Tanya Hennessy will be dialling up the fun in her new Nova Podcast Hennessy’s Hotline. Handing the reins to listeners, Hennessy will dive head first into the craziest real-life stories on Hennessy’s Hotline, which launched on February 3rd.
Mediaweek spoke to Hennessy about launching the new podcast and the draw of regular people and their stories. The first part of this interview can be read here.
Picking Up The Phone
When it comes to choosing what topics to ask listeners about, Hennessy says inspiration comes from everywhere.
“The content comes from the news, or it might come from something I’ve seen, or sometimes I’m just going to throw out what I would like to hear about in genuine curiosity,” she says.
“If it’s news based, maybe a comedian was heckled so we might ask what happened at a live show? People call in and say like, oh, you know, I was at a live show and one of the drag queens was a doctor. He saw someone having a heart attack in the third row, ran off stage in full drag and gave CPR, called the ambulance, then finished the performance. You just can’t get those stories all the time! People are amazing, people’s lives are amazing, people’s stories are amazing.”
Not only do the topics come from anywhere and everywhere, but Hennessy says that callers do as well.
“I thought I’d get heaps of female callers because my audience is female, but a lot of them are truckies and stuff. I’m like, where did these people find this number? Then you get people calling from Ireland, and a lot of international callers as well as Nova’s following. It’s really kind of surprising how much people want to engage and we don’t usually let them.”
No matter where they’re calling from through, Hennessy is glad they’ve dialled in.
“It’s really cool to hear other people on a podcast, because normally it’s just the talent talking. This is like handing the keys back to the people, and I’m just so much more interested in normal people than myself!”
Working Unscripted
A podcast like Hennessy’s Hotline isn’t the short of show that can be scripted from top to bottom. For Hennessy, the fact that she never quite knows what will happened next is all part of the fun
“My best skill is improv. I’ve been trying to get a TV show up for a long time, it’s really hard to get people to invest in improvised comedy – it’s easy to tick off a television show that’s scripted, because you can see where it’s going. If you don’t know where it’s going, you really have to trust the talent. It’s hard for people to trust talent doing crazy things.
“Someone calling up and just throwing a spanner in what you were talking about is really great and exciting, and it’s the fun of this kind of content. What is this person going to say? How exciting not to know.”
Looking Ahead
Ultimately, Hennessy hopes that Hennessy’s Hotline will bring a welcome reprieve from the usual water cooler conversations.
“Truth is stranger than fiction – everyone is going through a weird life, and joy should be at the centre of it. Sometimes the stories won’t be super funny, they’ll be hard, but how interesting to learn about other people’s lives.
“It’s good for people who want 20 minutes of escapism. You can get to work or wherever you’re going, and go ‘fuck, I just heard this podcast about what happens when you die, and this woman saw this.’ You know, just start conversations and dialogue about more interesting things in the weather or Coronavirus.”