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Admitting to myself I had
no idea who The Hooley Dooleys were, I got onto the good old internet and
viewed their website. It became obvious to me that they were a children’s
entertainment band similar to The Wiggles. I keenly take notes; you know
you can always trust the Internet! A bit of a rush job for my liking, but
nevertheless, fingers crossed I am hoping I will get a chance to have a chat
to them the following day.
On the day I am
introduced to the two main performers David Butts and Antoine Demarest,
approximately ten minutes before they were to preform on
stage. My first comment to David is about his keen interest in Soccer.
I read it on the internet so it must be true! David smiles and has no
idea what I am talking about. Then he informs me, “Never trust the
internet!” Okay guys I know this but I was desperate. Another
thing the internet was misleading with is this. They are much cuter in
real life than they are in their website photographs! That’s not
sexiest is it? If anyone is offended I sincerely apologise!
Antoine politely tolerated me having a hard time pronouncing his name, it’s
French which was not my best subject at school I informed him. Antoine
jokingly replies, “I’m not very good at French either.” Antoine has
previously been in a number of rock bands including Parisian 'Dragster'. He
met Country musician Keith Armitage in Paris in 1981 where they formed a
musical relationship and were involved with bands including 'Middle Distance'
and 'Paradise Garage'.
Because The Hooley
Dooleys were performing at the ‘Last Weekend’ event I had to ask the
question, "Are Russell the Muscley Kangaroo and Tickle the Doodat in a
Union?" After agreeing there could be a Kangaroo Union, David explains, “You
know those guys are only four and five years old? They rule the world
already!” Mmm, I thought. Okay, I must have my facts wrong.
The characters
looked bigger on the internet. These characters in animal suits must
actually be children, and not adults which is what I originally thought. So my next question is, "How do the kids go with
performing? Do they have a lot of fun?" David
querying, “What! the
kids?” I could see by his response that these characters were not children but
were actually adults after-all. So, I quickly pretended I knew this
all along and I was just going along with the joke. Too early in the morning
for this journalist, but I think I fooled them!
It
was obvious that these two members of The Hooley Dooleys really enjoy their
jobs. “Actually the whole thing keeps us all young, it's fun. The guys who
are Russell and Tickle have a ball. Playing to kids and being in this type
of environment we are in, we are so lucky. Our job is to go out and to make
kids laugh and look at those smiling faces and take them on a journey with
us. It’s just the best thing. There needs to be more of it,” says
David. Both performances in Brisbane and Sydney definitely proved The
Hooley Dooleys achieved this goal.
After speaking to both David and Antoine, it was apparent that these two
artists were not just down to earth, friendly fun guys with a sense of
humour, but they were very intelligent. Both gave me some excellent views
and comments for my article ‘Celebrities Support Campaign’ in relation to
Workers Rights: Worth Fighting For. To top that off they are
actually very talented performers.
The Hooley Dooleys
consist of David Butts and Antoine Demarest, and the characters Penelope
Perfect, who, going by their website, (there goes trusting the internet
again!) loves singing and dancing and the colour pink. Captain Catastrophe
is a Super hero with special powers, and is obviously a bit clumsy. Then
there are the “kids” Russell the Muscley Kangaroo, and Tickle the Doodat
which is a female character that is supposedly related to a koala. Lastly
there is Poss, a hand puppet that sometimes accompanies the rest of the group. |
