Richard Fidler’s fantastic program “Conversations” on ABC radio first came to my attention while driving.Eleven a.m just happens to be the time I load my son Monte into the car and do a circuit of the One Horse Town.
This has become my favourite part of the day, I get to sit down, Monte goes to sleep, and I get transported away into the lives of the most fascinating people that he has on his program.
I asked Richard Fidler about this program and also a little about the old days as a performer with the hilarious , Doug Anthony All stars :
Who would be your dream guest to have a ‘conversation’ with?
Lewis Carroll, Mark Twain, Jean Cocteau and General Douglas McArthur. Sadly, they’re all dead.
Who has been your favourite guest and why?
I can’t do it. Â It’s like nominating a favourite child. There are many, many favourites now. Most often at any time it’s the person I really enjoyed talking to last week.
Have you ever conversed with someone who inspired you to change something about yourself or your own life?
I’m in my forties now which is quite frankly too old for anyone to realistically overhaul any aspect of one’s personality. Having said that, a few years ago I interviewed a former diplomat who went on a big walk.
He was at a low ebb and feeling disappointed in a lot of things so he walked the Camino, the pilgrim’s journey on foot from the south of Spain to the town of Santiago de Compostella in the North.
Going on a long, long walk struck me then as a very pleasing notion and I plan to do it at some later point in my life when it’s easier to put aside my family duties for a while.
Since then I’ve interviewed Paula Constant who has walked much of her way across the Sahara from Morocco to Mauritania to Mali and Niger (her book ‘Sahara’ is astounding).
And more recently I spoke with the extremely funny Hannah Gadsby who, despite colliding with seven different cars on seven different occasions, decided to walk across England, without anti-depressants.
Where do you find these interesting people?
Often it’s from listeners who send me an email.
Other times it’s from my producer Pam chasing down people we’ve heard elsewhere and found interesting.
Leigh Sales is a friend of mine and I’m always hugely jealous when she has a great guest on Lateline.
Leigh is my favourite TV interviewer.
Book publishers are also quite keen for us to speak with their authors.
We’d only take on a tenth of the suggestions from listeners but those that do come on generate the most listener response.
I think most listeners can measure their own lives more readily against the life of an unfamous person than they can against Victoria Beckham.
What makes a good conversation?
I wrote an article in the Australian about this recently.
Churchill’s solipsistic definition of a good time was “first to have good food, then discuss good food, and after this good food has been elaborately discussed, to discuss a good topic – with me as chief conversationalist.” Honesty, charm, insight are all good ingredients.
I like a good dash of wit and vulgarity too.
As the leader of that conversation was skills do you need to draw the best out of your guests?
Keeping my mouth shut is a good start. I try to listen carefully to what is being said and give the guest plenty of room.
I also try to discern the meaning and intent that lie underneath the words.
I interject only if the guest is wandered too far off the question or has misunderstood the question or if I’ve thought of something funny that can be quickly thrown in without interrupting the flow.
Who was the funniest guest you have had on, and what made them so funny?
I love the great Australian art of telling long, improbable funny stories. William McInnes, Barnaby Joyce and Bill Leak made me laugh so much I had to fight for self control.
These stories treat important matters trivially and trivial matters importantly and they have a moment of heroic stupidity in the centre of them.
Do you enjoy radio more than TV? Why?
Yes, yes yes. Radio is richer, more intimate.
There’s much less distance between idea and execution.
When people recognise you from the telly they go all weird on you; when they want to talk to you about your radio work they’re much nicer and more civil.
People who work in Australian TV are a demoralised and sad bunch right now because the medium is dying a slow painful death.
Radio is thriving because it’s local, portable, up to the minute. Radio and podcasts are consumed by people while they’re doing other things like driving, ironing, walking, catching the bus to work. It’s perfect for multi-tasking.
Race around the world - was such a brilliant show and concept. What is your fondest memory of your time with that program?
I can’t take any credit for the show I’m afraid. It wasn’t my idea. The pleasure was meeting and working with the Racers themselves. I liked all of them and I’m still in regular contact with Dan Marsden, Kim Traill and Olivia Rousset.
I speak to John Safran every once in a while.
I loved his Race Relations series. I think he’s fulfilled all the potential that we all saw in him when he sent in his audition tape.
Doug Anthony Allstars – did you ever imagine you would be as popular as you were?
Yes we did. We wouldn’t have put up with all those beer bottles that were thrown at us otherwise.
What was the Edinburgh Fringe Festival like from the perspective of a performer? How were you received?
Our first year in Edinburgh was 1987 and we went every year for seven years. It’s simply the best place to be in the world in August.
We were received extremely well right from the start.
The turning point was our first performance in the notorious Fringe Club.
This was known as the Bear Pit where comedians would go to be remorselessly heckled until they wanted to die. We decided to perform acoustically to show them we weren’t afraid.
One noxious heckler inspired Paul McDermott to climb up a pole to his table and pour beer on his head. Another night we built a bonfire and persuaded people to throw in their credit cards.
Another night we took 200 people into the girl’s toilets and finished the show there. Everyone enjoyed it except for a solitary woman was trapped in one of the stalls.
What makes somebody conversation worthy on your program. What boxes need to be ticked?
There’s no checklist. I just have to be interested and to respect the guest.
6 Comments
Love it, Sharni!!
Hi there
I really enjoy listening to Conversations with Richard Fidler. I download his podcasts regularly and love the variety of guests he has. He really draws the best out of his subjects. I have learned many great things from listening.
Great blog,
Carly
http://carlyfindlay.blogspot.com
great interview sharni :)
Great interview, going to check out a few of the links.
Love Conversation Hour, Richard I believe is in a class of his own – regular listener on my ipod whilst running the golden sands of Bondi!
I’ve often wondered who would interview Richard for the Conversation Hour (or has it been done?!)
I love Richard Fidler Conversation Hour, and I am also inspired by the show on talking a long walk, I always remember who he and his wife cut down a branch from their lemon tree in the bakyard to make the Pilgrims walk. It’s also on my bucket list. Also I have bought Paula Constants 2 books, all I need now is the time to read them. She is amazing!
Well done for interviewing him , hugs