Jordan Shanks, a.k.a. friendlyjordies, is a master at creating impersonations of political and public figures that are so over-the-top that somehow they seem way too real.
For the uninitiated, he pretty much does the extreme opposite of how John Clarke and Brian Dawe do impersonations. Tony Abbott as a half-naked guy wearing box gloves, Jacqui Lambie as a woman with “two ashtrays for a mouth”, and Malcolm Turnbull is, as Shanks himself puts it; “A 1700s FOB (Fresh Off Boat)”.
Over the years, friendlyjordies has created videos addressing schoolies, Stereosonic, Tony Abbott, lockout laws, and more. Now he’s turned his attention on PM Malcolm Turnbull’s proposed interns scheme – a move that he’s likened to something that insane Roman emperor Caligula may have done. But as he points out, at least Caligula “gave out the dole”.
Among other highlights, his Mathias Cormann impression is so on point, as is the development of his Malcolm Turnbull character. He goes on to angrily address Turnbull’s creation of a class of “slave” intern workers who will be paid just $4 an hour, and which businesses will get subsidised by tax payers to take on.
In peak rant, Shanks proclaims: “If any business owner in the country wasn’t going to take full advantage of this middle-class-killing, economy destroying corporate welfare sham of a handout – it would be me… And still, I’m taking that up, I’m not made of stone, they just offered us slaves!”
Check out the full video below.
