Ray relents on privacy for comedy’s sake

Ray Martin is known for protecting his privacy.

When comedian John Safran rifled through his garbage for a comedy pilot in 1998 he was justly upset.

But he opens his Sydney home to cameras for a lockdown comedy At Home Alone Together. For the ABC lifestyle parody Martin relented on privacy, with some conditions.

“My wife Diane is very private so she was quite strict about not opening the house up like Better Homes & Gardens or Grand Designs. She likes the privacy of her own paintings and rugs so we shot around those things, with the kitchen, family room and outside. We’ve tried to maintain some privacy. It’s not easy in isolation,” he tells TV Tonight.

“It was quite a coup to get her to agree to having the film crew at home”

“Unlike Bert & Patti or most TV celebrities there were never shots of our kids when they were young, or any stage. We’re especially private about these things so it was quite a coup to get her to agree to having the film crew at home.”

A skeleton ABC crew visits him every Monday and Tuesday to film hosting links. The 8 part comedy s described as the survival series we all need right now: a lifestyle show for a world in which nobody has a life.  The series is produced following strict COVID-19 OHS guidelines. Much of the series will be recorded in the contributor’s homes, either using their own equipment or a single person crew.

“I’m the host, effectively, so I’m linking, a bit like Better Homes & Gardens in terms of lifestyle. We’ve got a whole series of comedians, Ryan Shelton, Anne Edmonds, Becky Lucas. They’re playing the role of a lifestyle show presenter… a cooking specialist or a finance specialist, gardening, handyman. The things people are doing at home alone in isolation,” he explains.

“If it works it’s taking the mickey out of all those sorts of shows.”

“Don’t think you’re funny -journalists aren’t funny”

Martin is better known for his journalism than comedy, and admits to being cautious straying out of his lane.

“For years I’ve told younger journalists ‘Don’t think you’re funny -journalists aren’t funny. We think we are but we’re not. Leave it to the comedians.’ Now here I am fronting a comedy show. My kids for years have said to me, ‘Don’t sing, don’t dance, dad. Stop thinking you’re funny!'” he continues.

“But I’ve done a couple of things with Chris Taylor for The Chaser which I liked, and I’ve done some stuff with with Mark Humphries at SBS Comedy. They all tend to be in the same group. They thought it was funny for me to be hosting this show so they rang and I said ‘You betcha!’

“Comedy at Midday was the hardest”

“Comedy at Midday was the hardest. We did this thing called A Town like Dallas, and it turned our Fridays into the biggest rating day of the week. It was so bad it was almost a cult. The involved me occasionally putting on some stupid costumes or doing stupid things I was reading from my clipboard.”

Other contributors to the series are Christiaan Van Vuuren and Adele Vuko, while the series is produced in-house at ABC by producer Dan Ilic. The show hopes to remain current, filming right up to the day before broadcast, and Martin admits the humour may not tickle everybody’s funny bone.

“For the 8 weeks we’re on air obviously things are going to change. So it’s a moveable feast. Clearly the writers are going to have to adjust as we come out of a tight isolation and we start to spread our wings a bit.

“It’s got to be edgy if it’s going to work”

“It’s got to be edgy if it’s going to work, so in that sense we’re clearly going to upset some people and hopefully make most people laugh,” he warns.

“But that’s part of the fun of it. If comedy doesn’t upset at least some people, you’re probably not doing it right.”

At Home Alone Together airs 9pm Wednesday on ABC.