1987 called ‘Wogs out of Work’, it was a hit and
Aussie Wog Humour had been born !
Audiences always enjoy a joke more when
they can relate to humour through personal
experience, and finally there was a comedy
genre for those of us who had grown up
Wog or had Wog neighbours, or marveled at
the transition of towns and suburbs through
multiculturalism.
The 90’s also saw the rise of other notable
Australian Wog comedians such as Joe Avati,
Gab Rossi and Tahir Bilgic.
Wog Humour was mainstream, everyone
understood it and Wog was no longer the
derogatory term it had once been, it had been
claimed by Wogs as a badge of pride !
And if there was any doubt of this, then 2000
was going to be a very big year !
‘Wogs out of Work’ toured as a stage show
extensively, until 1989 when the stage show 2000 and beyond
made the transition to TV as the comedy sitcom,
‘Acropolis Now’.
The year 2000 didn’t bring forth the promised
This seemed to be the spark Aussie comedians
Y2K bug, or the descent of mankind into
had needed to bring Wog Humour to the
pre-computer age Neanderthal-like living
forefront of the comedy scene and Wog jokes
conditions. But it did bring the most audacious
and budding Wog stand-up comedians began
Wog-Humour offering to date, 2000 saw the
to emerge.
release of the movie, “The Wog Boy”, starring
The late 80’s TV sketch show, “The Comedy Nick Giannopoulos.
Company” featured one of the most memorable
It was an instant hit, the writers had included
Wog comedic characters of this time, ‘Con the
a clever mix of nationalities in the characters
Fruiterer’, who dispensed fruit and his eccentric
which ensured broad appeal for easily relatable
opinions on unsuspecting viewers. One of his
laughs.
more notable quotes was when commenting
on the British Royal Family birth of Princess Also in 2000, a little known Sydney film-maker,
Beatrice, where he angrily announced, “ they Paul Fenech, launched a Wog-inspired TV
named her Beetroot !!”