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Billy Birmingham (born 1953) is an Australian humourist and sometime sports journalist, most noted for his parodies of Australian cricket commentary in recordings under The Twelfth Man name. [1]
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Billy Birmingham (born 1953) is an Australian humourist and sometime sports journalist, most noted for his parodies of Australian cricket commentary in recordings under The Twelfth Man name. [1]
He wrote the pun-laden comedy hit "Australiana", which was made famous by performer Austen Tayshus and reached No. 1, ultimately becoming the most successful single on the Australian charts in 1983.
In 1984 he released his first record as The Twelfth Man, titled "It's Just Not Cricket". This went on to become his most successful series of recordings, with eight albums being released between 1987 and 2006. The premise involved Birmingham impersonating and satirising the Channel Nine cricket commentary team, particularly Richie Benaud, Bill Lawry and Tony Greig.
During the Sydney 2000 Olympics, Birmingham also recorded a series of mock-commentaries on Olympic events as the Wired World of Sports, featuring such characters as the American track-and-field representative "Chuck DeWobblee" ("chucked a wobbly" – meaning to throw a tantrum) and the Ukrainian pole-vaulter "Olga Bedjanodgonnagedova" ("bet you're not gonna get over"), while also releasing the single under the 12th Man name, "Bruce 2000", featuring an impersonation of famed commentator Bruce McAvaney during the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.
Birmingham has commented on his relationship with Richie Benaud, stating that he was kind when meeting with him, but a problem he had with his albums was the amount of obscenities he used when impersonating him, and that he thought it didn't reflect him personally. [2] He has also stated that his favourite person to impersonate was Richie Benaud, as well as stating that over the years that things associated with the 12th Man have become conflated with Richie Benaud. [3] Specifically, the 12th Man's interpretation of Benaud's Two for twenty two phrase, saying that Benaud never said that—apart from when it was the score.
In 1997, Birmingham joined as a regular guest on the panel discussion show The Back Page , alongside host Mike Gibson. [4] Ironically, Gibson was sent up by Birmingham in 1987 on his Twelfth Man album Wired World of Sports .
Birmingham is famous for being able to find humour amid the hyperbole of world sport. Following Michael Clarke's debut innings of 151 against India in 2004, there was considerable praise for him – including comments that the young man was the new Donald Bradman and that he should captain Australia. Birmingham announced on The Back Page that he was going to nominate Clarke for Australian of the Year: "He's just that good."
A skilled impersonator, Birmingham is also used on the show as a means of interviewing a sporting celebrity who is otherwise unavailable. His impression of Australian rugby union coach Eddie Jones following the decision to award a Super Rugby franchise to Perth was a prime example of this, even to the point that another panelist held Birmingham's left eyebrow in place in order to have him look like the man he was pretending to be. At one point, Birmingham even began an impression of Gibson, which he quickly ceased performing, upon deciding (tongue-in-cheek) that it might endanger his career. He also is well known for spontaneously impersonating Richie Benaud during discussions about cricket, having once said during a debate about Twenty20 cricket, "Why not twenty-two overs for the two sides?" (taking advantage of Benaud's characteristic pronunciation of the letters T and S). In the lead-up to the Melbourne Cup, Birmingham also frequently adopts the distinctive high-pitched voice of a jockey.
Birmingham is also known for his ability to cover up any ignorance he might have of players' names by creating new ones in keeping with the country in question. For example, a discussion about the New Zealand national rugby league team collapsed into laughter when Birmingham praised, among others, the performance of "the centre, Waisiwerina Silitupe" ("Why's he wearing a silly toupee?").
In December 2012, Birmingham quit the show soon after Mike Gibson's departure, with the incumbents on the show being Matt Shirvington and Tony Squires.
Birmingham has also used his impersonation skills on advertisements for KFC, which appeared on Channel Nine's cricket coverage in the summer of 2002/03.
He has also worked on Sydney radio station 2GB 873 alongside Andrew Moore and fellow long-time The Back Page panelist Mike Gibson.
Richard Benaud was an Australian cricketer who played for New South Wales and Australia. Following his retirement from international cricket in 1964, Benaud became a highly regarded commentator on the game.
