The Hamish & Andy Show (Hamish and Andy), was an Australian radio show created by and starring comedic duo Hamish Blake and Andy Lee. It began on Fox FM in 2006 and by 2007, was broadcast on the Hit Network to every state in Australia as well as the ACT for two hours in the key weekday afternoon drive time slot until the end of 2010. It has since taken on a variety of timeslots and formats. It is also broadcast in New Zealand and Dubai as a weekly highlights package. In late 2009, a 3-hour special entitled 'Hamish and Andy's Midwinter Warmer' was broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC6 Music.
The show is the highest-rating radio series in Australian history, consistently gaining up to 20% market share in the crucial Melbourne market. The show has approximately 2.7 million listeners, and has over 1 million podcast downloads each week.
Blake and Lee announced in August 2010, they would be cutting down to a weekly show in 2011, to allow them time to pursue other projects. The final daily program aired on 3 December 2010 in Melbourne as part of their Thank You Tour.
The show aired weekly on Fridays during 2011 and 2012. In 2013, it moved to Mondays, with Hamish & Andy's Business Brunch airing Tuesday to Friday mornings. From July 2013 until December 2014, Blake and Lee hosted Hamish & Andy's Happy Hour each weekday afternoon from 3pm to 4pm.
In 2015, the show returned to the drive home time slot between 4pm and 7pm each weekday.
In December 2016, Hamish and Andy announced that they would be leaving radio at the end of 2017. In September 2017, Southern Cross Austereo announced that Hughesy & Kate would replace Hamish and Andy. The duo also later revealed that the podcast will continue in 2018, but no further details had been revealed.
Video Hamish & Andy (radio show)
Team
The Hamish & Andy Show team is made up of:
It previously contained Michael "Wippa" Wipfli (now co-host of Fitzy and Wippa on Nova 96.9)
Guest hosts
The show has been hosted by a special guest filling in for one of Hamish and Andy on several occasions. Stephen Curry and Ryan Shelton filled in for Blake when he was sick with pneumonia, and on 16 March 2010 Lee's now ex-girlfriend Megan Gale filled in for him while he had an operation to replace his two front teeth which were lost during an attempt to play ice hockey during "training" for the bi-bi-tri-bi-athlon (24 sports in one weekend).
Maps Hamish & Andy (radio show)
Drive show (2006-2013)
The Hamish & Andy drive show's opening theme was a combination of The A-Team opening titles, and "Turn It Up" by hip hop group Ugly Duckling (the latter also signifying the end of the show).
Notable activities
The People's Chip
In 2008 Hamish and Andy were dared by an audience member to invent a new favour of potato crisp. They eventually invented gravy flavour. The chip was launched on 27 June 2008 in an event with hundreds of viewers which included a performance from Melissa Tkautz. Other notable individuals at the launch were Brian McFadden and the Smith chip company's advertising character "Gobbledok".
The People's Greyhound
In September 2006, Hamish and Andy purchased a greyhound and named it Fred Basset, after the comic strip character of the same name. This was purchased using proceeds from Blake betting $800, which was originally put aside for a holiday with his girlfriend, on Lee being named Cleo's Bachelor of the Year. 50% of Basset's winnings went to the Greyhound Adoption Program.
Afghanistan
In April 2008, the duo travelled to Afghanistan and performed their show live (except for the Friday show) alongside Australian soldiers.
The trip to Afghanistan was first instigated when the duo received an email from an Australian soldier serving overseas, excited about hearing The Hamish & Andy Show at his base. The letter opened discussion of whether the show should go overseas and broadcast with the troops.
Hamish and Andy, after contacting the Australian Defence Force several times, were told they would be able to broadcast in an overseas location where the troops were serving.
Caravan of Courage
In October 2007, Hamish and Andy set out on their Caravan of Courage trip in an attempt to "hug" Australia, with the intention of travelling from Perth to Brisbane and visiting many small towns that do not typically receive tourist recognition along the way. They broadcast their radio show from wherever they were at 4 pm AEST each day.
