Col Cameron

‘Roving Porch Thoughts’

When the world needs something wacky, and it seems we do, we have been calling the guys at Melbourne based Wacky Entertainment since 1995 to deliver wacky performances to conferences, product launches, gala dinners and major public events across Australia and overseas. In ‘wacky’ language, that simply translates to a group of mates who create costumes, dress up and make a living as colourful musical and non – musical roving characters and event MC’s.

With over 100 in-house musical and non-musical acts, ranging from giant footballs, candy sticks, wine bottles, tram conductors, horses and tennis rackets, it’s no wonder they are hired by major corporations and event organisations including; Commonwealth Games Athlete’s Village, the Australian Open Tennis, the Australian Grand Prix, the AFL, Crown, The VRC, Melbourne Aquarium, Diners Club International and major banks in Melbourne and around the world.

So who makes for a wacky entertainer? Well it just so happens that my high school buddy Col Cameron is a founding performer and the Artistic Director of Wacky Entertainment. At school he was an all-round performer many of us believed was destined for a career in the entertainment industry. He was a musician, prankster and performed original comedy routines at assembly, the teacher’s choice to MC school events and invited to appear on The Early Bird Show.

Col has continued to MC events around the world, is a talented stand-up comedian and on Friday, will again lead the AFL Grand Final Parade along Swanston Street as the drum playing (and tallest) member of Wacky Entertainment’s roving ‘footy fan’ quartet marching band. I met up with Col as he mapped out his thoughts on Swanston Street, in preparation to wack his drum and lead the parade in front of thousands of screaming AFL fans.

How do you feel being one of four guys leading the AFL Grand Final Parade?

I love this gig because we get to fire up the thousands of passionate footy fans who line the city streets waiting to catch a glimpse of their heroes. I love being up close to see their screaming faces. How did Wacky Entertainment come to form?

Wacky Entertainment formed in 1995 as a quartet of musicians’ intent on interacting directly with the audience rather than being stuck in the back row of a band or orchestra. The idea was to play acoustic, portable instruments and match them with great costumes.

Who are the minds behind Wacky Entertainment?

Nowadays the company is made up of a core group of 4-6 performers plus administration staff with a cast of up to 60 performers. Nic Yates is the owner with Luke Farrugia and Greg Spence as the other core members.

Who designs the wacky costumes?

We have used a variety of professional designers over the years. All our costumes are quirky as they have to allow for crowd interaction, therefore an open face with lots of strange holes to cater to anything from a tuba, trumpet, sax or drums to poke through!

Apart from the AFL Grand Final Parade on Friday, what other gigs have you got lined-up?

We are about to head into the super busy period with bookings coming in thick and fast. After the Grand Final Parade we perform at our regular events with some of our favourite clients like the VRC at Flemington, The City of Melbourne and MYER to name just a few.

What are your favourite type of gigs?

I really enjoy working with clients who love to push the boundaries and come up with something new. Quite often we've worked with them year after year creating custom entertainment for their events and each year we end up madly brainstorming original, dare I say wacky, ideas. An example of this is Citibank Asia with whom I've worked for many years; always fun and always a challenge. I've found myself running around Beijing a la The Amazing Race as well as racing teams to build a raft in Halong Bay, Vietnam.

After you receive a client brief, what does the team do next?

We look at ways to achieve the client's objectives through our skills. It could be a phantom race call, a team building activity, a comedy spot or a red carpet arrival routine. Then we create a proposal and begin the process of massaging the ideas to make it work.

Do you ever have ‘creative’ disagreements?

Yes. All the time! After over 15 years we've realised that that's where the best ideas come from.

What are some of the Wackiest things you’ve done?

I have performed in a dinner suit in a swimming pool. I hid in a wheelie bin then drove it around squirting the public. Danced to Riverdance in a skin dive suit while playing drums and being squirted by the audience who were armed with supersoakers. I got bailed up by security while pretending to be a loud American tourist lost at the Acropolis in Athens. They didn't appreciate me asking people to point to where I was on my map of Rome.

Since taking to the microphone at high school, where have you travelled overseas as an MC?

I have been lucky to perform all over South East Asia including Vietnam, China, Hong Kong and Singapore as well as Japan and New Zealand. I've also performed in Spain, Greece and I'm off to Turkey soon.

You are also a stand-up comedian, what is your comedy about?

I love to work off the cuff, improvising my way through. I talk about current news, my wife and kids and I have a routine about our school (Burwood Heights High) titled; Jealousy.

What is your Porch Thought of The Day? 

“OMG! I have cut this interview short to pick my son up from occasional care. Seriously!”