‘Australians do sound wild’: Iconic Kath & Kim skits find new fans in the US
Source: Most
Two US drag queens have breathed new life into iconic Australian TV series Kath & Kim, after watching a video highlights package with some of the show’s most treasured skits and phrases.
From the clown wigs, lingerie parades and wedding scenes to the “Prue and Trude” moments, drag queens Trixie Mattel and Katya (drag name Yekaterina Petrovna Zamolodchikova) literally fell to the floor in hysterics, grabbing each other in delight at the antics and accents of the suburban Fountain Lakes family.
With 7.1 million subscribers on the Still Watching Netflix‘s YouTube channel, their I Like To Watch episode has so far clocked up 800,000 views in just four days.
Mattel, 35, is one half of the comic duo with Katya, 42, on the YouTube series.
The pair get huge mileage out of watching, reacting and commenting on shows such as Baby Reindeer, A Family Affair (starring Nicole Kidman) and Perfect Match.
For the Kath & Kim package – the show debuted in 2002 – the one-time RuPaul Drag’s Race stars turned global pop culture icons asked “Why is this the best thing on Netflix?”
Their question was quickly answered.
Wearing pink and black outfits and sitting on a studio couch watching a TV, Trixie and Katya admit they’ve never seen the show before, and go ahead and deliver half an hour of jaw-dropping reactions.
“This is unlike anything I’ve ever seen. I can see why it gets compared to The Office, but it’s nothing like it,” Trixie said.
“It’s weirder.
“How did these women think of these characters?”
Katya spends most of her time hitting Trixie in delight with her hands and cushions.
To recap, Kath & Kim follows the day-to-day Australian suburban life of Kath Day-Knight (Jane Turner), her only child Kim (Gina Riley) and Kim’s husband Brett Craig (Peter Rowsthorn).
There’s Kath’s love interest and eventual husband, “purveyor of fine meats” Kel Knight (Glenn Robbins), and long-time family friend Sharon Strzelecki (Magda Szubanski).
The series ran for four seasons from 2002 to 2007, taking home nine awards, including a Logie in 2004 for best light entertainment comedy program.
Trixie and Katya can’t believe what they’re watching, but they’re loving every minute. Photo: Netflix
‘Posh Australian accents’
Turner and Riley also play snobby shop assistants, Prue and Trude, in a pretend Minimax store in Camberwell.
Their accents continue to be mimicked and the drag queens are loving every moment, relieved the package has subtitles.
“Australians, please give me a guide to these posh Australian accents,” asked Trixie.
Among the skits they watch is a homewares scene where Kath (Turner) goes wedding shopping and tells assistant Trude (Riley) that her daughter is separated.
“My daughter’s been married three times. She’s a lesbian now, and she’s getting married to a great honking dyke,” Riley replies.
“Damn,” says Trixie, mouth open admiringly, as Katya loses it and falls to the floor in silent laughter.
“That’s really fierce … [that’s now] my Twitter bio … that’s awesome”.
Then there’s the pre-wedding lingerie parade that they have to rewind, where Kim wears the “Sharon Stone” lingerie set, and Sharon comes out in a Monica Lewinsky number.
“This is magnificent … we’ve got a really great series … so happy we’re watching it in its entirety for the first time,” Trixie added.
So why did the show deliver so much enjoyment?
Melbourne writer for Australian arts and culture magazine, Killyourdarlings, Thomas Vowles, says the queer community embraces the show easily because it “highlights the absurdity of the ordinary”.
“Kath & Kim is camp in the way it highlights the absurdity of the ordinary,” he said.
“In doing so, the show deconstructs the artifice of our lives and exposes the humour of the mundane – a very queer perspective.
“This is at the heart of the show. It’s the essence of its genius.”
He says “everything is a joke, from their voices, their turns of phrase, the way they dress, the joys and sorrows of their lives.
Vowles reminds us of the “You are effluent Kim. You’ve got a Hyundai, a home unit, a DVD player, mobile. What else is there?”
“The show is tongue-in-cheek down to the smallest details,” he said.
For Trixie and Katya, who have a devoted LGBTQ fanbase worldwide, watching Kath & Kim is inspirational.
“I have a wig like hers [Kath], and a tracksuit like that. I wanna wear them together right now … maybe I’ll come [into work] in a Kath look,” Trixie said.
The comedy duo last toured Australia in 2022, and Trixie plans on having the show on repeat in the background at her home.
“We should do Kath & Kim as a thing,” Katya said.