Peter Player pipped the pack of pencilled parodists … when his single-gag cartoon ‘Warm Up’ won the Rotary Cartoon Awards’ 2023 Cartoon of the Year.
…A serious streaker at a Richmond Tigers game – ever the consummate professional – partakes in a stretch or two before his performance. The crowd goes wild as he bends over to touch his toes – absolutely starkers…
The Armadale cartoonist was delighted when his entry took out the Sports Category at the awards ceremony at the National Cartoon Gallery in Coffs Harbour last November. But it was a particular treat to be given the top gong, from over 200 entries.
“I was rapt. It was so good to have a single gag win cartoon of the year. Single-panel gags are a dying thing these days.
“And a bare bum won it. It’s voted by the public, so I guess it’s good to see that people still want that larrikin humour,” Peter said.
Peter Player has always gone through life with a twinkle in his eye – he was on intimate terms with the school cane.
And he counts the late laconic-humoured legend Bill Mitchell as one of his idols, learning to emulate his line work as a young gun.
He also famously got sued by Mr Squiggle when he drew the beloved childhood puppet in bed with Miss Squiggle and holding up a pencil complete with eraser, under the punch line: “Don’t worry darl, I’ve got a rubber”.
The case was settled out of court for $500.
“I was quite chuffed, really – it got a lot of national publicity,” he said.
“I tend to like it when people get offended. Some people get offended by such silly things. And it’s nice to make them huff and puff a bit.”
Peter knew he wanted to be a cartoonist from pretty early on.
“I was keen on drawing, and I read somewhere that cartoonists make a lot of money – someone obviously lied to me there,” he said, his mouth tugging upwards at one corner.
The local priest was hell-bent on ushering him into a ‘sensible’ occupation as a steel worker, which he moonlighted as whilst firing off cartoons to newspapers and magazines all over the country.
He got his first job with Rugby League Weekly, and had stints with the Courier Mail, Sydney Telegraph and the Herald Sun.
“But they all dropped their cartoons in quick succession in the early eighties, so I gave up and went to the army,” he said.
He couldn’t quite get the itch out of his system though, and he was back on the lead after his term was up.
“I enjoy the writing process more than anything else – it’s an escape. Drawing becomes second nature – just you and your tool,” Peter said.
He was snapped up by Melbourne tabloid newspaper The Truth, where he enjoyed a 20-year career.
He had quite a bit published in the Australasian Post and his work has also been featured internationally in the likes of Penthouse, Dandy and Beano.
He’s not a stranger to awards either.
Peter Player is a five-times winner of the single-gag Stanley – the Australian Cartoonists’ Association annual awards.
And he’s also previously won the Sports Category of the Rotary Cartoon Awards.
But this win comes with a side of poignancy – with the National Cartoon Gallery closing its doors for the last time a couple of weeks ago, Peter might be the last person to receive the honour.
And the industry is in flux; the digital revolution is heralding the end of hand-drawn panels and the days when the pen (or pencil) was mightier than the sword.
“Most of my mates do computerised work – they call me a bit of a dinosaur,” Peter said.
“But drawing with a pen on a screen just doesn’t do it for me. I love the feel of line work.”
Peter is intent on passing on the craft to younger generations at Armadale art studio/bar Creative Soul Sessions, which he runs with his partner in life and crime, Sandy De Luca.
“Kids are some of the funniest people I’ve ever met,” he said.
“And I just enjoy giving back.
“I’m never gonna change the world – but at least I can make them laugh.”