Broadcast points:
- Day 1: Wednesday 3 October: Southern Cross, Western Australia
- Day 2: Thursday 4 October: Norseman, Western Australia
- Day 3: Friday 5 October: Cocklebiddy, Western Australia
- Day 4: Saturday 6 October: No broadcast
- Day 5: Sunday 7 October: No broadcast
- Day 6: Monday 8 October: Tailem Bend, South Australia
- Day 7: Tuesday 9 October: Donald, Victoria
- Day 8: Wednesday 10 October: Benalla, Victoria
- Day 9: Thursday 11 October: Goulburn, New South Wales
- Day 10: Friday 12 October: Bulahdelah, New South Wales
Caravan of Courage 2: Who Dares Dar-Wins
In October 2008, Hamish and Andy were challenged by an e-mailer to 'hug' Australia again. After first hesitating on travelling Australia again, the duo decided, after much argument with their boss, Fox FM's Program Director Dave Cameron that they would set out on 27 October for the 'Caravan of Courage II: Who Dares Dar-Wins' trip starting from Melbourne and heading up to Darwin. As they had previously travelled across Australia, they wanted to head "up the guts" of Australia.
- Day 1: Nhill, Victoria
- Day 2: Williamstown, South Australia
- Day 3: Hawker, South Australia
- Day 4: Roxby Downs, South Australia
- Day 5: Coober Pedy, South Australia
- Day 6: Yulara (Uluru), Northern Territory
- Day 7: Aileron, Northern Territory
- Day 8: Wycliffe Well, Northern Territory
- Day 9: Elliot, Northern Territory
- Day 10: Mataranka, Northern Territory
- Day 11: Pine Creek, Northern Territory
- Day 12: Jabiru, Kakadu National Park, Northern Territory
- Day 13: Darwin, Northern Territory
Caravan of Courage 3: Yes We Van
Hamish and Andy announced (via a "family meeting") in early August 2009 that they wanted to go on a two-week caravan trip in America, driving from Miami to Los Angeles. They travelled in campervan, dubbing it "Yes We Van" as a pun on the iconic quote by former US President Barack Obama, "yes we can", dubbing the vehicle "Abravan Lincoln" (after Abraham Lincoln). Before going Hamish and Andy received written approval from former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.
- Day 1: Monday 24 August: Dade City, Florida
- Day 2: Tuesday 25 August: Thomasville, Georgia
- Day 3: Wednesday 26 August: Andalusia, Alabama
- Day 4: Thursday 27 August: Laurel, Mississippi
- Day 5: Friday 28 August: Vicksburg, Mississippi
- Day 6: Monday 31 August: Roswell, New Mexico
- Day 7: Tuesday 1 September: Magdalena, New Mexico
- Day 8: Wednesday 2 September: Show Low, Arizona
- Day 9: Thursday 3 September: Sedona, Arizona
- Day 10: Friday 4 September: Las Vegas, Nevada
Caravan of Courage 4: Great Britain and Ireland
On May 2010, Hamish and Andy announced they were doing a fourth Caravan of Courage to Great Britain and Ireland. During the trip they had a dedicated digital station - "Caravan of Courage Radio" which aired their show from 31 May through to 11 June. On this trip they named their van Sir Vancelot after Sir Lancelot, a character in the Arthurian legend
- Day 1: Monday 31 May: Doolin, Ireland
- Day 2: Tuesday 1 June: Roscrea, Ireland
- Day 3: Wednesday 2 June: Belfast, Northern Ireland
- Day 4: Thursday 3 June: Strauchur, Scotland
- Day 5: Friday 4 June: Loch Ness, Scotland
- Day 6: Monday 7 June: Ravenglass, England
- Day 7: Tuesday 8 June: Tarporly, England
- Day 8: Wednesday 9 June: Warwick, England
- Day 9: Thursday 10 June: Llanwrytd Wells, Wales
- Day 10: Friday 11: Mersea Island, England
The Tall Ship Adventure; Open Your Buccaneers Tasmania
In 2009, to commemorate the show beginning broadcasting to Tasmania, Hamish and Andy sailed in a 200 year old tall ship known as "Taully Shore" across the Bass Strait from mainland Australia to Tasmania. During this period they broadcast, despite the stormy conditions.
Annual Logies Spit Roast Party
On several years from 2007, Hamish and Andy hosted a spit-roast party on the last Friday afternoon before the annual TV Week Logie Awards. A tradition is for a foodfight between Hamish and Andy and TV personality Jules Lund. This tradition in 2013 culminated with Hamish and Andy launching a "preemptive strike". The event is often frequented by many celebrities, such as Carrie Bickmore, Steve Peacock, Wil Anderson, Sonia Kruger, Rove McManus, Erin Molan, Delta Goodrem, and Scott Cam, as well as featuring performances by Birds of Tokyo, Flo Rida, The Temper Trap, and The Script. The 2016 event was notable for a performance by Hamish and Andy's band "Cool Boys and the Frontman", with Conrad Sewell operating as their frontman.
