Melbourne Ska Orchestra“Mate, calling you’s a highlight, I’ll go into the morning after this knowing that that special moment’s gone.” Jacobson is all laughs from the moment he’s asked how his day's going.
“The truth is, the stage is where I'm most at home.” Jacobson has tried his hand at almost everything. “I sang in a band for two years, I've done Carols By Candlelight three times, I've got a Helpmann Award for my performance in Guys & Dolls, which is the biggest one you can get for stage – I’ve been nominated for a dance award for Christ’s sake,” he chuckles. “I’ve worked with Geoffrey Rush and Rhonda Burchmore on stage, I’ve done films with Kate Winslet and Liam Hemsworth [The Dressmaker]. Television’s like another home with Beaconsfield and Time Of Our Lives. And then there’s producing, fireworks for Guns N Roses... I’m the Creative Director of Top Gear. The truth is, they’re kind of a bit like wine, beer, cheese and processed meat – I enjoy them all.”
"The truth is, they’re kind of a bit like wine, beer, cheese and processed meat – I enjoy them all.”
Recently, Jacobson’s been putting all his time and money into a high energy performance alongside the Melbourne Ska Orchestra. “The beauty of performing with the Melbourne Ska Orchestra is that the word ‘Orchestra’ couldn’t be more misleading. They’re some of Australia’s best musicians, they really are, but they are completely out of control, and that’s the whole thing about this show. It’s Vegas, really, there’s nothing like it in Australia, and that’s why we’re doing it... We do songs like Hit The Road, Jack and things like that, songs that people know, and then there’s songs that the Orchestra actually do like James Brown stuff. MSO do shows all around the world and get people off their feet, and people can’t believe we’ve got almost 30 people performing. We’ve poured all our money into the show; it’s the full lights, PA, dancers and the full orchestra, plus a bit.”
"Bands who go all ‘Ugh, that song’ about their hits need to remember, hey, it was a hit, and that’s what you were making it for."
Jacobson is still constantly asked about Kenny Smyth [the eponymous character he played in the film Kenny — a character many fans thought was real]. “My standard line is, ‘It’s so much greater to be remembered for something you’ve done than forgotten for everything you’ve tried,’ and I’ll never forget the efforts that me and my brother went through and how much we wanted it to be enjoyed by other people. I was an unknown actor putting on a lisp and we were filming it in public places where people had no idea who we were. I was just a guy in a crowd. We worked so hard and I’ll never turn my back on that. Bands who go all ‘Ugh, that song’ about their hits need to remember, hey, it was a hit, and that’s what you were making it for. You don’t make it wanting it to be a flop, and no one wants to make a bad film either. I owe 90 per cent of my career to Kenny and when people talk about it, it’s like they’re talking about my kids.”
