The controversial staple of Australian comedy, Kevin Bloody Wilson is bringing his new show ‘F.U.P.C’ to the region this month. We caught up with him for a chat about the new show and some career highlights.
You’re touring your new show, starting in May. Could you tell us a bit about that and what is inspiring you to perform ‘Fuck You P.C’?
Well… there’s a lot of P.C push out there. I think it’s time we had a little P.C push-back. As I deal with most things, I attack it in a humorous way, and people know when they come to my shows exactly what it’s going to be like, anyway. You know, it’s only the last few years where the P.C thing has really come to the floor. For the last 20 odd years, I’ve always been declaring my show ‘a P.C free zone’. So, if people want to come to the show they know exactly what to expect, and they’re turning out in droves, for that very same reason I believe, they’re just sick to fucken death of it.
You’ve been doing this for a very long time, have you been getting more backlash now?
Nah, not at all. You get your keyboard warriors, your social justice warriors. But fuck em, they don’t deserve a comment, ya know? My kryptonite through this whole process has been an acronym, DILLIGAF… ‘do I look like I give a fuck?’ which I have tattooed on my wrist. It reminds me every day, ya know, these fucken idiots aren’t worth a fucken’ c**t full of gold water. I dare you to print that…
A lot of it [the backlash you receive] comes from jokes about things like race and homosexuality. Do you have a line in your own head between what makes something a joke, and what makes something prejudice?
Yeah, I do. I do. It’s subjective as well, my barriers may be a little bit broader than yours. But ya know, with the gay thing… I had a gay brother, who died of AIDS in 1990 during the epidemic. I believe you have as much say in sexuality as you have in the colour of your eyes, you don’t have any say in that whatsoever. But it doesn’t mean you can’t fucken joke about it, which we did as a family.
Tell us a bit about your plans for the tour?
Well it actually started in L.A. We were over there to record a streaming special for a network that we’re not allowed to disclose at this stage. So, I’ve now got two specials sitting with them, and that’s where it started and now rolls out into rural Victoria, right through to rural Queensland and into Perth. The touring finishes this year in London, would ya believe? It then starts again in Scotland the following year (in March 2020), so it’s totally global these days and I love it because I never thought for a minute it’d ever get to that. I just thought it was about me and writing songs and singin’ for my mates in my hometown of Kalgoorlie. I never thought for a minute it would turn into a career.
Your comedy is very Australiana themed and fairly colloquial, is there a difference in the responses between American, British and Australian crowds?
None whatsoever. They know what it is, they come in and they’re singing all the songs at the top of their voices, punching holes in the air. Sometimes I feel like I’m just the fucken conductor of the choir. They take over, and I’m happy about that.
You’ve been arrested for performing your comedy in public before, can you tell us a bit about what happened there?
Uh, yeah five times in my early days. Twice in Western Australia, twice in Victoria and once in Queensland. The law is still out there, a pub or a theatre is still deemed to be a public place in much the same way a bus stop is a public place. It is alleged I said the word fuck in a public place…But actually, the coppers driving me to Brisbane lock-up turned ‘round the back and said, ‘Fuck you’re a funny c*nt, Kev.’ I said, ‘Fuck, you just arrested me for saying that!’ to which he replied, ‘Yeah, it wasn’t our idea.’
You’ve been performing since the ’80s. you’ve had a pretty massive career… what have some of your personal highlights been so far?
Oh, without a doubt was fucking Kylie Minogue.
Mumbling something about wax in his pubes and Madame Tussauds, I suppose we’ll just wrap it up there.
Catch the politically incorrect funnyman at Bendigo Stadium on May 14, Ararat Performing Arts Centre on May 15, Colac RSL on May 16, Warrnambool Greyhound Racing Club on May 17, Geelong’s Sphinx Hotel on May 18, and Ballarat’s Mercure Hotel on May 20.
Written by Liam McNally