While they may not be a household name like their compatriots The Wiggles, the Gigalees’ Daisy and Wilma are helping keep the art of slapstick comedy alive.
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The Sydney duo’s routine has evolved during their 20 year career, with some of the traditional Punch and Judy style slapstick material being cut from the shows as social expectations changed.
This is the more politically correct version in a way.
- The Gigalees
“When we started there was much more slapstick hitting and stuff like that, and there was a point where we could call each other silly or stupid,” Daisy said.
“This is the more politically correct version in a way, although some of the older stuff is coming back into popularity.”
Daisy received her early training from legendary acrobat and Bal Caron Trio member Clete Ball.
The Bal Caron Trio had a world-wide career, performing alongside Sammy Davis Jr and Jerry Lewis at the 1966 Royal Variety Performance.
The trio were best-known for their high-energy Toss the Girl act, which involved male performers performers throwing and catching a female performer as if she were a doll.
“Clete was the first person whose shoulders I ever stood on when he was 65, I was a bit worried but he was very strong,” Wilma said.
While they both started performing in the 1990s, Daisy put the global phenomenon of The Wiggles down to their sheer love of entertaining.
“They love what they do,” she said.
“They were really genuine, they didn’t do it for the money.”
The Melbourne International Comedy Festival Best Kids Show winners perform almost 200 times a year, and have sold performed weeks of sold-out shows at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and rubbed shoulders with the likes of Barney, the purple American dinosaur, and Brum, the British artificially intelligent, self-driven car.
They performed for Bega Preschool on Friday, and will hit the Funhouse Studio stage in Bega for one more show on Monday.
“We put our shows together by starting to do a few things, and work out what works,’ Wilma said.
“It is difficult keeping the attention of preschoolers, so we change it up every three minutes or so.
“The little girls really love Daisy, and the boys seem to naturally gravitate towards me.”