John Shortis (born 1948 in Earlwood, New South Wales) is a satirist, singer, songwriter, composer, social historian, and political commentator.
Moya Simpson (born 1948 in Twickenham, England) is a singer and actor (using multiple voices and accents), and choir director.
[1][2] This led to a series of performances at the School of Arts Café in Queanbeyan on invitation from producer Bill Stephens and sparked the development of Shortis and Simpson as a comedy cabaret act.
[3][4] Shortis and Simpson develop shows to herald the annual release of cabinet papers[5] from the National of Archives of Australia (ABC Interview).
World Music, especially Eastern European influence, is heard in their choirs and shows such as Good Evening Europe: The Untold story of Eurovision.
Shortis and Simpson performed the album at the Sydney Opera House with Blair Greenberg, Jeannie Lewis, and Margret RoadKnight.
Shortis and Simpson were awarded another Canberra Critics Circle Award in 2010 for Tin Pan Aussie [2], a tale told in the music of a young nation forging a new federal political system, finding its identity in a world coping with the pressures of the Depression and two world wars, and grappling with its acceptance of its Indigenous people.
Shortis was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in the 2017 Queen's Birthday Honours for "service to the performing arts as an entertainer.
It ranges from Marie Lloyd through Gracie Fields and Vera Lynn to Celia Black... [and] tries to get across the spirit of those women, combining songs and anecdotes rather than simply be an impersonation.
"[27] Simpson directs choirs, leads singing workshops for all ages and abilities, and performs solo as both a singer and actor.
Simpson directs Worldly Goods performances at festivals, in large community arts projects, at national institutions, conferences, and official dinners and at their own concerts.
Her one-woman show in 1991 and 2001 called Close Your Eyes and Think of England was sung in the style and accents of Cilla Black, Marie Lloyd, Gracie Fields, Petula Clark, Sandie Shaw and Vera Lynn.
"[31] Simpson acted the part of a corrupt and frisky male Russian bureaucrat in 2012 in Jim McGrath's adaptation of Heart of a Dog.
[32] She acted in Catalogue of Dreams in 2013, an Urban Theatre production about experiences of foster care and homelessness with particular reference to Indigenous children.