Wil Anderson: Fire At Wil

21 March 2016 | 4:46 pm | Steve Bell

"Anderson really cares about our nation's future as well as our collective funnybone."

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Wil Anderson claims to have named his new show Fire At Wil because it's his first show in ages that he's not taking to the gun-crazed States — where they might take that title as an instruction — but it's doubtful whether American audiences would appreciate this one much anyway, given that it largely sets about skewering Australian political figures and our own national insecurities.

Always something of a thinking person's comedian — and with his profile lifted exponentially of late due to his hosting role on ABC's popular Gruen franchise — Anderson takes aim at a slew of targets including Malcolm Turnbull (and his inability to provide comic fodder a la his predecessor), our unempathetic choice of national holiday, the people who booed Adam Goodes and some good old-fashioned Pauline Hanson bashing. Despite the abundant laughs provided by his well scripted material and jittery everyman persona, there's a strong theme of "we've got to work together on this shit" permeating the show, this passionate motif on inclusivity adding real gravitas and proving that Anderson really cares about our nation's future as well as our collective funnybone.