The Peoples' Bull
In 2010 Hamish and Andy entered Stock & Land's competition to win a Moyle Pathfinder Angus Bull worth $6000 so they could become "bull-ionaires". They enlisted listeners to collect the 4 weekly coupons to enter, but they didn't win, but got in contact with the winners and successfully asked for them to call it Sandra Bullock.
Ghosting
Ghosting was a "sport" created involving walking as close as possible behind someone for as long as possible without them realising you're there. This was first featured on Rove but was later featured on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno in the US and in the UK the Graham Norton Show. In America the Twin Cities Ghosting League in Minnesota practices the sport.
Thank You Tour
In 2010 to thank their listeners for participating in the daily radio show for the past 5 years, Hamish and Andy travelled around Australia broadcasting a free live show each day from 29 November to 3 December in 5 major cities, Perth (Paterson's Oval), Adelaide (Coopers Stadium), Brisbane (Botanical Gardens), Sydney (Fox Studio's) and Melbourne (Myer Music Bowl). In their first show, they performed with Perth bands Birds of Tokyo, Eskimo Joe and Shaun Micallef and Stephen Curry also attended. 3700 fans came out to watch in 37°C heat.
Other Notable Activities
- Created the website "checkyatemps.org" - This aimed to raise awareness of foods that may be too hot to eat on the first attempt.
- BYO Pool Party - Celebrated the final show of the year with live performances by Powderfinger and John Butler Trio at Hickson Road Resort. Listeners of the show brought paddling pools which were filled up at the venue.
- Conjoined Twins - In 2007 after accidentally offending a radio listener while talking about conjoined twins Hamish and Andy were sewn into a suit together for a week. They were detached on Rove on the Sunday.
- Freeating - Hamish & Andy decided to only eat free food for a week in July 2009 for Rove.
- Bi-Bi-Tri-Bi-athlon - Hamish and Andy competed in 24 sports in one weekend.
Regular segments
These are former regular segments to the show when it was in its original 2 hour format, however some segments returned on the newer hour-long "Happy Hour"/"Business Brunch" format if the segment and the content fitted the topic of the day.
Fred Basset
At the end of the show on each Friday, Blake, much to the disdain of Lee, read the Fred Basset comic on air.
Trivial Claims Court
A listener calls in with a trivial question with the show trying to answer it. One example is 'what is the cut-off height for a midget?'
Steven Seagal Energy Drink
In 2011 Blake attempted to find celebrity Steven Seagal after in May 2009 he ordered two slabs of his 'Lightning Bolt' energy drink, which had been paid for but never arrived. They attempted to find it through identification of a bikini-clad girl in an ad for the drink, who they successfully identified as a woman named Cherie Ditcham, and in the end received 10 drinks. After Blake tasted one, Blake and Lee wanted to distribute them to the listeners, but due to their boss Dave Cameron expressing legal concerns due to the drinks being out of date, the drinks were poured into the ocean.
Experimental as Anything
This was a segment where Hamish and Andy did odd experiments. A notable example was when seeing if Lee could sneeze with his eyes open. In this incident Blake blew a straw full of black pepper up Lee's nose, which resulted in Lee being subject to extreme pain. The pain was attempted to be treated using water and saline solution.
Family Meeting
When Hamish and Andy want to present an idea to the listeners they announce a "family meeting". Previous family meetings have included discussions about "The Caravan of Courage; Yes We Van" and "Caravan of Courage: Australia Vs New Zealand".
HB:BC
Stands for Hamish Blake's Big Call.
HB:BC have included:
Random John
Random John was a segment that involved Hamish & Andy calling a phone number at random, and hoping for a John. If they were to get a John, they would earn one John Point; in the event that the recipient was named John Johnson, it would be worth fifty John Points, and in the event that the call was picked up by a John Johnny Johnson, they would earn one hundred and twenty John Points. If, on the other hand, the call recipient was named Rob, they would lose a John Point, as an email from a podcaster that stated they would never get a John lead them to believe that Robs were the nemeses of Johns. After it emerged that the Manchester-based Key 103 radio station had picked up the segment and were separately playing for John Points, Hamish & Andy declared the start of a Random John World Cup; since this, a number of additional radio shows also started playing Random John. Hamish & Andy eventually scored their first John Point on 27 May 2011. This led to some jubilation in the studio, as Hamish put it: "...somebody hand me poison cordial because I want to die, I've lived it all..." Upon becoming the leaders in the Random John world cup on a John Streak of one, the duo decided to stop playing the game indefinitely, as the risk of calling a Rob and losing their John Point was too high. The segment may restart if another Random John World Cup participant gets a John point.
