ABC than in the "sudden-death environment" of commercial television.
http://www.news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=568142
Author
Topic: AOT raking in almost $4 million..? (Read 5556 times)