Christopher Thornton "Chris" Taylor (born 15 July 1974) is an Australian comedian, writer and former radio host from Sydney. As a member of
The ChaserThe Chaser are an Australian satirical comedian group, known for their television programmes on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation channel. The group take their name from their production of satirical newspaper, a publication known to challenge conventions of taste...
, he is best known for co-writing and appearing on satirical
ABC TelevisionABC Television is a service of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation launched in 1956. As a public broadcasting broadcaster, the ABC provides four non-commercial channels within Australia, and a partially advertising-funded satellite channel overseas....
shows
CNNNN (2002–2003) and
The Chaser's War on EverythingThe Chaser's War on Everything is an Australian television satirical comedy series broadcast on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation television station ABC1. It has won an AFI Award. The cast perform sketches mocking social and political issues, and often feature comedic publicity stunts...
(2006 – July 2009). He formerly co-hosted the drive radio show
Today TodayToday Today was a drivetime radio show on Australia-wide radio station Triple J, broadcast between 3:00pm and 5:30pm weekdays during 2004 and 2005. The title is a parody of the Australian current affairs program Today Tonight on Channel Seven....
(2004–2005) on
Triple Jtriple j is a nationally networked Australian radio station intended to appeal to listeners between the ages of 18 and 30. The government-funded station is a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation...
with fellow Chaser member
Craig ReucasselCraig Bruce Reucassel is a television and radio comedian from Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. He is best known for being a member of satirical team The Chaser...
, and in 2007, he wrote the musical comedy
Dead Caesar. Taylor also hosted the mini documentray series 'Australias Heritage: National Treasures'. With his Chaser colleague
Andrew HansenAndrew John Hansen is an Australian comedian and musician, best known for being a member of satirical team The Chaser...
, Taylor recently made a musical comedy series for
Triple Jtriple j is a nationally networked Australian radio station intended to appeal to listeners between the ages of 18 and 30. The government-funded station is a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation...
titled
The Blow ParadeThe Blow Parade is a scripted radio program made and voiced by Australian comedians Chris Taylor and Andrew Hansen, and radio producer Craig Schuftan....
, which became the number one podcast in the country, and won the 2010 ARIA Award for Best Comedy Release.
Early years
Taylor grew up on Sydney's
Northern BeachesThe Northern Beaches is an informal term used to describe the northern coastal suburbs of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia, located near the coast of the Pacific Ocean...
and
North ShoreThe North Shore is an informal term used to describe the primarily residential area of northern metropolitan Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The term usually refers to the suburbs located on the north shore of Sydney Harbour between Middle Harbour and the Lane Cove River, up to...
and, (as with all
The ChaserThe Chaser are an Australian satirical comedian group, known for their television programmes on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation channel. The group take their name from their production of satirical newspaper, a publication known to challenge conventions of taste...
team except
Craig ReucasselCraig Bruce Reucassel is a television and radio comedian from Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. He is best known for being a member of satirical team The Chaser...
), attended a private school at the
Shore SchoolSydney Church of England Grammar School is an independent, Anglican, day and boarding school for boys, located in North Sydney, New South Wales, Australia....
.
After completing secondary school, Taylor undertook an arts degree at the
University of SydneyThe University of Sydney is a public university located in Sydney, New South Wales. The main campus spreads across the suburbs of Camperdown and Darlington on the southwestern outskirts of the Sydney CBD. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and Oceania...
, and also studied playwrighting at
NIDAThe National Institute of Dramatic Art is an Australian national training institute for students of theatre, film, and television, based in the Sydney suburb of Kensington. It is supported by the federal Office for the Arts, Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. NIDA is located adjacent...
. But at 21, he abandoned playwrighting and went to back to university to study journalism at
University of Technology, SydneyThe University of Technology Sydney is a university in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The university was founded in its current form in 1981, although its origins trace back to the 1870s. UTS is notable for its central location as the only university with its main campuses within the Sydney CBD...
. In 1997 he moved to Melbourne after the
ABCThe Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
offered him a journalism cadetship there.
For five years, Taylor worked as an ABC journalist, including two years as a
court reporterA court reporter, stenotype reporter, voice writing reporter, or transcriber is a person whose occupation is to transcribe spoken or recorded speech into written form, using machine shorthand or voice writing equipment to produce official transcripts of court hearings, depositions and other...
