Punch Lines - A Seriously Funny History

1994, 55 Minutes

Surveys 20 years of Australian comedy.

In the 1970s Australia became a very funny place. A comedy revolution was hatched in the tiny theatre restaurants of Melbourne’s inner suburbs. Since then, Australia has seen a remarkable resurgence of locally produced comedy, performed in live venues, on television and at international comedy festivals.

In Punch Lines - A Seriously Funny History, performers like Richard Stubbs, Magda Szubanski, Judith Lucy, Mark Little, Rod Quantock, Rachel Berger and Mary Kenneally tell of a golden age, a time in which literally dozens of comedy venues flourished, supporting a wealth of talent and innovation. Now famously funny, the new comics reflect on their humble, sometimes humiliating, but often hilarious beginnings. Performances, old and new, show how this wealth of comic talent developed over 20 years, exploding onto the nation's television screens and stirring up gales of laughter across the land.

Produced by Film Australia in association with Buona Notte Film Productions. © 2011 National Film and Sound Archive of Australia.