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Lano and Woodley (Colin Lane and Frank Woodley) were one of Australia's most successful Australian comedy duos of the 1990s and 2000s. They are perhaps most famous for their stand-up comedy and slapstick theatre, as well as their television show The Adventures of Lano and Woodley, which aired on the ABC network in 1997 and 1999. In 1994 they won the prestigious Edinburgh Fringe Perrier Comedy Award. They have written one book, Housemeeting, published in 1996. Their final show was performed in Melbourne on 11 November 2006.

Stage shows[link]

Their stage productions include Curtains, Fence, Glitzy, Slick, Bruiser, The Island and Goodbye - all original shows that they wrote and performed themselves. The show known as "Fence" was co-written and directed by Neill Gladwin who also directed "Curtains".

Bruiser[link]

The show follows the adventures of Frank and Colin after a nasty confrontation at the local gym where Frank accidentally is challenged to a fight by the local strongman 'Bruiser'. Both Lano and Woodley alternate between playing themselves and the characters Bruiser and Juliet (the love interest) throughout the show through the use of costumes (at times forced to play each other as well).

The Island[link]

In 2004 - 2005, the comedy duo took a tour across Australia called The Island. The show consisted of comedy sketches, songs and interaction with the audience, all based around them being stranded on a desert island. A stand out feature of this performance was that there was only one major set piece used: A motorised, revolving platform, which was used as a stairway, aeroplane, palm tree and court room stand. This performance has been released on DVD and is periodically screened on The Comedy Channel (Foxtel).

Goodbye[link]

In February 2006, they announced their final tour, entitled Goodbye, after 20 years of performing together. They performed the show in 37 cities and towns across Australia, which premiered at the 2006 Adelaide Fringe Festival in March 2006. The show was performed at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival in May 2006. On 6 May 2006, at one of these sold-out festival performances, they filmed the show for DVD. This performance included the first time they have ever wrestled an audience member to the ground. It also saw quite a few fumbles by the pair, because they were unnerved by the different lighting, which allowed the audience to be seen on the DVD. (Usually, the audience is darkened, from the performers' point of view on the stage.) The show featured material from previous shows and some new material, including faux accusations of why they were breaking up. The last show of their Goodbye tour was performed on 11 November 2006 at the Regent Theatre, Melbourne. The DVD release received an ARIA nomination for best comedy release.

The real reason, according to Colin Lane (both on stage and appearing on Andrew Denton's Enough Rope interview show), is summed up like this: "Imagine spending 20 years driving in a car with your best friend."^{[citation needed]} They have both stated that they are dissolving Lano and Woodley so that they do not end up hating each other five years down the track. Both have also expressed interest in exploring other careers.

Television[link]

Lano and Woodley created their own television show called The Adventures of Lano and Woodley which debuted on Australian TV on ABC in 1997 with the episode "The Girlfriend".

Sing Songs[link]

In October 2005, they released a CD of songs from many of their performances over the years recorded live (Frank Woodley plays guitar, with supporting instruments and vocals by Mal Webb and Justin Brady), Lano & Woodley Sing Songs.

Correction: "Lano and Woodley Sing Songs" was recorded live at the Hi-Fi Bar in Melbourne. The whole CD contained songs used in the live show that was taken around Australia, titled "Sing Songs". The entire show was performed through song, with only certain (and somewhat small) portions of the show performed by spoken dialogue itself. "Sing Songs" was entirely made up of songs that Lano and Woodley had performed in the past as part of comedic performances, or songs composed for the show itself. The CDs were sold at each of the touring venues in addition to being sold in most music retail stores and other department stores.

[edit] Housemeeting

Housemeeting, a book by Lano and Woodley, was published by Penguin Books in 1996, with illustrations by Woodley and a foreword by Andrew Denton.

The story follows the their conversations after Lane announces that after years of living together Woodley will have to move out. Throughout the book, Woodley makes several desperate attempts to change Lane's mind, but none seem to work.

The story is written in the style of a script, with several chapters covering various subjects (e.g. nicknames, cooking, graffiti etc.) which the boys discuss (and argue) as Frank prepares to move out. The style in which it is written is very self referential and often breaks the fourth wall by talking directly to the reader, putting in deliberate spelling mistakes and filling pages with ellipses (or nothing at all).

Since there was a rather small print of the novel, finding a copy of it can be difficult for fans. Several regional libraries have had copies stolen and it is often a rarity to be found on the shelves of second-hand bookstores. It is said only 20,000 copies of the book were published.

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Lano and Woodley

References[link]

External links[link]

• Lano & Woodley Sing Songs - article in the Sydney Morning Herald