Horgs' Inventions
Occasionally, Andy's friend Horgs is asked to talk about his latest ideas for inventions. Horgs also interviewed Tom Cruise with Andy while Hamish was at a wedding. Horgs is Andy's ex-roommate and high school best friend. His day job is selling children's books. His wife's name is Katie and he is famous on the show for beginning his segment with a whistle, a sound the guys joke is a 'signal for investors to get out their chequebooks' to invest in his idea. Listeners are then invited to call into the show if they had any questions, suggestions, or comments for Horgs about the idea. Very often, listeners may suggest improvements to the ideas, or even point out that similar inventions were already being sold on the market.
Some of Horgs' inventions include:
- 'Weatherbet', which was a website on which one could bet on the weather for the next day, an idea which the following week Horgs' explained was stolen by a listener who subsequently registered the domain name, which also began Horgs' catchphrase of "invest with me; not against me".
- The 'Horgiana', a 'comfortable shoe'; the name of which was a direct play on the brand Havaianas.
- The 'TLC' or 'Two Level Car', an idea which he presented to Richard Branson at the opening of his Virgin Active gym in Sydney, which was, surprisingly, not totally dismissed by Richard.
- The 'Choc Nut', which was based on Horgs' belief that if you filled the inside of a nut with chocolate, most of the chocolate wouldn't be metabolised and therefore you would not put on weight.
- The 'Gym Train', whereby a regular commuter train would have one carriage modified into a gym for passengers to exercise on their way to work.
- The 'See Through Toaster', which is meant to alleviate the problem of burnt toast. It will supposedly be made completely out of glass, with heat being transmitted from the bottom of the toaster and 'bouncing' around the toaster against the glass surface.
- The 'Poo Tracker', which is based on Horgs' belief that bowel movements are an effective way of losing weight. It will be installed in the toilet bowl to measure the mass of faecal matter passed out, thus allowing a person to measure how much weight he has lost as a result of his bowel movement.
- The 'Mint Lamb', which is based on Horgs' belief that sheep that eat only mint will naturally taste of mint when eaten as lamb meat, thus saving consumers the cost and time of the minting process.
- The 'Fingerater', which is meant to solve the problem of sustaining cuts on one's fingers when grating foods like cheese on traditional handheld graters. This invention is such a person can wear mini graters on his ten fingers and 'massage' the cheese, thus grating all of it so that nothing goes to waste.
- The '13 (one-three) Decide', which is a text-message service, whereby customers can send in a text message when they have trouble making a decision on any aspect of life no matter how trivial (e.g. what to eat for lunch), and Horgs will make the decision for them.
- The 'Toilet Teasers', whereby brain teasers are printed on toilet rolls as reading material and entertainment when a person is using the toilet. The answers to the teasers will be printed further down the toilet rolls.
- The 'I Hate Mondays' song, an idea Horgs admits isn't original but hasn't been done for '20 years', according to him. This has been the only invention thus far to take off and actually reach a second week, in which Horgs' announced the full lyrics to the song, and on the same day whilst interviewing Harry Connick, Jr., he actually performed an improvised version of the song. On Friday, 19 March 2010, it was announced that over the weekend Hamish & Andy would actually gather singers together to perform the song. It is planned to have 25 singers on the verses and 100 on the chorus (one of which will be Horgs himself). On 16 July 2010, the song was released on the Australian iTunes Store for $1.69 AUD.
On the show, Horgs' is well known for frequently using the catchphrase, '(Insert product) have done well over the years'. The other running joke is that most of his 'unique' ideas have actually been invented, mostly on the Japanese market.
Jazz Chat
After changing from a daily to a weekly show, Hamish & Andy created the segment Jazz Chat to give quick bullet point topics in the last 3 minutes of the show to make up for the lack of time they have on the new show. The Roger Clark Quartet played the background jazz music live during the segment on the 11 March 2011 show.
