From Woy Woy to Wagga Wagga

 

 

This one-hour BBC documentary from 1987 is a highly entertaining journey with that unpredictable and crazy funny-man, Spike Milligan, who takes us to some special places in his adopted and beloved big country, ‘My Australia’.

Spike welcomes us to his home-town of Woy Woy on the NSW Central Coast - which he once described as "the world's largest above-ground cemetery" - and introduces us to his lovely old mum and other friends in the area. One notable lady is the late ‘Aunty’ Beverley Spiers, who knew Spike for many years and - was once engaged to him!

In this film, our renowned Anglo-Irish comedian shows that he is just an ordinary person, and we also see what makes him laugh. Spike’s friendly and engaging personality coupled with his casual way of talking to his audiences, makes us feel like we are right there with him. He is as familiar as an eccentric uncle or neighbour, but you always enjoy listening to him - no matter what he says!

We also go with Spike to some other interesting towns with funny names, including our national capital, where we see a serious side of our host. Along the way we meet some great Australian characters - even a politician and an actor - but one other bloke is a bit of a handful, and can you believe - even drives our mate Spike a little bit up the wall!

Without Spike there wouldn’t be the Goon Show. Without the Goon Show there wouldn’t be Monty Python. Without Monty Python there wouldn’t be the huge influence they had on comedy and culture --- and on me!

 

Spike and I share the same greatest failure in our lives: fast-forward to 13:55; I also agree with his final words, "Thank God, I'm wearing clean underwear!" which is what my mother always made sure of every time I left home just in case I got hit by a bus on the road.

 

Sadly, Spike left us in 2002, a few months shy of his 84th birthday. His gravestone bears the inscription, "I told you I was ill".

 

Arriving back in Australia in 1968 with his intended address his parents' house at Woy Woy: 393 Orange Grove Road

 

I leave you with some of my favourite Milligianisms:

 

Money can't buy you happiness but it does bring you a more pleasant form of misery. My father had a profound influence on me. He was a lunatic. I can speak Esperanto like a native. A sure cure for seasickness is to sit under a tree. I'm not afraid of dying; I just don't want to be there when it happens. Then God created light and saw that it was good. Then he saw the quarterly bill and saw that it wasn't good.

 

I remember this last one every time Origin Energy send me their bill!

 

 

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