. He covered cases including the murder of toddler Jaidyn Leskie, the fatal
Longford gas explosionThe 1998 Esso Longford gas explosion was a catastrophic industrial accident which occurred at the Esso natural gas plant at Longford in the Australian state of Victoria's Gippsland region. On 25 September 1998, an explosion took place at the plant, killing two workers and injuring eight...
and the unsuccessful defamation action by the then
VictoriaVictoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
n premier
Jeff KennettJeffrey Gibb Kennett AC , a former Australian politician, was the Premier of Victoria between 1992 and 1999. He is currently the President of Hawthorn Football Club. He is the founding Chairman of beyondblue, a national depression initiative.- Early life :Kennett was born in Melbourne on 2 March...
against
The AustralianThe Australian is a broadsheet newspaper published in Australia from Monday to Saturday each week since 14 July 1964. The editor in chief is Chris Mitchell, the editor is Clive Mathieson and the 'editor-at-large' is Paul Kelly....
.
Taylor then moved back to Sydney in 2001 to work full-time for
The Chaser's newspaperThe Chaser was a newspaper, published in Australia by political satire group The Chaser from 1999 to 2005.The newspaper, first published on 9 May 1999, was The Chaser team's most famous enterprise. Among other things, they have published Australian Prime Minister John Howard's private, unlisted...
, and ultimately became a Chaser member.
CNNNN
In 2001,
Andrew DentonAndrew Christopher Denton is an Australian television producer, comedian, Gold Logie-nominated television presenter and former radio host, and was the host of the ABC's weekly television interview program Enough Rope. He is known for his comedy and interviewing technique...
got hold of one of
The ChaserThe Chaser are an Australian satirical comedian group, known for their television programmes on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation channel. The group take their name from their production of satirical newspaper, a publication known to challenge conventions of taste...
's newspapers and gave them the opportunity to produce a television show, hence The Chaser team produced their first
ABC TelevisionABC Television is a service of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation launched in 1956. As a public broadcasting broadcaster, the ABC provides four non-commercial channels within Australia, and a partially advertising-funded satellite channel overseas....
program
The Election Chaser, which covered the 2001 Australian Federal Election. They then went on to create other television shows for ABC TV, including two series of the Logie Award-winning
CNNNN in 2002–03 (in which Taylor portrayed a chief commentator), and
The Chaser DecidesThe Chaser Decides is a Logie Award-winning Australian political satire based comedy program produced by The Chaser. The show provides commentary on Australian federal elections and has been broadcast in 2001, 2004 and 2007 on ABC TV...
in 2004, which covered the 2004 Australian Federal Election.
Triple J
In addition to his roles on television, Taylor has teamed up with Chaser colleague
Andrew HansenAndrew John Hansen is an Australian comedian and musician, best known for being a member of satirical team The Chaser...
to write and star in a musical comedy series,
The Blow Parade, on Australian radio station
Triple Jtriple j is a nationally networked Australian radio station intended to appeal to listeners between the ages of 18 and 30. The government-funded station is a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation...
from 14 April 2010 until 26 May 2010. The program will also be available to download free of charge for a limited time.
Taylor also united with fellow Chaser
Craig ReucasselCraig Bruce Reucassel is a television and radio comedian from Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. He is best known for being a member of satirical team The Chaser...
to present the
Triple Jtriple j is a nationally networked Australian radio station intended to appeal to listeners between the ages of 18 and 30. The government-funded station is a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation...
drive slot,
Today TodayToday Today was a drivetime radio show on Australia-wide radio station Triple J, broadcast between 3:00pm and 5:30pm weekdays during 2004 and 2005. The title is a parody of the Australian current affairs program Today Tonight on Channel Seven....
in 2004–2005.
As part of his role on
Today Today, Taylor wrote and voiced a weekly Coma FM sketch, satirising the formats and style of commercial radio. He also co-hosted the radio program
Bloody Sunday with Reucassel in 2006 and 2007. During the shows Chris would regularly ask listeners to "go for broke" and vandalise Wikipedia pages.
Tara ReidTara Donna Reid is an American actress. Reid has acted on television shows such as Saved By The Bell: The New Class, Days of our Lives, California Dreams, and Scrubs....
,
Peter OvertonPeter Overton is an Australian television journalist and news presenter.-Career:He joined the Nine Network as a reporter for National Nine News and graduated to weekend sports presenter on National Nine News in Sydney and substitute for Ken Sutcliffe...
and
WikipediaWikipedia is a free, web-based, collaborative, multilingual encyclopedia project supported by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation. Its 20 million articles have been written collaboratively by volunteers around the world. Almost all of its articles can be edited by anyone with access to the site,...