The Twelfth Man is the name for a series of comedy productions by Australian satirist Billy Birmingham. Birmingham, a skilled impersonator, is generally known for parodying Australian sports commentators' voices. As befits the name, Birmingham focused in particular on cricket commentators such as Richie Benaud, Bill Lawry, Ian Chappell and Tony Greig. This is also because many of Australia's cricket commentators have distinctive and easily identifiable voices and accents.
Nine's Wide World of Sports is a long running sports anthology brand on Australian television that airs on the Nine Network and streaming service Stan. All major sports, events and series covered by the network are broadcast under this brand, the flagship sports being rugby league, rugby union and Grand Slam tennis. Previous sporting rights include the Australian rules football, Australian Cricket Team home season, spring and autumn horse racing, swimming until 2008, and golf since 2018.
Darrell Eastlake was an Australian radio and television presenter, commentator and sports journalist, best known for his long association with the Nine Network. Prior to his media career, Eastlake worked as a Qantas baggage handler, before making surfboards and running a surf shop. His career in broadcasting began in the 1960s when he gave surf reports on Sydney radio station 2UW.
James Edward Maxwell AM is a sports commentator with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation best known for covering cricket.
Ken Sutcliffe is an Australian sporting journalist and radio and television personality.
Wide World of Sports is an Australian sports television program. It was broadcast on the Nine Network.
Boned! is the seventh and final album released by The Twelfth Man. Boned! was released on 2 December 2006 it reached number one on the ARIA Album Charts for one week in December 2006.
The Final Dig? is the sixth album released by The Twelfth Man, released on 3 December 2001 by EMI Music, the album peaked at number one on the Australian ARIA Chart for five-week between December 2001 and January 2002.
"It's Just Not Cricket" is the debut single of The Twelfth Man, a series of comedy productions by skilled impersonator Billy Birmingham. The single topping the charts for three weeks in June 1984, and was the second highest selling single in Australia in 1984 behind "Dancing in the Dark" by Bruce Springsteen. The piece is centered around fictitious commentary of a match between Australia and Pakistan.
Still the 12th Man is the third album released by The Twelfth Man. Released in December 1992, the album reached number one on the ARIA Charts in January 1993.
The Primary Club of Australia Inc. is a registered charity founded in 1974 by a group of cricket lovers whose fundamental aim was to give those with disabilities the opportunity to engage in physical activity. A similar charity, "The Primary Club" was established over fifty years ago in England, where a "primary" is a first ball dismissal in cricket. In Australia a primary is called a "golden duck", as depicted on their logo.
Wired World of Sports is the debut album released by The Twelfth Man. Released in 1987, it reached number one on the Kent Music Report in February 1988.
The Back Page, also known as Back Page Live, is an Australian sports television show currently broadcast on Fox Sports on Tuesday nights. It is hosted by Tony Squires, with a roster of panelists including retired Australian professional ironwoman Candice Warner, cricket writer Robert 'Crash' Craddock, broadcaster Ryan Fitzgerald and former Australian cricketer Kerry O'Keeffe.
Mike Gibson, often also known by the nickname "Gibbo", was an Australian sports journalist, columnist, commentator, and radio and television presenter.
"Marvellous!" is a single by The Twelfth Man, a series of comedy productions by skilled impersonator Billy Birmingham. The single peaked at No. 1 on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart in April 1992. In response to the single's release, Richie Benaud tried replacing his titular catchphrase, which the song is themed around with "glorious!". However, this did not stop it from reaching number one.
"Bruce 2000" is a single by The Twelfth Man, a series of comedy productions by skilled impersonator Billy Birmingham. The single is a satirical commentary on Australian sports commentator Bruce McAvaney. The song was released in December 2000 peaked at number 5 on the ARIA Charts.
The Box Set is a box set containing all 7 albums by The Twelfth Man, a comedy project by Australian satirist Billy Birmingham. The set was released in November 2009 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the first Twelfth Man release. The set peaked at number 17 on the ARIA Charts.
The Very Best of Richie is the second compilation album released by The Twelfth Man and was released in November 2015. Billy Birmingham says The Very Best of Richie is a tribute to Richie Benaud "the greatest commentator of them all" who died in April 2015.
Ian John Heads is an Australian historian, journalist, commentator and author. He is described as "Australia's foremost rugby league historian" by the National Museum of Australia.
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