The Listies are Richard Higgins and Matt Kelly, a double act from

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, Australia who make live comedy and theatre and TV for "kidults" they also write and illustrate children's books. Forming in 2008 as an alternative comedy and variety act called "The List Operators" (named for their 'list making'

schtick A shtick ( yi, שטיק) is a comic theme or gimmick. The word entered the English language from the Yiddish ''shtik'' (שטיק), in turn derived from German ''Stück'' and Polish ''sztuka'' (both ultimately from Proto-Germanic *''stukkiją'') ...

) they won the Melbourne Comedy festival's best independent show award (The 'Gibbo') and toured extensively, including the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and

Dublin Fringe Festival The Dublin Fringe Festival is an annual curated arts festival in Dublin, Ireland focusing mainly on theatre. The festival allows artists to submit their work via an application which is subsequently reviewed by the programme manager. The festiva ...

. They began to make work for young audiences in 2010 with a show called 'More Fun than a wii!', which went on to be the first kids' show ever to be nominated for the Melbourne International Comedy Festival best show award,

Barry Award (for comedy) The Melbourne International Comedy Festival Award, (formerly known as the Barry Award and the Stella Award) is an annual prize presented to the most outstanding comedy act at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. History It has been awarded ...

. They have since been described as "cult figures in the children’s theatre world." The Listies regularly tour festivals in Australia and further afield and were the recipients of the Best Production for Children award at the Sydney Theatre Awards in 2013, they were nominated for this award again in 2016. They have made seven stage shows for children, two for adult audiences, released two albums and written and illustrated three books (published by

Penguin Books Penguin Books is a British publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers The Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the following year.Puffin Books Puffin Books is a longstanding children's imprint of the British publishers Penguin Books. Since the 1960s, it has been among the largest publishers of children's books in the UK and much of the English-speaking world. The imprint now belongs t ...

imprint, Ickypedia (2015), Ickyfoodia (2017) and most recently The Listies' Teleportaloo.

Early Years

Higgins and Kelly met performing at student theatre at Melbourne's RMIT University though neither were students of the university at the time. They were performing in Just Disgusting, adapted from an Andy Griffiths book by Director in residence Lynne Ellis. "In that very first rehearsal, our scenes got longer and longer," says Kelly. They performed in The Day My Bum Went Psycho next, then Roald Dahl's The Twits". "

Style

Inspired by 'straight guy, funny guy' double acts such as Lano and Woodley, and the sketch comedy of the Goons and Monty Python, the Listies make

two-hander A two-hander is a term for a play, film, or television programme with only two main characters. The two characters in question often display differences in social standing or experiences, differences that are explored and possibly overcome as ...

s which rely on wordplay, prop gags and slapstick, with a "mix of clowning and gross-out humour, general mischief with manic theatrical surprises...(with) a smattering of Easter eggs for the adults in the audience." Their comedy style has also been described as having a "focus on the subversion of the adult desire for control" and as being "unapologetically puerile,"

List of Stage Works

* "The List Operators" 2008-2011 * "The List Operators for Kids: More Fun than a Wii!" 2010-12 * "Art+Sport=Yeah!" 2012 * "The List Operators for Kids do Compooters" 2011 * "Earworms" 2013 * "The Listies Ruin Xmas" 2015- current * "The Listies 6D (Twice as Good as 3D)" 2013-2017 * "The Listies Make You LOL!" 2014-2017 * "Hamlet: Prince of Skidmark" 2016- current * "Ickypedia" 2017- 2019 * "The Listies Go For Bronze" 2018 * "R.O.F.L.S.H.A.L.B.O.W.C.O (Rolling On The Floor Laughing So Hard A Little Bit Of Wee Comes Out)" 2019- current * "The Listies Make Some Noise" 2022- current

List of Publications

* "Ickypedia: A Dictionary of Disgusting New Words" 2015 * "Ickyfoodia: A Ultimate Guide to Disgusting Food" 2017 * "The Listies' Teleportaloo" 2021 * "The Listies' Big Number Two" 2022

List of Sketch Comedy Albums

* "The Listies Drive U Crazy" (2012) * "The Listies Go Bananas" (2015) * "The Listies' Lollaby" * "The Listies Musical Owl Bum"

Television Shows

* 'The Listies Work For Peanuts'

ABC ME ABC Me (stylised as ABC ME) is an Australian English language children's free-to-air television channel owned by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. It was officially launched by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on 4 December 2009 as ABC3. Hist ...

(Episodes: All) * 'Art Blast'

(Episodes: All) * 'Stand And Deliver'

(Episodes: The Listies) * 'What's With The Listies?'

(Episodes: The Listies)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Listies Australian male comedians Australian children's writers Children's sketch comedy Australian comedians