's own Wikipedia page were chosen targets. And in 2008 Taylor and Reucassel returned to present The Race Race, covering the US Presidential election. The show quickly became the number one podcast in the country.
Taylor also has the distinction of being Roy Slaven's official understudy at Triple J, broadcasting alongside
HG Nelsonalt=Greig Pickhaver|thumb|In May 2010Greig Pickhaver AM is an actor, comedian and writer, who forms one half of the Australian sports comedy duo Roy and HG...
on
This Sporting LifeThis Sporting Life was a culturally iconic Triple J radio comedy programme, created by award-winning actor-writer-comedians John Doyle and Greig Pickhaver, who performed as their characters Roy and HG. Broadcast from 1986 to 2008, it was one of the longest-running, most popular and most successful...
and a
Twenty20Twenty20 is a form of cricket, originally introduced in England for professional inter-county competition by the England and Wales Cricket Board , in 2003. A Twenty20 game involves two teams, each has a single innings, batting for a maximum of 20 overs. Twenty20 cricket is also known as T20 cricket...
cricket game on the couple of instances when Roy Slaven was absent.
In a notable instance while working at Triple J, Taylor agreed to streak across the grounds of the Sydney
Big Day OutThe Big Day Out is an annual music festival held in several cities in Australia and New Zealand in late January. It started in Sydney in 1992, spread to Adelaide, Melbourne and Perth by 1993, with the Gold Coast and Auckland joining in 1994...
if the theme song from Media Watch polled in the '
Triple J Hottest 100The Triple J Hottest 100 is an annual music poll, based on the votes of national Australian radio station Triple J listeners, in order to determine their favourite song of the year. Voting is conducted by the internet and begins roughly two weeks prior to the new year for the previous year's songs...
' Countdown. It was announced that in terms of votes counted, the Media Watch theme had in fact come in at number 7, and Taylor proceeded to do his nude run in front of a large group of spectators.
The Chaser's War on Everything
Taylor, who's often referred to as "Tayls" by his colleagues, is one of the main presenters on
The Chaser's War on EverythingThe Chaser's War on Everything is an Australian television satirical comedy series broadcast on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation television station ABC1. It has won an AFI Award. The cast perform sketches mocking social and political issues, and often feature comedic publicity stunts...
. He is also the program's script editor and principal writer behind many of the show's segments, sketches and songs.
Appearance on Sunrise
In the
The Chaser's War on Everything skit "Will You Divorce Me?", Taylor made a guest appearance on
SunriseSunrise is an Australian breakfast television program, broadcast on the Seven Network. On weekdays the programme follows Seven Early News, and runs from 6am through to 9am.-History:...
, a live morning talk show on
Channel 7The Seven Network is an Australian television network owned by Seven West Media Limited. It dates back to 4 November 1956, when the first stations on the VHF7 frequency were established in Melbourne and Sydney.It is currently the second largest network in the country in terms of population reach...
. He said he had an announcement for his wife and ended up yelling
"Get the fuck out of my life" at the camera. The appearance of authenticity of this clip made it appear as though the segment went live to air on
Sunrise, but it only ever appeared on
The Chaser's War on Everything. Taylor and the hosts admitted it was a staged event, filmed on the Sunrise set after one of their shows but the latter said the dialogue was improvised and were shocked by the profane punchline. A clip of this segment became an Internet phenomenon
The Tim Freedman Parody
Taylor sparked controversy with
Tim FreedmanTimothy "Tim" James Freedman is the mainstay lead singer and keyboardist of the Australian band The Whitlams formed in 1993...
, singer and songwriter of indie rock band
The WhitlamsThe discography of The Whitlams consists of six studio albums, two live albums, one compilation album, and eighteen singles.-Studio albums:-Live albums:-Compilation albums:-Singles:-Videos:-Music videos:-Awards:...
. On 7 October 2007, Freedman posted a message on the band's official website, citing a parody of him which was written by Taylor, and had aired on 3 October 2007 episode of
The War. The song was performed by fellow Chaser
Andrew HansenAndrew John Hansen is an Australian comedian and musician, best known for being a member of satirical team The Chaser...
, and the lyrics implied that Freedman was obsessed with the Sydney suburb of
NewtownNewtown, a suburb of Sydney's inner west is located approximately four kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district, straddling the local government areas of the City of Sydney and Marrickville Council in the state of New South Wales, Australia....
