| The Listies | |
| Origin: | Melbourne, Australia |
| Genre: | Comedy |
| Occupation: | Comedian |
| Years Active: | 2008–present |
| Current Members: | Richard Higgins, Matthew Kelly |
The Listies, formerly known as The List Operators, are Richard Higgins and Matt Kelly, a double act from Melbourne, Australia, who make live comedy and theatre and TV for "kidults". They regularly tour festivals in Australia and internationally, and also write and illustrate children's books, such as Ickypedia: A Dictionary of Disgusting New Words (2015).
Richard Higgins and Matt Kelly met performing at student theatre at Melbourne's RMIT University though neither were students of the university at the time. They were performing in Just Disgusting, adapted from an Andy Griffiths book by Director in residence Lynne Ellis. "In that very first rehearsal, our scenes got longer and longer," says Kelly. They performed in The Day My Bum Went Psycho next, then Roald Dahl's The Twits".[1] [2]
In 2008, they formed as an alternative comedy and variety act called "The List Operators" (named for their "list-making" schtick,[3]) and performed at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival (MICF).
They began to make work for young audiences in 2010 with a show called More Fun than a wii!,[4] and have been described as "cult figures in the children's theatre world".[5]
The Listies regularly tour festivals in Australia and internationally,[6] including the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and Dublin Fringe Festival.
They have made seven stage shows for children, two for adult audiences, released two albums[7] and written and illustrated three books (published by Penguin Books under their Puffin Books imprint, Ickypedia (2015),[8] Ickyfoodia (2017) [9] and most recently The Listies' Teleportaloo.
In 2008 they won the Melbourne Comedy festival's best independent show award, the Golden Gibbo.[10]
In 2010 they were nominated for Barry Award at MICF, for More Fun than a wii!, the first kids' show ever to be nominated for this award.[4]
In 2013, the Listies won the Best Production for Children award at the Sydney Theatre Awards, and were nominated for this award again in 2016.
Inspired by "straight guy, funny guy" double acts such as Lano and Woodley, and the sketch comedy of the Goons and Monty Python, the Listies make two-handers which rely on wordplay, prop gags and slapstick, with a "mix of clowning and gross-out humour, general mischief with manic theatrical surprises...(with) a smattering of Easter eggs for the adults in the audience."[11] Their comedy style has also been described as having a "focus on the subversion of the adult desire for control"[12] and as being "unapologetically puerile,"[13] They make live comedy and theatre and TV for "kidults"[14]