Alright, so the title is a bit of a stretch, but I just wanted to quickly post about Shaun’s book reading at The Wheeler Centre in Melbourne this evening.
Shaun was his usual seemingly effortlessly humorous self, describing the story, his inspiration – plus reading an excerpt. A couple of weird points – only a handful indicated they had actually read it (including me) and even less said they had seen his ABC TV series. Who are these people?!
He finished up with some Q&A then a meet-and-greet-and-autograph session. Anyway, here is the photographic evidence. 🙂
More good news – as Piper commented earlier, it was confirmed that Smithereens is going to be back in print! To be released at the end of January next year. Huzzah! (For some reason, I never purchased a copy and very much regret it.) Looks like a slightly different cover (with the less-flattering hair cut), and it states – “Now with added Smithereens!”.
Now to catch up on some TV and watch the last Offspring episode – didn’t that have a special guest…?
–
He appears in the last half of the finale, for about 90sec – in a role that reminds me so strongly of his McGhan characters. In a good way. It’s pure Micallef 🙂
-PPP
May I ask which excerpt Shaun read at the Melbourne book reading? We got the “Dan Brown and his chin of genius” section up here in Brisbane… which incidentally was my favourite part of the book 😀
And also I must comment on the Offspring cameo. Is it wrong that I burst into laughter when he pulled himself up on that bench? It was very McGhan-y.
I wonder if they let Shaun ad-lib any of that comeo? The laugh he did, and the pulling himself onto the bench…
Yes, it was the same – he identified it as a preferred bit. He also commented how TAYG was getting more wacky with time and how his father had burnt all of his possessions after he left home, as a way to clear the clutter.
I think Shaun was given a bit of license with his character in Offspring, which definitely made the part a joy to watch!
What he said about the role from the article Stuart posted a few posts back:
“They allowed me to ad lib quite a bit,” he reveals. “It’s an eccentric performance. I’m worried if it fits into the rest of the show, because I feel like it was such a large performance – but maybe they have special software that tones me down.”
AND:
“I’m hopeful the character will return to create havoc. I’d be more than happy to do more acting – and if they let me misbehave again, it’s a doddle! Maybe I’m at the stage now where no one directs me and I’m just allowed to do what I want – which isn’t a bad place to be!”
Not sure if I really want to watch Offspring just for Shaun (which is a mute point because I definitely will!) but we can probably expect his character to return a few times.
-PPP
Could someone please list all the books Shaun has written. I bought Preincarnate last year, basically grabbing it as soon as I saw it.
I assumed it was the only book he had written – hearing about his other books was a complete surprise to me. Also, I’d like to know which ones can be purchased in actual “book” form, as opposed to e-book. I don’t have a reading tablet nor do I really want one. I won’t go into detail, as it’s quite tedious, but I have my reasons. Basically, I’m a bit old fashioned.
I’m in Sydney, and don’t know what is available here compared to Melbourne. If I’d known about these events, had they been held in Sydney, I’d have been dashing out to see them. Shaun Micallef is absolutely brilliant – it goes without saying, clearly!
M
Moira, if you look at the Books category on this site, you’ll read more about Shaun’s writing prowess. Basically, in physical form is Preincarnate (2010) and Smithereens (2004), a collection of articles/stories Shaun wrote (for The Age?) – it was republished in 2011, so you should be able to find a copy. His short stories, The Moment and Ahead of the Game, are only available in eBook form, but these are easily read in 15 minutes, so it’s worth downloading Kindle for your PC/Mac just to enjoy a small Micallef Morsel.