f Wog Humour
The second man’s interview goes much the
same as the first as he also has been in Australia
only a short time.
Wog”, a phrase that quickly entered widespread
use as a somewhat endearing term for ones
mates of European heritage.
The third man is called and tells the Clerk, “I
been in Australia 7yrs, I sick of being called
Wog, I want to be Aussie”.. The officer happily
informs the man he has been in Australia long
enough to become a Citizen immediately, a
Citizenship ceremony is promptly carried out
and he receives his Citizenship certificate..
It can be argued that the comedic ribbing
between the two characters on what was a very
popular TV show at the time, contributed to a
lessening of the harsh impact of ‘Wog’ as a
derogatory term in Australian culture and paved
the way for other Comedians to claim ownership
of it and bring Wog Humour out into the open..
which is exactly what occurred next.
He proudly heads back into the waiting room to
his mates who eagerly ask “How did you go?”
And as a proud new Aussie he answers in the
traditional way of the time, “Ahh shut up you
Wogs !”
However, Wog Humour remained largely
confined to the medium of Pub jokes for some
time, as it was still considered a rather impolite
term, and it took well over thirty years since the
first post-WW2 migrants for Wog humour to
step onto Aussie TV and Stage.
The 1980’s - Wog Humour Emerges
Kingswood Country
The first memorable use of ‘Wog’ in a humorous
fashion in mainstream-media was on the
Ausitralian TV sitcom of early 80’s, ‘Kingswood
Country’.
As if right on cue at the beginning of the decade,
‘Kingswood Country’ took to Aussie TV with its
first series beginning in 1980. The show’s central
character, Ted Bulpittt, was a cantankerous old
war veteran with a long suffering family. His
son-in-law was of Italian background and their
comedic disagreements would often see the
Ted character shout out in exsperation, “Bloody
Wogs on Stage & TV
By the time the mid-80’s had rolled around
there was somewhat of a comedy renaissance
beginning to take flight in Australia.
A number of sketch-comedy and comedy-variety
shows were being put to air on TV at this time,
much like today’s obsession with reality shows,
TV execs at the time had discovered the ratings
draw-card of comedy !
It was a good time to launch a comedy career,
which was just as well for the future of Wog
Humour, because toiling away at the Victorian
College of the Arts in the mid-80’s was, Nick
Giannopoulos, who was to become one of
Australia’s most prolific Wog-Humor comedians!
Nick was the son of Greek immigrant parents,
whom had come out and settled in Melbourne’s
inner-suburbs in the early 60’s.
When he graduated from the VCA in 1986,
he quickly found himself on the dole queue
with very little call for actors of Mediterranean
appearance. Disappointed with this state of
affairs he and fellow actors decided to create
their own work and staged a show at the first
Melbourne International Comedy Festival in