, and that he continually referred to the area of Newtown in his own songs. In his message, Freedman alluded that the lyrics were indeed written by Taylor, and that the parody had been motivated by jealousy over a girl they had both dated, Anna Skellern, who was a non-contributing cast member in the first season of
CNNNN. Taylor denied this, and said that the song had nothing to do with Skellern. Andrew Hansen in the commentary track for the season 2 DVD revealed that Taylor and Freedman had sorted the issue out and that everything between them was all good. In the final episode of Season 3, Freedman even made a friendly cameo appearance on the show in a mock oral-sex scene with Taylor.
The Eulogy Song
On 17 October 2007 episode of
The War,
Andrew HansenAndrew John Hansen is an Australian comedian and musician, best known for being a member of satirical team The Chaser...
performed
The Eulogy Song, which was a song written by Taylor which satirised the lives of several deceased celebrities, including
Peter BrockPeter Geoffrey Brock, AM otherwise known as "Peter Perfect", "The King of the Mountain" or simply as "Brocky" was one of Australia's best-known and most successful motor racing drivers. Brock was most often associated with Holden for almost 40 years, although he raced vehicles of other...
, Princess Diana,
Donald BradmanSir Donald George Bradman, AC , often referred to as "The Don", was an Australian cricketer, widely acknowledged as the greatest batsman of all time...
,
Steve IrwinStephen Robert "Steve" Irwin , nicknamed "The Crocodile Hunter", was an Australian television personality, wildlife expert, and conservationist. Irwin achieved worldwide fame from the television series The Crocodile Hunter, an internationally broadcast wildlife documentary series which he co-hosted...
,
Stan ZemanekStan Zemanek was an Australian radio broadcaster who presented a popular night time show on 2UE Sydney and which was networked across parts of Australia via Southern Cross....
,
John LennonJohn Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
,
Jeff BuckleyJeffrey Scott "Jeff" Buckley , raised as Scotty Moorhead, was an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. He was the son of Tim Buckley, also a musician...
and
Kerry PackerKerry Francis Bullmore Packer, AC was an Australian media tycoon. The son of Sir Frank Packer and Gretel Bullmore, the Packer family company owned controlling interest in both the Nine television network and leading Australian publishing company Australian Consolidated Press, which were later...
, expressing the view that people with flaws during life are often disproportionately hailed as "top blokes" after death. The song became the target of significant media attention, with several radio and television personalities saying the song was in "bad taste", as well as then Prime Minister of Australia
John HowardJohn Winston Howard AC, SSI, was the 25th Prime Minister of Australia, from 11 March 1996 to 3 December 2007. He was the second-longest serving Australian Prime Minister after Sir Robert Menzies....
and then Opposition Leader
Kevin RuddKevin Michael Rudd is an Australian politician who was the 26th Prime Minister of Australia from 2007 to 2010. He has been Minister for Foreign Affairs since 2010...
expressing negative views.
In response to the attention, Taylor defended the song, stating that it was a legitimate skit about the way the media air-brushes celebrities in death. He also revealed it was a "watered down" version of the song which was previously performed on stage in the musical
Dead Caesar. The original had a verse referencing
Rene RivkinRene Rivkin was an Australian entrepreneur, investor, investment adviser, and stockbroker. He was a well-known stockbroker in Australia for many years until his death in 2005.-Early life:...
, but it was replaced with a verse about
Stan ZemanekStan Zemanek was an Australian radio broadcaster who presented a popular night time show on 2UE Sydney and which was networked across parts of Australia via Southern Cross....
.
Dead Caesar
As well as writing for
The Chaser's War on Everything, Taylor wrote the play called "
Dead Caesar" which premiered at the
Sydney Theatre CompanyThe Sydney Theatre Company is one of Australia's best-known theatre companies operating from The Wharf Theatre near The Rocks area of Sydney, as well as the Sydney Theatre and the Sydney Opera House Drama Theatre....
on 1 February 2007, and then had a one-month run in July 2007. The play was a musical comedy based on the life of
Julius CaesarGaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman and a distinguished writer of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the gradual transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
, featuring original music composed by
Andrew HansenAndrew John Hansen is an Australian comedian and musician, best known for being a member of satirical team The Chaser...
, who also appeared in the play as
Mark AntonyMarcus Antonius , known in English as Mark Antony, was a Roman politician and general. As a military commander and administrator, he was an important supporter and loyal friend of his mother's cousin Julius Caesar...
and
LuciusLucius Antonius was the younger brother and supporter of Mark Antony, a Roman politician.Lucius was son of Marcus Antonius Creticus, son of the rhetorician Marcus Antonius Orator executed by Gaius Marius' supporters in 86 BC, and Julia Antonia, a cousin of Julius Caesar...
. The now infamous
Eulogy Song was originally written for this production.
External links