The Subway Song/Musical Eavesdropping
Started in 2011 during their time in America and now recurring occasionally, Hamish & Andy relay an amusing conversation that they overheard somewhere (originally on a subway, hence the name) word-for-word in song. Jack Post is the narrator during the segment.
Hamish & Andy's Business Brunch (2013)
Hamish and Andy returned to daily radio in early 2013 with a new show, originally called "Business Brunch", airing from 9 am to 10 am Tuesdays to Fridays (except in Sydney, where it would air from 10 am to 11 am, following The Kyle & Jackie O Show). This complimented their regular drive time show which had moved to Mondays. Rather than having recurring segments each day, it aimed to cover every single topic in the world, focusing on one topic per show. Listeners were invited to contribute their expertise on a wide range of topics via their website, rather than through the traditional radio phone-in method. This allowed the show to be pre-recorded when necessary to facilitate filming for Gap Year. During each episode, Hamish and Andy read out and respond to listeners' contributions, who were addressed on air as "Company Man" or "Company Lady". Occasionally, the pair called listeners with interesting or humorous contributions to share more. This format was based on a series of "Boardroom" podcasts the pair recorded in 2012. The late Nine Network news personality Peter Harvey provided the voice of the introduction, even after his death (as it was the wish of him and his family).
Notable activities
Business Brunch Mugs
As a reward for listeners who made exceptional contributions to the show, Hamish & Andy ordered a shipment of 50 coffee mugs with the Business Brunch logo on them. The "Mug God" (a character voiced by Hamish) had the final say on who received a coveted mug. A series of "Mug Commandments" were developed by the Mug God, mostly to prevent people who expressly asked for a mug from being eligible to receive one. Some listeners attempted to trap Hamish & Andy into giving them a mug, while many were given away as reward for games developed by Hamish & Andy. One such game resulted in a caller receiving a mug for correctly guessing that a Babysitter's Club plotline, in which two of the girls were faced with a werewolf that they had to chase down a time portal to Roman times, armed with only an M16, was, in fact, made up by Hamish. Other games were harder. A much larger shipment of Business Brunch pencils was also ordered, for lesser but still notable contributions. If the contribution did not warrant a whole pencil, one might be snapped in half and sent out. A dedicated pencil-based award - 'the puncil of honour' - was given to contributors who sent in amusing puns. In the final episode of the Business Brunch on 21 June 2013, "The Promotion", the remaining mugs were donated to the National Film and Sound Archive in Canberra as part of radio history.
Hamish & Andy's Happy Hour (2013-2014)
The pair announced on 21 June 2013 show that they had been "promoted" to the early drive slot of 3pm to 4pm weekdays. The show was renamed "Happy Hour" and continued the aim of discussing every topic in the world. The move to this slot signaled a hiatus from their weekly 4-6pm drive show. They briefly returned to the drive slot for two weeks in July 2014 to fill in for current drive hosts Dan & Maz during radio survey break.
Some of the old drivetime segments do occasionally feature on Happy Hour, when Hamish & Andy go "off topic". For example, Jazz Chat continues to round the show off every Friday, regardless of the main topic of the day. Listeners contributing to the show via email or phone are now referred to as "Happy Chappy" or "Happy Lassie".
Notable activities
Gold-Coloured Watches
The Happy Hour Gold-Coloured Watch replaced the Business Brunch Mug as the reward for outstanding contributions to the show. 100 watches were ordered, and the first few were pillaged by Hamish, Andy and their team. As well as being issued as rewards for challenges (or blackmail), there were 19 secret ways in which to earn a watch. These included licensing an animated character you designed to the Happy Hour, or being Hamish's newborn son. Receiving a watch was considered rare, but in the extremely unlikely situation that a single listener received three Gold-Coloured Watches, they would receive a Happy Hour Sombrero, the official hat of the Happy Hour. As of May 2014, a total of 20 watches and zero sombreros had been issued.
A batch of 1000 Happy Hour Coasters was also ordered, and these were given away as consolation prizes for contributions not quite worthy of a watch.
