This Text Is a Radio Chat Interview Between Rugby Player Nick Cummins and Radio Presenters Will and Woody on Kiss FM’S ‘Will and Woody Drive Home Show’
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This text is a radio chat interview between rugby player Nick Cummins and radio presenters Will and Woody on Kiss FM’s ‘Will and Woody Drive Home Show’. The interview takes place the night before the 2018 season premiere of The Bachelor, a reality television dating show in which Cummins will star. The spoken interview is highly informal, with Will and Woody asking Cummins questions about the show primarily to entertain the listeners of the show and Cummins’ fans, but also to share some of Cummins’ insider information before the season commences. The context surrounding the Australian interview is made clear through a variety of linguistic features. Firstly, the phrase “in the studio” (1, 10) is repeated, first by Will and then by Woody, which helps to reinforce the idea that Will, Woody and Cummins are all together at the KISS headquarters, giving further context behind the conversation for any new listeners so that they can better understand what’s happening. The question and answer format, seen by the hosts’ questions including “you said no?” (13) and Cummins’ responses in turn such as “yeah..shit yeah” (14) also increase the coherence by adhering to the expectations of the interview, so that the listeners can focus on enjoying the show. The television name “the Honey Badger” (1) and the stressed noun phrase “The Bachelor” (10), both referring to Cummins, emphasise his new role as star of the television show, reminding listeners both of the context to the interview but also showing that it is impressive for KISS to have such an important figure as a guest on their radio show. Additionally, The Bachelor and KISS both share factors that distinguish them as very Australian, which also goes for their audiences. To abide with this context, Cummins and the hosts use the common Australian address term “mate” (2, 3, 49, 52) throughout the interview. This lexeme appeals to each other’s positive face needs and creates a friendly and relaxed tone, which also helps Woody to ask some rather difficult questions such as “have you found love, mate?” (52). Questions such as these are important for the show so that Cummins shares as much sought-after gossip as possible in front of the listeners, to make it more interesting and therefore successful. The primary social purpose of the text, which is to provide entertainment to the listeners of the KISS radio show, is highlighted by numerous devices used by all three speakers. Playful language is used throughout the interview, such the alliteration in the noun phrase “bloody bush” (17). This, coupled with Australian-specific lexemes such as “swag” (17) and the repetition of the mild profanity “bloody” (17, 25, 36), form a humorous conversation because all three people, especially Cummins, are playing up to the ‘Aussie bogan’ stereotype. Although it is partly their natural character, this stereotype is often mocked and seen as something that can be laughed at so it is no exception in this instance. In addition, the irony shown by Will with his sentence “mate, that’s deep” (74), poking fun of Nick’s avoidance of the question about love on the show, is again humorous because as Will said earlier, the reply could almost be “straight from the script” (70) and is not deep on a philosophical level at all. Finally, there is hyperbole in Cummins’ “the publicists behind me are bloody eyeballin’ me” (57). Although he speaks as though journalists are standing right behind him and tracking his every move, that is not quite true since Cummins is in the studio with the two hosts. However, there is an almost sad but amusing truth that anything he says could end up in the news the next day because of his status as a celebrity, and this inference is likely to be understood by the majority of his audience. The register of the interview is extremely informal, which is demonstrated by all three speakers. The non-standard subject-verb agreement in Cummins’ “the brothers an’ me dad was like” (32) is one example of the casual nature of the interview and again fills a part of the Aussie bogan stereotype that Cummins is living up to. Other common features, including further mild profanity with “shit” (14) and the slang lexeme “geez” (11), also add to the informal register, which is suitable for a piece which speaks of usually comedic subjects such as reality television shows. Furthermore, pauses such as “they came back, an…” (20) and pause fillers such as “um” (40) show the spontaneity of the conversation and the lack of a strict script. Along with assimilation of “didja” (13) and “wanna” (28), and reductions in “em” (34) and “coz” (50), these non-fluency features provide yet again a casual environment suitable for entertainment. Finally, the continual overlapping between interlocuters, and the bursts of laughter, seen for example in “[what ideas-]” (68) and “[@@@]” (69), create an appearance of close relationships between the two hosts and the guest, even though they are likely just-met acquaintances. This again allows for more intimate matter to be discussed and in a more carefree manner. .