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It's the 60th anniversary of the University of Melbourne
Law Revue, a time when talented young students from
across the University get together to write, perform,
direct and produce something special.
It's called the Melbourne Uni Law Revue which sometimes
puts people off I think they come expecting law related
humour but the only connection really is that the Law
Students' Society helps with the funding and otherwise
though the director, the producer and the actors are
either from the law faculty or from main campus.
This year was a double celebration as it also marked
the 30th anniversary of Santo Cilauro, Tom Gleisner
and Rob Sitchs' first Law Revue together.
Those young students went on to form Working Dog
Productions and became icons of Australian film and
television, producing beloved classics such as
The Castle and The Dish.
This year Working Dog, given the anniversary,
decided to help out with the show.
We got in touch with them a few months ago and,
quite quickly actually, it was a fairly easy favour
request to our surprise, agreed to shoot a promo video
with us and they're also in a couple of video sketches
from the show proper as well.
Hey kid listen to me.
I was hilarious in the Law Revue thirty years ago.
I'm still hilarious now, I really am.
Okay, Santo, Santo that's good.
Remember the good times, that's it.
And you know on the bright side of things Santo
you've still got your health.
It's only your career that's dead.
What?!
Students not only had a wonderful time working and
learning from the Melbourne Revue veterans from Working
Dog, Cilauro and Gleisner, but Tony Rickards,
Steve Vizard and University of Adelaide revue veteran
Shaun Micallef also joined the fun.
They're complete amateurs.
They swear, they're unprofessional, they don't bath so
it was really an eye-opening experience for us.
Can we do a proper answer?
No, in all seriousness, it's been great to work with
some of these legends of Australian comedy.
We've idolised them for many years
and grown up with them on TV.
To act opposite them in a scene and to try and make
them laugh and to be with them it's just a great
experience that you rarely get so it's been fantastic.
As with all Law Revues you have to write it and
produce it and do it all yourself so being involved
in the whole process from the start to the finish is
a really valuable experience and teaches you a lot.
Other famous revues such as the Cambridge Footlights
have produced a breadth of talent the likes of Emma
Thompson, David Frost, Douglas Adams and Kevin McCloud.
Carolyn Evans, Dean of the Melbourne Law School, says
University revues are rich breeding grounds for talent.
A world-class university is of course about high
quality education, it has to be about that,
but it also has to be about more than that,
it has to be about peoples lived experiences.
When you get some talented people, and we have some
enormously talented students, who have a chance
to be creative, to explore a different side of life
and to meet other people from across the university who
might have similar talents and interests, I think that
makes a real contribution to a university.
That's why sometimes when there's a sense that
everything could simply be done online it's not the
case because so much of what happens happens when great
interesting creative people get together outside the
classroom to make something like the Law Revue happen.