Lano and Woodley Colin Lane (left) and Frank Woodley (right) 

Lano and Woodley (Colin Lane and Frank Woodley) were one of Australia's most successful Australian comedy duos of the 1990s and 2000s. They are also affectionately referred to as 'Col and Frank' or 'The Two Men'. They are perhaps most famous for their stand-up comedy and slapstick theatre, as well as their television show The Adventures of Lano and Woodley, which aired on the ABC network in 1997 and 1999. In 1994 they won the prestigious Edinburgh Fringe Perrier Comedy Award. They have written one book - Housemeeting - published in 1996. Their final show was performed in Melbourne on November 11, 2006.

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The Found Objects

The Found Objects was a comedy trio formed in 1987 by Colin Lane, Frank Woodley & Scott Casley. The group performed at a variety of fringe comedy nights and performed internationally, including at the Edinburgh Festival. Similar to 'Lano and Woodley' the group combined songs, stories and elaborate arguments throughout their act.

The group enjoyed a brief stint doing an evening show on commercial radio in Melbourne for 6 weeks, as well as being offered a pilot for a children's television show (the plans of which fell through). They also became semi regulars on the ABC's comedy show the Big Gig in the early 90s, as well as performing at the Melbourne Comedy Festival Gala.

In 1992, Scott decided to move to Alice Springs and Colin and Frank adopted their nicknames from school (Colin Lane = Lano & Frank Woodley = Woodley) and formed a comedy duo.

Their stage productions include Curtains, Fence, Glitzy, Slick, Bruiser and The Island - all original shows that they wrote and performed themselves.

Lano and Woodley Housemeeting Book Rare Buy Australian Comedy Duo Penguin Andrew Denton Australia

The show follows the adventures of Frank and Colin after a nasty confrontation at the local gym where Frank accidentally is challenged to a fight by the local strongman 'Brusier'. Both Lano and Woodley alternate between playing themselves and the characters Brusier and Juliet (the love interest) throughout the show through the use of costumes (at times forced to play eachother as well).

In 2004 - 2005, the comedy duo took a tour across Australia called The Island. The show was comprised of comedy sketches, songs and interaction with the audience, all based around them being stranded on a desert island. A stand out feature of this performance was that there was only one major prop used: A motorised, revolving platform, which was used as a stairway, aeroplane, palm tree and court room stand. This performance has been released on DVD and is periodically screened on The Comedy Channel (Foxtel).

In February 2006, they announced their final tour entitled Goodbye, after twenty years of performing together. They performed the show in 37 cities and towns across Australia, which premiered at the 2006 Adelaide Fringe Festival in March. The show has been performed at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival in May 2006. On the 6th of May 2006 at one of these sold-out Festival performances, they filmed the show for a DVD. This performance included the first time they've ever wrestled an audience member to the ground. It also saw quite a few fumbles by the pair, because they were unnerved by the different lighting, which allowed the audience to be seen in the DVD. (Usually, the audience is darkened, from the performers' point of view on the stage.) The show featured material from previous shows, and some new material, including faux accusations of why they were breaking up. There last show of there Goodbye tour was performed at the on the November 11 in the Regent Thearte, Melbourne

The real reason, according to Colin Lane (both on stage and appearing on Andrew Denton's Enough Rope interview show), is summed up like this: "Imagine spending 20 years driving in a car with your best friend." They have both stated that they are dissolving Lano & Woodley so that they don't end up hating each other five years down the track. Both have also expressed interest in exploring other careers.

Lano and Woodley Housemeeting Book Rare Buy Australian Comedy Duo Penguin Andrew Denton Australia

In October 2005, they released a CD of songs from many of their performances over the years recorded live (Frank Woodley plays guitar), Lano & Woodley Sing Songs.

Housemeeting

'Housemeeting' by Lano and Woodley was published by Penguin Books in 1996, with illustrations by Frank Woodley and a foreword by Andrew Denton.

The story follows the boys' conversations after Colin announces that after years of living together Frank will have to move out. Throughout the book, Frank makes several desperate attempts to change Colin's mind, but none seem to work.

The story is written in the style of a script, with several chapters covering various subjects (eg: nicknames, cooking, graffiti etc) which the boys discuss (and argue) as Frank prepares to move out. The style in which it is written is very self referential and often breaks the 4th wall by talking directly to the reader, putting in deliberate spelling mistakes and filling pages with dots (or nothing at all).

Since there was a rather small print of the novel finding a copy of it can be difficult for fans. Several regional libraries have had copies stolen, and it is often a rarity to be found on the shelves of second-hand bookstores.

• Lano & Woodley - Good Bye Tour Official Website
• Lano & Woodley Sing Songs - Article in the Sydney Morning Herald
• Lano and Woodley Fan Forum
• Lano and Woodley Fansite

Colin Stuart Lane is an Australian comedian who usually appears alongside Frank Woodley, forming the comedic duo, Lano and Woodley. They have collaborated on many projects, including the humorous song, Toupee.

Mostly they write and perform comedy routines at various shows and comedy festivals, and they also starred in their own TV series, The Adventures Of Lano And Woodley (1997-1999).

Lane also appeared in The Seven Network's short-lived sketch comedy series Let Loose Live (2005). The show only lasted two episodes, received dismal ratings and was widely criticised for being unfunny.

He was in comedian Jimeoin's movie The Extra (2005) and made guest appearances on the TV shows Welcher & Welcher (2003), 10 episodes of Spicks and Specks (2005 and 2006) and Kath & Kim (in 2004).

