Information AboutJohn Safran |
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John Safran (born on the life of Rove McManus , and sneaking nine young men into an exclusive Melbourne Nightclub by disguising them as members of American metal-like band, Slipknot . EARLY LIFE + RASPBERRY CORDIAL After attending a secular state primary school, John was sent to Yeshivah College , a Chabad -run and strictly religious Jewish high school in Melbourne. In Year 12, he formed the hip-hop group Raspberry Cordial with his friend Chris Lumsden. They played to some success, receiving high rotation airplay on the city's community radio, playing many gigs in Melbourne, and coming second in the RMIT Battle of the Bands competition. Their debut album was ''Melbourne Tram'', of which John apparently has hundreds of unsold cassettes in his bedroom to this day. After winning a government youth music initiative, they followed up with ''Taste Test'', of which 500 copies were pressed. Of those, only 93 sold, so the remaining 407 had to be crushed. A song from "Taste Test", ''University Elevator Music'', is legally downloadable from the 's ''Enough Rope'' show in 2002, he said that Raspberry Cordial had "broke down the wall that Eminem 's been able to walk through". Safran attended RMIT to study Journalism , a career he tried for a while but eventually dropped, without completing his degree. He then began work in advertising for Clemenger Harvie . During this time he wrote Jingle s for Mazda , Village Roadshow and SeaWorld . LAUNCH TO FAME WITH "RACE AROUND THE WORLD" Safran's first taste of national fame came via '' Race Around The World '', a Television Competition for young Documentarian s run by the ABC . Safran's segments, while failing to please the judges, scored him well with the public audience. Despite being disqualified for a segment taped in a Confession Booth (the program forbade Hidden Camera footage), Safran topped the viewer Poll . Regular judge Tony Squires labelled him as mischievous, and '' Idiot Box '' director David Caesar called Safran a "smart-arse westerner taking the piss out of a soft subject" and his work "Shithouse". Safran started the race off timid and tame, being locked inside a Tokyo Subway Station in his first entry. He soon however broke what he called the "fear barrier" to film his now infamous segments. These include Streaking through the streets of Jerusalem on behalf of St Kilda , his favorite Australian Rules Football team, placing a Voodoo curse on his ex-girlfriend, breaking into Disneyland and getting a Catholic Priest to review Death Metal music. AFTER "THE RACE" WAS OVER After this brush with fame, Safran tried to pitch several 's motivational '' Everybody's Free (to Wear Sunscreen) '' entitled ''Not the Sunscreen Song'' which includes lines such as "Never live in Adelaide , it's a hole" and "Remember, you can't get Pregnant the first time you have sex". It peaked at #39 and was nominated for an ARIA . Recently, in Triple M's ''2005 Greatest Songs Ever Written And Performed Since The Beginning of Time'' poll, ''Not The Sunscreen Song'' came in at #706 - one spot above '' Superstition '' by Stevie Wonder . Safran also presented segments for Seven's now defunct '' Late Report '', some were also screened in the United Kingdom with Channel 4 's '' Disinformation '' program. Never escaping his wild side, Safran attained infamy and Police attention for a stunt to try and coerce Cricket er Shane Warne into breaking a "no smoking" clause in an advertising contract with a nicotine gum manufacturer. Safran drove a Remote Control led Seagull with a Cigarette onto the pitch during a match. He was arrested for " Pitch Invasion ", but the charges were dropped. . THE ERA OF SBS DOCUMENTARIES In 2002 John launched his documentary series '' John Safran's Music Jamboree ''. The show was a novel approach to documentary genre, combining John Safran's comedic talent, personal passions, and typical outlandish stunts with solid information and interesting trivia. He at times raised the ire of his former High School Principal. On one occasion he and his crew stormed the courtyard of his former school and amid shocked religious students and teachers, he and his crew began to dance furiously. Screened in SBS ' "poor taste" comedy Monday evening timeslot (well known for shows like '' South Park '', '' Crank Yankers '' and '' Pizza ''), it opened Safran's work to whole new generation who had not seen the original Race Around the World material. The show impressed the Australian Film Industry so much that it won two AFI Awards in 2002; "Best Comedy Series" and "Most Innovative Program Concept". In August 2004 , he debuted his new show '' John Safran Vs God '', also on the SBS Television Network . The first seven episodes were typical Safran informative satire, but the series' finale was something else. It featured John being Exorcised of Demon s which had allegedly Possessed him during his dabblings with world religions. The exorcism was performed by well known Christian Fundamentalist Bob Larson . It has been claimed that it was all faked for cameras, but Safran has neither confirmed or denied these rumours. However, in an interview with an Australian radio personality, John did say that he "felt something was going on", and that "there was something about the expression on my face". In an interview on Andrew Denton 's "Enough Rope" program, he claimed that he had no memory of the events during the exorcism, and stated that the footage shown on the show was merely the most interesting from hours of footage (hinting that the exorcist may have been using some form of Hypnotism ). '' John Safran Vs God '' won an award in the 2005 Australian Film Industry Awards for Best Comedy Series. Safran also went to very much believed in the curse, and sincerely thought that reversing the curse could help, was a great incentive in the end, for having faith in the 2005 squad. Safran has recently completed hosting a new television show entitled '' Speaking In Tongues '', which takes the form of a talk-show with his collaborator Father Bob Maguire , a Catholic Priest who Safran met during the filming of "John Safran Vs. God" and with whom Safran performs a weekly radio show on Triple J . The show is a 12-part series broadcast on SBS Television and began Monday November 7. {Link without Title} Fans are divided on the show; some finding it a fascinating irreverent insight into world religions, others want him to return to his trademark prank based work. EXTERNAL LINKS
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