Hamish & Andy

Hamish & Andy Developed by Austereo Starring Hamish Blake, Andy Lee Country of origin Australia Original language English Production Production location St Kilda Running time 2 hours Original release Network Austereo Today Network Release 2006 Hamish & Andy are an Australian comedy duo, consisting of Hamish Blake and Andy Lee. History Early days The two met while studying commerce at the University of Melbourne, and entered comedy competitions. The pair spent countless hours presenting numerous programs on Melbourne youth radio station SYN FM. They developed a sketch show called Radio Karate for community television station Channel 31, which caught the attention of Seven Network boss Ian Johnson. Television and radio The duo then presented a show on Wednesday nights on Seven. It was a casual talk program mixed with sketch comedy. It featured a number of actors and continued sketches from the Seven Network sketch show Big Bite. The show was received poorly by television critics and was promptly axed. Soon after the show's early conclusion, Hamish and Andy were offered a late-night shift on radio station Fox FM, for which they were not paid. The station warmed to the duo, and they went on to host the Almost Midday show on Saturdays. As ratings improved for the pair, it was announced that in 2006 they would have their own weekday drive program from 4-6pm. This show is broadcast to other Today Network radio stations in Perth (92.9), Adelaide (SAFM), Sydney (2Day FM) and Brisbane (B105), and is replayed in a highlights package on Saturdays from 7-9am. This radio spot came soon after signing with Rove McManus' production company Roving Enterprises. They starred and wrote for the mock Channel Ten series Real Stories, a satirical current affairs show hosted by Jennifer Adams, the first season finished on October 10 2006 with repeats of these starting on June 3, 2007 on Sundays after Rove. Several notable guests have appeared on the show including Rove McManus, Tony Martin, Derryn Hinch, Alan Brough and others. Hamish and Andy frequently appear on other comedy-orientated TV shows. Both have appeared numerous times on episodes of the ABC music quiz/comedy show Spicks and Specks, as well as guest appearances on Rove Live. They commenced a regular segment on Rove in 2007. The pair appeared together on an episode of the first series of Channel 10's Joker Poker - Andy would eventually go on to win the tournament. They also appeared on Australia's Brainiest Comedian where Andy made it past the First Round. Hamish has also appeared 5 times (2 in the First Season and three times in the Second Season) on the comedy show based on improvising scenarios, "Thank God You're Here." Andy Lee won Cleo Bachelor of the Year 2006. As part of their radio show, Hamish Blake used AUD$800, which was originally kept aside to take his girlfriend on a holiday, to put a bet on Andy winning the 'glamour-quest'. As a result, Hamish won AUD$12,000, which he put towards buying a greyhound for the radio show. The greyhound is named 'Fred Basset' after another segment in the show, one that Hamish does, much to the disdain of Andy. Hamish and Andy both competed in the Celebrity Challenge race at the 2007 Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park from 15-March 18 2007. Andy finished in 6th position with Hamish finishing in 13th. Due to a bet made previously over who would win, Hamish was forced to wear a racing helmet for an indefinite amount of time, until Andy allowed him to take it off. (It was padlocked.) At the end of the week, Hamish was allowed to take off the helmet, at the expense of not reading his Fred Basset segment, which Andy frequently comments as rubbish. On 27th May 2007 - They lost a busking bet against Jet and had to streak naked infront of the Rove audience. On 7 July, 2007 they presented at the Australian leg of Live Earth. Logies 2007 On the 4th of May Hamish and Andy had their Logies Spit-Roast Pants Off Friday Party with many Australian stars bringing along food. Such stars included Neighbours Stars Eliza Taylor-Cotter and Daniel O'Connor D-Generation Star Rob Sitch, former Today Tonight host, Naomi Robson, Spicks and Specks host Adam Hills, Australian Idol judge Ian "Dicko" Dickson and Getaway presenter Jules Lund. On the 6th of May Hamish and Andy were at the 2007 Logie Awards at Melbourne's Crown Casino, broadcasting from the Maybelline blue green-room, interviewing famous stars like Avril Lavigne and various logie winners. On the red carpet Andy brought his girlfriend Megan Gale and Hamish brought his girlfriend Anna Jennings-Edquist. Radio Segments Blast from the Past Every Wednesday, Hamish and Andy, with the help of Giggling Ben, dial a mobile phone number at random and their job is to convince them that they are someone from their old school days. Sometimes, there may be an added challenge where they have to use a specific topic in their conservation with their "old school buddy". The current record is held by Hamish at an impressive 4 minutes and 4 seconds. Also noteworthy it the opening jingle which plays at the begining of this segment because it is sung by 'mika.' Fred Basset At the end of the show on Friday, Hamish, much to the disdain of Andy, reads a cartoon of a dog, Fred Basset and his adventures. Andy has tried many different ways to prevent this being read, including playing with his phone's ringtones, interrupting with his comments, blackmailing, or bribing him, Andy even once had brought in Hamish's mum into the studio and begged him not to read Fred Basset, but he ignored her and continued. On a rare occasion, Andy would help Hamish read a panel, such as the time they were strapped together as conjoined twins. Blanks, Get Us an Autograph! This segment is on a random day of the week where Hamish and Andy get their humble country boy, Brad Blanks to get an autograph with celebrities in New York on the red carpet. So far, Brad's only autograph was with Lindsay Lohan in which Hamish and Andy challenged him to get his manboobs signed, and if he was successful, he would receive $1000. Lohan actually gave the signature under the condition that half the money would go to charity. Good Bloke, Bad Bloke In this segment Hamish and Andy try to get a male "volunteer" to see if he is a good bloke or a bad bloke. This is done by contacting the wife/girlfriend of the "volunteer" and setting up a date for the couple. Then, a good friend of the "volunteer" will ask the volunteer to go out somewhere at the exact same time. The test is that if the volunteer stays with his partner, he is a good bloke, while on the other hand, if he goes out with his friend, he is a bad bloke. Trivial Claims Court A listener will call in with a minor matter that needs to be answered. One example is whether penguins have knees. Other callers call in with their response to the trivial matter and after a certain amount of calls, usually 12 to mock a courtroom, they will find the answer by majority and answer the trivial claim. This seemed to work well with their audiences and they received many fans from doing this. Competitions On a regular basis Hamish and Andy battle against each other to find famous celebrities for different purposes. Two of the most popular searches were to find: A Celebrity Endorsement for their Greyhound, Fred Basset. The two celebrities were Paris Hilton and John Travolta. But by the end of the competition, Hamish gave up on finding Paris Hilton, and instead found Mike Whitney. Two famous celebrities whom two listeners had a crush on when they were younger. The celebrities were Taylor Hanson and Jennie Garth. Titled Celebrity Crush Hunt, Hamish and Andy were still neck and neck in finding their celebrities but on the 24th of May 2007, Hamish won the competition by finding Taylor Hanson. References External links Hamish & Andy official site Real Stories Official Website (Hamish and Andy TV Show) Hamish and Andy Myspace