In the 2 June 2014 edition of the Happy Hour, it was revealed that a gold-coloured watch had been placed on auction website eBay by its recipient, a listener named James. Hamish & Andy were displeased with this, as it is impossible to assign a value to such a priceless object. In order to prevent an existing watch owner from purchasing an additional watch and getting closer to the coveted Happy Hour sombrero, Hamish & Andy offered to pay James $300 cash to buy back the watch. The watch was deemed cursed and blown up (in a wheel barrow full of watermelons) using explosives. An attempt to record this event in super slow motion, thus justifying the watermelons, was bungled. In spite of this, a largely intact watch was recovered by a listener of the show some time later, at the site of the explosion. Hamish & Andy then speculated that the curse could be broken by cutting the watch into several pieces and separating them forever. These pieces were then shipped to listeners deemed 'remote' enough, to prevent the watch, and hence curse, from ever being reassembled.
Brent the Mixmaster
First featured on the 23 April 2013 edition of the Business Brunch discussing Recipes, Company Man Brent the Mixmaster contacted Hamish & Andy with his own recipe for "Drink X": a soft drink combining one part Vanilla Coke, one part Schweppes Brown Creaming Soda and one part Kirk's Pink Creaming Soda. A sample of the drink was created by Hamish, and was met with rave reviews. Brent's recipes, normally combining existing foods to "make the world a yummier place", continued to be featured regularly on the Happy Hour and he was awarded with a gold-coloured watch for his contributions to the show.
- 9 July 2013: Chocolate - Brent sent in a recipe for an improved version of Kellogg's Coco Pops, with the addition of Big M chocolate-flavoured milk and a light-dusting with a teaspoon of Milo.
- 26 August 2013: Burgers - Hamish & Andy rang Brent to inquire if he had a burger invention. He was invited into the studio to explain and test his recipe for a "Sauce X": a combination of the sweet-and-sour sauces available at KFC, McDonald's and Red Rooster.
- 6 September 2013: Voting - Prime Minister Kevin Rudd brought in a recipe for the ultimate cinema food for judgement by Brent: popcorn and Maltesers mixed into vanilla ice cream.
- 18 October 2013: Brent's Parma - Hamish & Andy dedicated an entire Happy Hour to travelling to an address given to them by Brent (which turned out to be an Indian restaurant) to taste his recipe for a new twist on chicken parmigiana, "Parma X": a chicken schnitzel with butter chicken sauce wrapped in garlic and cheese naan bread (mixed before baking).
- 27 November 2013: Dream Week Wednesday - Brent explained the ingredients of the "Drink Xmas" he agreed to make at the end of year show to be held at Wet'n'Wild Sydney: a mixture of ice, one can of Passito soft drink, one can of Red Bull energy drink and Cottee's apple and raspberry cordial.
Tyreright Book of Records
In late 2013, Hamish & Andy launched their own book of world records to rival the Guinness Book of World Records. The difference with this book is that you don't need anybody to clarify or check your record, you merely need to be the first to post it on the Hamish & Andy website. Labelled the "XXXX Book of Records", Hamish & Andy were open to any sponsor (alcoholic or otherwise) to purchase naming rights to the book. A Tyreright franchisee from Brisbane paid $1200 (to cover the cost of a dinghy to access the People's Island) in early 2014 and thus the book was renamed to reflect its new sponsor.
Timomatic Autograph Business
In 2014, Hamish started selling Timomatic's autograph on the show's website hamishandandy.com and promoting the business on the Hamish & Andy show. Hamish maintained that the autograph on sale had not been personally scribed by Timomatic, but was indeed Timomatic's autograph (the shape and style being the same). A single autograph started at a sale price of $10, but the price went through various 'sale' and 'special promotion' stages. Hamish deemed that though his business amounted to forgery, he was above being 'blown wide open', as it was a 'homage' to Timomatic. Before the Happy Hour ended in 2014, Hamish and Andy had Timomatic as a guest on the show. After testing that Timomatic could sufficiently reproduce the reproduction of his own autograph (albeit not as well), Hamish passed the business on to Timomatic, enabling him to legally sell his own autograph.
Radio Survivor
On 25 July (2013), the topic of the day was Survivor, which among other topics, covered the popular reality game show of the same name. Hamish and Andy chose to play a game of Survivor over the course of a 15-minute radio segment with callers of their show. The "Challenge" were simply arbitrary question (such as "What is your name?" and "what is your job?"). After the challenge, the contestants could strategise for the upcoming Tribal Council vote with the other but only for 10 seconds. At tribal council each contestant will say they vote, with the others on hold to ensure the votes are private. The 5 contestants for this game Josh, Laura, Steph, Nick, Mathew. The game resulted in Nick being voted by the jury to be the winner over Mathew. Later in November, Josh (who was voted out due to a "vote count error") returned to Radio Survivor for Radio Survivor All-Stars with a selection of Australian celebrities, where he won.
