No Brow art show yarns with The Big Lez Show

Originally Broadcast: September 21, 2014 I’m a big sucker for absolutely crass and crude animation. Over the last couple of years we’ve witnessed a run of different series finding their home and audience on Youtube - such as the YOLO tirades and the surreal Hommer Simpson. Entirely DIY and self-trained, the animations I’m a fan of have no safety net of an editor, meaning that instead of something sanitized and polished – all the rough edges and hallmarks of animating using MS Paint and iMovie are left in to make it all the more compelling. Last year I was exposed to the magic of The Big Lez Show, which I’d argue with the support of a few friends potentially the best of this recent crop of Australian animations annihilating Youtube with the vernacular of regional towns. It’s rough, and fucking funny – using the archetypes of regional Queensland to northern New South Wales – particularly around their hometown of Coolangatta – to make a show that flips between dialog-driven humour and Michael Bay-equse action sequences at the hit of a volcano bong. The magic of The Big Lez Show? Whereas lesser animations are proud of their technical skill or exhibit A.D.D. throwing as much into each second while crisply 'executing' each line, Big Lez doesn't give a stuff. It rides on the space and timing of plausible conversations which is at the heart of the dialect. He's not afraid of awkward pauses, they're cool. It doesn't need to hit you with joke after joke, it's got all day. It's subtle and shit. It lulls you into its hostile world before contorting the fabric of mind, time and space (with some amazing MS Paint chopped-up Surrealism). I caught up with the team behind The Big Lez Show the other week to discuss how over the last couple of years how the series has been picked up to garner an international following that – through merchandising – they can now almost sustain themselves upon. www.thebiglezshow.com www.4zzzfm.org.au/program/no-brow www.facebook.com/nobrowartshow