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Newest heroes
Sunday Mail SA | August 22, 2005

CHRIS Lilley has a split personality - in fact, he has six.

Through his kooky alter egos, TV's newest funnyman is being credited with becoming the next Kath and Kim.

Seemingly out of nowhere, the six characters - in the curiously titled We Can Be Heroes: Finding the Australian of the Year - are being quoted in schoolyards and lauded by the critics.

In the six-part ABC parody narrated by former 60 Minutes reporter Jennifer Byrne, the 30-year-old has capitalised on Australia's penchant for sending up cringeworthy dags.

And his most quotable character, Ja'mie King, a schoolgirl who sponsors 85 Sudanese children, has all the makings of a cult icon.

Ja'mie ranks the children in a top 30 in the spirit of Australian Idol (but according to their appearance), pulls sponsorship if they don't write to her for three months and goes on the 40-Hour Famine each week to lose weight.

Lilley has caused a storm when impersonating Ja'mie on radio, with listeners flooding stations JJJ and Nova with complaints - unaware she was a spoof.

The characters are so not politically correct - and that's exactly why viewers love them.

A little-known comedian whose TV experience was limited to Channel 7's Hamish and Andy and Big Bite, Lilley is fast adjusting to his new following.

The 30-year-old from Sydney, who studied teaching and music at university, admits it is strange to hear people impersonate his characters on the street.

"I was in a high school doing research for another show and there were students yelling out 'Ricky Wong' and doing impersonations of Ja'mie," he said.

Despite its cult following, the show is still a sleeper.

It is hovering around 70,000 Adelaide viewers, compared with House on Channel 10 with about 160,000 and Seven's Blue Heelers with about 130,000.

Lilley is the one-man production team behind the show - he writes, acts and co-produces with Kath and Kim's Laura Waters.

He says he was inspired for the "mockumentary" by wanting to shock, as well as looking at the "ridiculous" achievements in the list of nominees for the Australian of the Year awards.

"I wanted to play with taboos, make people a little bit uncomfortable, but not in a mean-spirited kind of way," he said.

"I was probably nervous about having to fight the battles. I knew people would find it offensive, misinterpret it.

"I know it's a really scary time to put a comedy out when so many have failed." The son of a nurse and pharmacist, Lilley spent time in Victorian private schools interviewing and observing girls as part of his research for Ja'mie.

"I wanted to make sure I got the language right, all the popular culture references," he said.

"Lots of mums have said to me they have daughters like Ja'mie."

And how does he play a female so convingingly radio listeners cannot tell he is a male?

"I always used to dress up as my teachers at school and put on little plays - they loved it," he said.

While no one would mistake Lilley for Asian, his performance as Ricky Wong, a Chinese-Australian physics student who harbours a desire for a career on the stage, is equally outstanding.

He said the character had been embraced by the Chinese community, many of whom volunteered to be extras in the show. But Lilley most enjoys playing SA drongo Daniel, a teenager who lives on a farm and donated his eardrum to his twin, Nathan. While loathe to liken the show to Kath and Kim, he said its stars Jane Turner and Gina Riley were fans.

"They have given me tips on how to deal with it, just saying it's a bit overwhelming, when it (a show) works, it can be scary."

Another daunting experience was playing six characters - including twins - in the one show.

"On the weekends I would have to borrow costumes and wigs and get dressed up, and walk around home talking like the characters because it was so full-on swapping between them," he said.

"My apartment looks into the windows of others, so I must've looked quite a sight."

The final episode screens on August 31 at 9pm.