Holmes - John Clarke

He plays a character very unlike the sort of thing that we've become accustomed to seeing Sam in. The character ... gets in an awful lot of trouble, and is not smooth, is not attractive, is not at ease, and it's very funny. Sam's performance is a beautifully judged bit of comedy, and I think he pulls it off magnificently.

– John Clarke on Sam Neill's role in Australian black comedy Death in Brunswick (1990)

I've been able to sort them out on a number of matters, and I think things are improving in New Zealand now ... yes, they learn very quickly.

– Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating (John Clarke) summarises his 1993 talks with Kiwi Prime Minister Jim Bolger

...in a sense an impression flatters the subject ... what I was interested in was the ideas they're representing, and who's going to be affected by them. So I thought if we stripped it of all — other than ideas — we could actually address the content of what they're saying.

– John Clarke on satirising people without imitating their mannerisms