I wasn't sure whether to post it here or in Oh Pun.

If you had passed by a commercial news broadcast about a week ago, you would likely have heard about how APEC security in Sydney was 'breached' by a couple of local comedians, one of whom dressed up as Osama bin Laden and put together a fake Canadian motorcade.

[link|http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IaXHKIFiTzo|Well, they aired their version of the story last night on their program. Clip courtesy of YouTube.] Short version: they got further than they or the ABC expected and were playing things by ear when they gave up and went to turn around.

Very interestingly, the ABC seem to be thoroughly behind their comedian's prank. There was a major news item in the 7pm news both last night (before the Chaser's airing) and tonight (after) about the story. And "The Chaser's War On Everything" last night at 9pm rated the best any comedy program has ever done on the ABC. :-)

Wade.

They were a bit of a cult following for a few years as they figured out quite how they wanted to be comedic. A lot of the early stuff was policital in nature following the last federal election - thus their name, "The Chaser". But the previous series got a better spot on TV and that helped raise their profile. Now, the politicians and other targets tend to know who they are. This had the potential for seriously disrupting their act, but the current series shows they've figured out how to work that to their advantage. Last Wednesday night's show (with that APEC stunt) was their best yet.

[link|http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmt_z4AJiuw|This is an example of their current humour.] It's 'Stairway to Heaven' re-done as satire on the current Federal Leader of the Opposition (whose name is Kevin Rudd). The ABC's flagship current affairs program (The 7:30 Report) aired the first 30 seconds as a teaser on Wednesday - and that is just so not done by the ABC that the presenter even apologised for the cross-promotion, saying it was just too good to pass up, especially as The 7:30 Report gets political easily and this is such a political satire. The ABC do seem to be proud of their boys. :-)

About the APEC stunt, at least one of the other commercial networks here were not impressed (Channel 7) - but then The Chaser tends to target their current affairs program anyway. One of the other commercial networks, Channel 9, [link|http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wo2aUUFGDIg|had rather a fairer report].

Wade.

Besides, what US comedian would even be brave enough to it? :-)

Wade