Adelaide Fringe

Interview: Michael Shafar

All aboard your magic carpets! Michael Shafar is flying into this year’s Adelaide Fringe with a brand new show, The Return Of Shafar. However, there isn’t a magic lamp in sight.

I was able to catch up with Michael recently about his upcoming Adelaide performances. I was keen to know how he’s been coping with the constantly changing environment around performing, especially considering that he’s had a trip to Perth for performances cancelled for the fifth time in a row!

“It’s been really frustrating, especially with WA. I’ve attempted to cross their borders five times now to do a show. I guess I’ve just now accepted the uncertainty around traveling and touring. I view it as it will eventually even out. I may be overly optimistic, but that’s how I feel – everything will just even out over time.”

Avid fans of Shafar and those who follow him on social media know how pro-vax he is, and if the opportunity arises to crack a joke at the expense of anti-vaxxers, he’s first in line.

“I’ve upset enough anti-vaxxers on TikTok to generate a good following. I’m still immunocompromised from my cancer treatment 12 months ago, so getting everyone vaccinated and boosted is very important for me and other people who are in similar situations. That’s my perspective on things, and it tends to clash with people who get their information from Facebook groups. I’m very unapologetic about my view and attitudes towards it all.”

Recently, Michael discovered he became the topic of a fake-news story in China.

“A lot of people don’t believe this when I tell them I became a victim of a fake news story out of China. I made a joke about an anti-vaxxer from Melbourne who was selling a prosthetic arm on Facebook. It was basically an arm you could attach to yourself and go to a vaccination clinic and the fake arm would be injected instead of you. I posted a joke about it on TikTok without thinking too much about it. Two days later a friend of mine, who is Chinese, contacted me to let me know I was going viral in China. On the Chinese social media app WeChat, there was an article about me that was circulating. There were photos of me and screen shots of my TikTok video. In the article they were saying that ‘internet celebrity Michael Shafar’ is selling prosthetic arms on Facebook. The story was completely made up – it said that I show people how to put the arm on and that I had managed to sell heaps of them to people who don’t want to get vaccinated. It’s pretty funny because I have been used like propaganda by the Chinese Government because they want to get everyone vaccinated. So, the whole article is very much ‘look at this idiot, let’s all attack him’. I’m happy to be a martyr for the vaccination cause in China!”

Michael’s new show, The Return Of Shafar, is right up there with one of the best pun show names at this year’s Adelaide Fringe.

“I’m really thrilled with the title. My only concern with it is people now think my name rhymes with Jafar, rather than with an ER sound at the end. I’ve probably set off all this confusion, but the pun of the show title is totally worth it.”

In the past, Michael’s shows have been very personal, but this show promises to have a very different outlook.

“This show is a bit less personal than some of my past stand-up shows. I’ve been in lockdown so long I haven’t gotten that many exciting experiences to share this year, so it’s a lot more outward. I have a lot of social commentary in the show and political viewpoints. It’s a lot more of me talking about the world and the society that we are in. It is, however, all through my weird perspective on things.

“If you’re an anti-vaxxer, don’t come – you will have a terrible time because I do mock them relentlessly in the show. I love talking about cancel culture and the extremes on the left and right. I live in this interesting bubble where a lot of my comedian friends are quite left wing and then I’ve got a lot of family friends who are very right winged and conservative. I get to experience the insanity of both of those worlds and make fun of both extremes in the show.

“I’ll be back at the Piglet this year, which is an outdoor venue in Gluttony, so audiences can spread out a bit if they want to.”

Michael Shafar’s The Return Of Shafar’will be performed at The Piglet in Gluttony from Tuesday 1 March – Sunday 6 March (times vary). Tickets available through FringeTix or at https://adelaidefringe.com.au/fringetix/abbasolutely-fabulous-af2022 .

Interview by Ben Stefanoff

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