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Class conscious
The Bulletin | August 31, 2007

Chris Lilley takes his comedic anarchy back to school, writes Angus Fontaine.

In Chris Lilley's hands, comedy has always been a contact sport. "I get excited by offence and outrage," he says. "At school, there was an affair going on between two teachers and I wanted to make reference to that in my year 12 performance. Of course, I was told there's no way you can say this. But I walked up there and said it anyway." He tugs at the brim of his beanie to hide his pride but a smile curls up like smoke pre-empting fire.

"I was always into shocking people. Even when it was risky to go against the grain, I'd prefer to make it entertaining. Risk is way more valuable a currency …"

Lilley proved that with 2005's We Can Be Heroes, the scorching six-part ABC mockumentary following the quests of six prospective Australians of the Year (screening as The Nominees in the US, UK, New Zealand, Canada, Ireland and Finland). It sold more than 100,000 DVDs and won Lilley Logie Awards in 2006 for most outstanding comedy and best new talent, plus the international Rose d'Or award for best male comedy performance.

Watching Lilley's new series Summer Heights High is a physical and emotional work-out. In an edit suite in Melbourne scenes ripen and rot before your very eyes. Characters curdle in your gut like sour milk from sacred cows. Every joke is a bitter pill masquerading as a sweet.

And yet, like all memorable nightmares, it's impossible to look away as the horror unfolds.

"Chris is the best kind of kook," says Andrew O'Keefe, who starred alongside Lilley in Seven's short-lived 2003 sketch show Big Bite (enjoying a cult revival on the Comedy Channel). "He's someone who truly sees the absurdity, not just of the absurd, but of life - truly a one-man satire machine."

There might have been time out being a velvet-suited, crimp-haired "freak" playing art rock songs at west Sydney roller discos in an era of grunge, but basically, says Lilley, 32, "I was doing almost exactly the same thing 20 years ago as I am today - putting on faux soap operas, making videos, impersonating teachers … always going against the grain in the name of entertainment."

He may, though, have set a new benchmark with Summer Heights High. His intentions?

"Push the boundaries further, freak people out more," was the mission statement. "I wanted to take people somewhere unexpected and that meant taking risks. For me, compelling TV is all about people going on a journey. We dig deeper into their lives and that means we hit audience nerve-endings that little bit harder."

Indeed. Few taboo or politically incorrect subjects are spared. "I've been surprised at how much stuff has slipped through the system," Lilley admits, sheepishly. "There's some full-on stuff happening in this series - sexually, racially, politically - which I think people will find quite upsetting. I'm expecting a backlash."

As in Heroes, Lilley plays a Peter Sellers-esque pantheon of roles - Jonah Takalua, a hyperactive Tongan schoolboy; Mr G, a fey drama teacher famous for Tsunamarama, a tsunami tragedy musical set to the music of Bananarama; and mega-rich über-bitch Ja'mie, the private school princess on a student exchange program to a public school of "povvos".

Although meticulously scripted and researched (Lilley and producer Laura Waters spent two years interviewing teachers and students before filming began), Summer Heights High is almost wholly improvised by a cast of non-actors hired for their ability "keep it real" while Lilley performs on-the-fly.

As comic contemporary Ricky Gervais ( The Office, Extras) observed in a documentary he shot with Curb Your Enthusiasm's Larry David: "Comedy has to be recognition - if you're saying what everyone's thinking, you're not doing anything. It's tightrope walking."

The style does have drawbacks, though - less than four of the 87 hours shot will make final cut, making post-edit a warzone. But, having worked with him every day for four years, Waters has seen the emotional power Lilley commands when he's achieved "complete immersion" in a role.

"As appalling and disturbing as they are sometimes, it's the naivety of these characters that always redeems them," she says. "That, and the fact the kinds of people Chris brings to life are actually out there in the real world."

Summer Heights High, Wednesdays from September 5, 9.30pm, ABC-TV.

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