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The Big Gig – Series 1 Episode 1 (1989)

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Clip description

Glynn Nicholas performs a physical comedy sketch.

Curator’s notes

by Kate Matthews

The Big Gig makes effective use of an open plan studio with multiple stages, allowing a standing audience to move around the space to see each different performance. Here we see the audience framed in shot behind Nicholas as he delivers a slightly surreal physical comedy act. The straightforward camerawork does not needlessly distract from Nicholas’s act. This sketch highlights his comic timing and skill as a mimic and physical performer. The outfits, set and Nicholas’s robot moves make for a strong dose of late ‘80s Australia.

Nicholas was a regular Big Gig performer who became the series’s host when Harmer left to host her own talk show.