Regular segments
Hamish Blows It Wide Open
Hamish finds a cover up, a lie, a half/third/quarter truth, a scam, a cyber troll, a bad apple/orange/pear, a misconception, etc., and "blows it wide open". Famously, Hamish will procrastinate by adding to the list of things he blows wide open. Andy claims this is because all of the "blow wide open"-ees are insignificant. Hamish often describes how he is snowed under with all of the cases he is sent; he nevertheless reassures listeners that if they have any injustices/scandals/crackpots/forgers (unless they're doing an autograph, in which case it can be considered 'homage')/etc. for him to blow open, they should still send them in. Hamish hunts the petty thief/despot/quarter-truth/etc. down using the 'truth eagle', which shines its justice lasers on the relevant deception/scandal/swindler/crony/etc. The truth eagle had its own theme tune, played in the 25 August 2014 episode, which Andy thought was dreadful. The 6 November 2015 episode was completely dedicated to blowing things wide open, allowing Hamish to work through some of his backlog of cases.
Friends Galore
Cackling Jack gives Hamish and Andy the names of two similar sounding people / organisations / brands / television shows / things, and they have to decide who has a greater number of friends on Facebook. If they do not guess at least two out of the three pairs correctly, they must send a Happy Hour Coaster to the show's nemesis, Tony Barber (who stood them up for a song-writing session in late 2013). Having realised that if they lose six times, Barber will have a full set of 6 coasters, Hamish & Andy decided the game would probably be retired after their 5th loss. On 11 August 2014 the Friends Galore iPhone app was released into the Apple App Store by a fan.
Which Star Do You Think You Are?
Hamish and Andy each choose a male and female celebrity, and then call somebody at random to ask which celebrity they think they resemble. Should the caller name one of the celebrities selected by Hamish or Andy, whoever named that celebrity is declared the winner. The loser must get that celebrity on the show before the end of the year.
Winds Of Glory
A segment where Hamish and Andy talk to a listener who has 'let it rip' in a noteworthy place or situation.
Am I Naked?
A segment where Hamish and Andy talk to a listener and guess whether the listener is naked or not.
Jazz Up Your Anecdote
A listener tells a story from their life that has a great start but a mundane ending. Other listeners then offer false but more exciting conclusions to the original anecdote. The owner of the story then chooses their favourite new ending and agrees to change the story to include the new ending and tell it as fact from now on.
The Hamish & Andy Drive Show (2015-2017)
The pair announced on 29 October 2014 that the show would return to the national drive slot (4 - 7pm) on the Hit Network. They also publish a podcast that is a condensed version of their daily show, excluding ads and songs. On 2 December 2016 the pair announced 2017 will be their final year on air. Since the pair's comeback they have had slowing ratings mainly due to the hit network's poor breakfast shows in the Sydney and Brisbane markets. With their main rivals being a Sydney-based show that was formed from Brisbane breakfast, Hamish and Andy needed strong breakfast offerings from the Hit Network to reclaim listeners as they resumed the drive slot. The pair, however, have always held good ratings in the Melbourne market, usually winning ratings and holding a lead over their mainly Sydney based rivals.
Notable activities
Launch Party
Race That Slows Down The Nation
In 2015, Hamish & Andy ran a horse suit race in the country town of Wedderburn, Victoria, on the Monday before the Melbourne Cup. The premise of the race was to slow down the nation safely in preparation for "The race that stops the nation"; Melbourne Cup. The race was originally designed to include horses, but as more and more people started to write to the show asking if they could enter the race in a horse outfit, Hamish & Andy, later changed the rules to be a horse suit only race, including single and double outfitted racers.
An Evening Near Oprah
Corn Water
Hamish, upon noticing the recent popularity of coconut water in early 2016, wanted to enter the flavoured-water market with what he believed would be the next big hit. After logistical difficulties the idea was quickly dropped.
The People's Cruise
Sliding Championship
In late November 2016, Hamish & Andy announced they would be hosting a sliding championship at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre. Five competitors where chosen from five of the Australian states, with the Victorian participant winning.
Coolboys and The Frontman Tour
In late 2015, after a request for Rob Thomas to play live on the show during an interview, was knocked back, due to his backing band not travelling with him. Hamish & Andy were promised by Thomas, that the members of the radio show could perform instead.