Colin Lane has performed shows with Frank Woodley in theatres Australia-wide, including the recent The Island. The show received standing ovations from audiences in the world famous Sydney Opera House, an achievement of which both comedians are very proud. Lano and Woodley's other live shows include; Bruiser, Curtains, Fence, Glitzy and Slick, all of which have been performed at numerous venues around Australia.

His last live show as part of Lano and Woodley was on November 11th in his hometown, Melbourne. The perfomance was part of their 'Goodbye' tour.

Frank Woodley (born Frank Wood) is an Australian comedian who is notable for appearing alongside Colin Lane, forming the comedic duo, Lano and Woodley. They mostly performed comedy routines at various shows and comedy festivals, and also starred in their own TV series, The Adventures of Lano and Woodley.

In recent years Woodley has performed his own stand-up comedy shows while remaining part of the double-act.

In 2005, Frank Woodley and Colin Lane released their debut album, a live recording called Lano & Woodley Sing Songs . Lano and Woodley play on the notion that the CD audience can not see the action that is taking place, and have to curb their visual performance.

Frank is a talented musician, artist, comedian and acrobat. All four virtues appear in his works with guitar playing and singing in the album Sing Songs, drawings on Lano and Woodley's book Housemeeting, acrobatics in the TV production The Adventures of Lano and Woodley, as well as comedical talents in all of the above works.

The two also released the album, Lano & Woodley Sing Songs which included such humurous tracks as Toupee

Lano and Woodley Housemeeting Book Rare Buy Australian Comedy Duo Penguin Andrew Denton Australia

Frank Woodley has appeared on several shows such as The Adventures of Lano and Woodley, Rove Live, Thank God You're Here, Spicks and Specks and Enough Rope with Andrew Denton. He also hosted a documentary about birds entitled "A Year On the Wing".

In the mid-eighties Frank performed as part of a comedy trio named The Found Objects. Most of their work was stand-up comedy for various comedy festivals around Australia and then the world. They were picked up by ABC-TV's The Big Gig, which gave them the exposure that also boosted the careers of Paul McDermott and Tim Ferguson (Doug Anthony All Stars), Glynn Nicholas, Jean Kittson, Wendy Harmer, Jimeoin, Judith Lucy and acts like the Tapdogs and Umbilical Brothers.

In 1992, the third member of the group, Scott Casley, made a decision to move to Alice Springs. After valiantly attempting to keep the rehearsals going, the group acknowledged that the distance made life too difficult, and they parted ways. Frank and Colin renamed themselves Lano & Woodley and continued their comedy work as a duo.

Lano and Woodley Housemeeting Book Rare Buy Australian Comedy Duo Penguin Andrew Denton Australia

In their television series, on stage and variously where ever else they perform, Woodley acts to appear stupider than Lano (or "Col" as Woodley calls him for short) and is bullied and hit frequently by Lano with blunt instruments. In the episode "I Love You Baby" (part I), Lano explains to Woodley the definition of a non-existent word "painfullier" in this way:

Lano-"The first man hits the other man painfully-" (smacks Woodley in the face) "-the first man then hits the other man again...this time more painfullier." (smacks Woodley over the head with a frying pan).

Examples of stupid quotes or announcements from Woodley, demonstrating his acting low intelligence in the T.V series include:

• "C'mon Col. You're making a mountain out of a... very big hill."
• "Sticks and stones will break my bones, but names will... only cause permanent psychological damage."
• "You're a caesarean? Really? What part of caesarea are you from?"

The Island

In 2004 - 2005 Lano and Woodley performed a comedy show tour across Australia called The Island. The show comprised of comedy sketches, songs and interaction with the audience, all based around them being stranded on a desert island. A stand out feature of this performance was that there was only one major prop used: A motorised, revolving platform, which was used as a stairway, aeroplane, palm tree and court room stand.

• "I hate it when I get food in my sand!"
• "This sand is really crunchy...and did you know Thorpey says it's fully sick?"
• "We're gonna die to death!"
• "Ol' King Col - what a massive arsehole!"
• "I can feel it in my bodice!"
• "Where lowest prices are just the beginning but unfortunatly nutritional value isn't the ending" (Talking about Bunnings shadecloth)
• "The Cave of Hurtiness."

More recently, Frank Woodley has regularly appeared on Thank God You're Here , a comedy improvisation show where the improviser walks through a door into an unknown world. Woodley seems at ease with the daunting flow of the program, and often intimidates the prepared actors themselves by taking control of the scene.

Recently in 2006, Frank Woodley appeared on "Australia's Brainiest Comedian", a quiz show hosted by Sandra Sully. Woodley was defeated by fellow comedian Peter Helliar.

Lano and Woodley wrote and performed a stage show called "Bruiser". The main plot of this play revolved around Frank and Col being upset about being scrawny and weak.

They ended up going to a gym when Frank questioned, "What's a 'Giem', Col?"

The other main character is Bruiser himself, a very bulky person who looks like he has been working out for years on end. Bruiser was played by both Col and Frank, and they would continue swapping roles throughout the show to include girlfriends, and even each other.

• "I hate those flaps under your arms, Bruiser."
• "What the hell are you lifting?" / "Marshmallows, Col."
• "Oi, you - wipe my arse."
• "Oi. You, me, roun' the back now."
• "I don't like your hair, buddy."
• "I lifted 500 kilos. Pfffffff."