Glenn Butcher Angela Moore Russell Cheek Warren Coleman Rodney Cambridge Penny Biggins Kathy Bluff Maynard Peter Mahony Mikey Robbins The Castanet Club was an Australian cabaret collective from Newcastle Australia which spawned several well known media personalities.
As the Castanet Club grew more successful, they toured nationally, including a sell-out season at the 1984 Adelaide Festival where they won the "Best of the Fringe" award against approximately 300 other performers from around the country.
[2] About 1985 the band permanently relocated to Sydney where they enjoyed runs at the Sydney Trade Union Club's cabaret space "The Gap"[3] and popular comedy venue, the Harold Park Hotel, they adopted a theatrical mode, performing seasons at Belvoir Street Theatre as well as reviving the bus-based mobile Safari shows.
The Castanet Club went on to play London and the Edinburgh Fringe, where audiences and critics responded well: "They were an hilarious kaleidoscope of colour, music, movement, satire and goodwill.
Several Castanets went on to entertainment careers in the Australian media: Maynard and Mikey Robbins became breakfast presenters at Radio station triple j, Steve Abbott evolved his Johnny Goodman character into the Sandman who was on Australian radio and television through the nineties, spawning books, albums and a very successful t-shirt, Glen Butcher joined popular ensemble sketch comedy show Full Frontal and Angela Moore became a much loved Play School presenter [7] [8] Two Castanets, Warren Coleman and Russell Cheek, each separately won the television quiz show Sale of the Century.