Eating The Board
In 2017, Hamish and Andy attempt to eat all of the items on the McDonald's menu "in the name of Fun". After much discussion, the finalised menu involved 22 items - notably the Chicken & Cheese and the McFeast, at Hamish's insistence. The morning of the challenge, Hamish woke up with a case of 'food poisoning' and the challenge was pushed to the next week. 58 minutes into the challenge, while attempting to 'rampage' the rest of his Quarter Pounder, Andy threw up and the challenge was over.
Going Through A Car Wash In A SAAB
In April 2017, Hamish and Andy decide to sell one of their Bitcoins and use the money to buy a convertible to ride through a car wash. After making the purchase, the duo discovered they had lost their login information and were unable to sell the Bitcoin.
Crowd Surfing Show
On Thursday 4 May 2017, Hamish and Andy did their entire 2 hour show while crowd surfing on an inflatable raft. Other notable events from this show include Hamish surfing the crowd on his electronic drum kit similar to Josh Dun, the drummer from Twenty One Pilots; and the boys breaking the world record for the fastest 50 m crowd surf, with Hamish dressed as Jasmine and Andy dressed as Aladdin on a magic carpet.
Operation: Dry Tank
The duo wondered how far it was possible to drive once a car's fuel light claimed to have 0 kilometres left. "The race that stops the car" took place on 7 November 2017, with the results of the experiment airing the next day. After initially thinking they would only be able to drive for 14 kilometres, they managed to drive for nearly 2 hours and 111.9 forbidden kilometres.
Regular segments
Red Jumper, Green Coat
Hamish and Andy compete against each other to call up public venues (such as a pool or a library) to find either a red jumper (Hamish) or a green coat (Andy) in their Lost and Found. The segment was brought back on Thursday 2 November for their 'Throwback Thursday' as a one-off.
Layla's Loot Chute
One of the most highly anticipated segments in recent memory, Hamish designed, and had made for him, the bottom half of a chicken suit. Inside the suit is a pipe with a plunger that an egg is placed and "laid" by Layla. If the perfectly created chicken suit is not enough, there are no losers on Layla's Loot Chute, contestants (one per week) can win a beer or money. Contestants pick a number between one and six, which correlates to the plastic egg that is placed in Layla's chute. The money grows by $1,000 each week if the egg that the contestant picks awards them a beer. As of the conclusion of their drive show 2016 there have been no winners and the jackpot reached $7,000, thanks to Thirsty Camel.
Tell Me Someone I Haven't Thought Of
A listener calls in and says a famous person or character's name that Hamish & Andy have not thought of in a while (generally accepted to be in the last 6 months). If Hamish or Andy has not thought of the person or character then the person wins a hat that has been sent in by various companies around Australia. If the person is not known by either Hamish or Andy, the caller is disqualified.
The Duping Game
A listener calls in and talks briefly about a special item that they are in possession of, Hamish & Andy ask them questions about the item to try to guess if the caller really has the item or is attempting to dupe them. The winners sometimes receive a 6-inch, slight beveled, Hamish and Andy branded ruler.
Upset Andy
First started on Tuesday 5 April 2016, Hamish started a weekly Tuesday segment where listeners call up and explain things that may tickle his buddy Andy, bringing the name to the segment, "Upset Andy". In response to the caller, Andy will explain how much this everyday action upsets him, from 'Not at all' to 'Peri Peri Hot'. This segment often gets the hashtag of #upsetandy trending, in addition the hashtag #fastandloose.
Many things have upset Andy on the show, including:
There has also been numerous that have not upset him, including:
Song To Cram
A listener chooses a topic of which they have extensive knowledge and Hamish and Andy are given however long the next song goes for to learn everything they can about that topic. Once the song is over, the listener asks three questions relating to their speciality topic.
Some of the topics played include;
Hamish & Andy's International Phrase Book
This segment is done upon Hamish & Andy, choosing a category for the day and then callers call in with similar sayings from different countries with there literal translation.
Categories have included:
Album releases
Hamish & Andy have released two ARIA Award-winning double-disc compilation albums, featuring highlights from The Hamish & Andy Show.
Awards & Nominations
Hamish & Andy have won many awards throughout their decorated career.
References
External links
- Official website
- Hamish & Andy podcasts
- Brad Blanks, Hamish & Andy contributor interview
Source of the article : Wikipedia