Stand-up comedian Gavin Baskerville is taking it back to where it all began – presenting new show 'Golden Gavtime' at Perth Fringe World in the city he grew up, and kicked off his career.
The homegrown funny man brings a barrage of witty stories, razor sharp observations and killer gags to the festival, but before he does. . . He's reflected on a few of the most memorable moments he had growing up in Perth. Time to reminisce.
“Perth has changed a lot since I grew up there and I doubt many younger readers will be aware of what a special place Perth really is. Many think the 1980s was all ‘Choose Life’ T-Shirts and acid wash jeans, but it was so much more. Here’s a brief history lesson. Ask your folks to verify this list.”
One
Fat Cat. Despite being given a body-shaming name, Fat Cat was always there for us. He was there when we woke up in the morning on 'Earlybirds', he was there on 'Fat Cat & Friends' on the days we faked being sick to stay home from school and he saw us off to bed at night. He never said a word and unlike other cats he never left a nasty present in our shoes, killed native fauna or scratched up the furniture. We loved him!Two
The beach. No summer was complete without a stinking hot trip to the beach and painful sunburn that went crinkly like paper when it peeled. Before Slip! Slop! Slap! we had Forget! Fry! Flake! Except for our noses which we diligently protected with a tiny white smear of zinc cream. The memories of those joyous days still come flooding back every time we make a trip to the doctor to get another mole cut out. And sand! So much sand brought home in our freshly exfoliated bum cracks. No wonder the Perth beaches have shrunk. It’s not coastal erosion, it was all taken home in kids’ bathers.Three
Chucking boondies. Beach sand was one thing, but it didn’t compare to getting a delivery of yellow sand on the front lawn. A seemingly infinite armoury of dirt clumps ready to be thrown and exploded against fences, trees and your best friend’s head. Good times!Four
Catching taddies. Before sealed roads and adequate drainage, open ditches lined the suburban streets of Perth and the festering water that accumulated in them was the perfect breeding ground for tadpoles. We didn’t have BCF and fishing trips back then. The best we could do was take an old Vegemite jar to the open drain and capture a few tadpoles which we’d lovingly take back to our bedrooms, feed for a few days and then accidentally kill with neglect. Apparently it takes more than a few small air holes in the lid to sustain life.Five
'Telethon'. Long before social media was a thing, the closest any Perthling could come to being famous was appearing on 'Telethon'. If you were really well connected you might know someone dancing with the Shirley Halliday dancers or the Helen O’Grady Talent School. Maybe you were lucky enough to be in the studio audience or working in the phone room, or maybe your donation got read out by Cookie from 'A Country Practice'. At the very least you could hope to get your family’s name scrolled across the bottom of the screen at 3am. That was the height of fame back then and an annual thrill for us all. And they had Fat Cat! What more could you want?'Golden Gavtime' plays The Laugh Resort at The Shoe Bar & Cafe (Fringe World) 2-4 February.
