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Sunday Times, 1994
After eight years together, one of Australia's most famous comedy exports, the Doug Anthony Allstars, are separating.
Having won 14 international comedy awards, DAAS just had to be asked: Who won custody of the trophies in the divorce settlement?
"Custody was given to Richard (Fidler)," McDermott said. "He will take great care of them, keep them nice and clean, well dusted and cared for. He can use them as dowry for the one we hope will come along and shake him out of the sexual coma he's been in for the last 10 years."
The truth of the matter is the decision to retire the trademark black bolero jackets was entirely amicable. Family pressures not to spend so much time overseas was the main reason, and the group could not see themselves adding to their achievements in Australia.
Basically I think we have done everything we can do," McDermott said. "We've had two series on television, repeated tours across the country to audiences large and small, and best selling books.
"For us it was the challenge which was important. Coming back and limiting ourselves to Australia just wouldn't be right."
Despite the accolades the group have earned overseas, their recognition within Australia took a long time coming. McDermott finds it ironic that so many critics who once canned them are now mourning the loss.
"It was never a disappointment for us not to reach the same heights in Australia as we did elsewhere as we have succeeded regardless of our critics," he said. "The funny thing now is we are getting all this critical acclaim in reviews."
At the recent People's Choice Awards, the guys also received congratulations from other performers, including one of their idols, Demtel man Tim Shaw.
He is the closest thing to God we have in Australia and he just came up to us, pointed and said 'legends'. I thought we had to quit after that because we couldn't get any higher."
The legend began in the early 1980s in our nation's capital and the real city of excitement - Canberra. Paul McDermott, Tim Ferguson and Richard Fidler met at university and moved to the bright lights of the big city of Melbourne, where they regularly pulled crowds of more than 200 busking in a shop doorway.
International accolades came rolling in when they performed at the Edinburgh Festival and the trio were given their own TV show in Britain.
It was a regular spot on the ABC's The Big Gig which gave them their notoriety in Australia. People either seemed to love them or hate them.
They were finally rewarded with their own show in Australia - DAAS Kapital - but the lure of the big time in Britain continued to pull them overseas for much of the year, leading to the decision to split.
The group will wind up their final tour, 25 Years of Fun, tomorrow and Saturday at the Regal. The show is a sort of best of DAAS, a collection of old sketches they have not performed in years, bits from TV shows and from more recent tours of Europe.
While the group have only been together for eight years, McDermott said the show was entitled 25 Years of Fun because: "That's the amount of effort we've put into everything we've done and I'm sure for a lot of the people out there who have despised us over the time it probably seems even longer."
During their years together, DAAS have become as reknowned for telling little white lies as they have for their unusual brand of humour, and as a result a lot of cynicism surrounds the separation announcement.
McDermott guaranteed their will be no reincarnations or reunion specials for the group, despite the fact they have missed out on a role in the third Batman movie because of the breakup.
"There has been a small animated Batman film made recently and we are in that, even though it was only a very small project," McDermott said.
He insists they were in the first two films, only to end up on the cutting room floor.
So what now for the comic trio when they go solo?
Each member of the group has some idea of the direction he would like to take, but they are going to spend some time contemplating the change.
"At the moment I am still figuring out what I will be doing next week," McDermott said, though he appreciates the options open to him through the success of DAAS.
If DAAS has contributed anything to the performing arts in Australia during their eight years, McDermott hopes it is simply to show people starting out in the business that it can be done.
"The other day, someone told me the only reason they went to the Edinburgh Festival was because we had shown them it was possible," he said. "I don't believe in the ridiculous notion that Australians can't compete and they're not as good."
"When we first started, that is what we were told by every manager, agent and producer in Melbourne: 'Don't go over, it's too big, there are thousands of funny acts, you will just get swamped.' It was all rubbish."
And after so many successes, it seems it was.
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