This Australian media personality is not to be confused with the American author Jonathan Safran Foer. Jonathan Safran Foer This American author is not to be confused with the Australian media personality John Safran. ...

John Safran

Born:	1972 Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Occupation:	Documentarian Comedian Radio presenter
Website:	JohnSafran.com

John Safran (born 1972) is an Australian documentarian and media personality, well known for pranks and indelicate handling of controversial issues. He was born in Melbourne, Victoria, to a Jewish family. He is known for his outlandish stunts such as rummaging through Australian television personality Ray Martin's rubbish in John Safran: Media Tycoon (an early pilot for a TV series), placing a temporary fatwa on the life of Rove McManus, and sneaking nine young men into an exclusive Melbourne nightclub by disguising them as members of American metal band, Slipknot. Image File history File links John Safran File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... 1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year starting on Saturday. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Australia. ... The City of Melbournes coat of arms The central business district of Melbourne, viewed from the north Alternate meanings: Melbourne (disambiguation) Melbourne is the capital and largest city of the state of Victoria, and the second largest city in Australia, with a population of 52,117 in the Central... A documentary is a work in a visual or auditory medium presenting political, scientific, social, or historical subjects in a factual and informative manner. ... A comedian, or comic, is an entertainer who amuses an audience by making them laugh. ... A radio presenter is a broadcaster who hosts a radio show or a segment thereof. ... 1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year starting on Saturday. ... Documentary film is a broad category of visual expression that is based on the attempt, in one fashion or another, to document reality. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... A controversy is a contentious dispute, a disagreement over which parties are actively arguing. ... Melbournes CBD has grown to straddle the Yarra River in three major precincts. ... Motto: Peace and Prosperity Other Australian states and territories Capital Melbourne Governor HE Mr John Landy Premier Steve Bracks (ALP) Area 237,629 km² (6th)  - Land 227,416 km²  - Water 10,213 km² (4. ... Judaism is the religion of the Jewish people. ... Ray Martin (born 20 December 1944, in Richmond, New South Wales) is the Australian Nine Networks Senior Correspondent. ... A fatwa (Arabic: ‎; plural fatāwa), is a legal pronouncement in Islam made by a mufti, a scholar capable of issuing judgments on Sharia (Islamic law). ... John Rove McManus, born 21 January 1974, is an Australian variety show host, comedian and owner of the production company Roving Enterprises. ... Melbournes CBD has grown to straddle the Yarra River in three major precincts. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Slipknot (sometimes written SlipKnoT) is a nine-piece musical group from Des Moines, Iowa, formed in 1995 and currently signed to Roadrunner Records. ...

Early life

After attending a secular state primary school, John was sent to Yeshivah College, a Chabad-run and strictly religious Jewish high school in Melbourne. Yeshivah College is a Jewish school on Hotham Street in Melbourne, Australia run by the Chabad-Lubavitch movements Yeshivah Centre. ... Chabad Lubavitch, or Lubavich, is one of the largest branch of Hasidic Judaism founded by Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi . ...

In Year 12, he formed the hip-hop group Raspberry Cordial with his friend Chris Lumsden. They played to some success, receiving high rotation airplay on the city's community radio, playing many gigs in Melbourne, and coming second in the RMIT Battle of the Bands competition. Their debut album was Melbourne Tram, of which John apparently has hundreds of unsold cassettes in his bedroom to this day. Raspberry Cordial were a seminal hip-hop group from Melbourne, Australia, made up of John Safran (vocals) and Chris Lumsden (keyboards). ...

After winning a government youth music initiative, they followed up with Taste Test, of which 500 copies were pressed. Of those, only 93 sold, so the remaining 407 had to be crushed. A song from "Taste Test", University Elevator Music, is legally downloadable from the Triple J website. Interviewed on Andrew Denton's Enough Rope show in 2003, he said that Raspberry Cordial "broke down the wall that Eminem's been able to walk through". Triple J (JJJ) is a nationally-networked, government-funded Australian radio station (a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation), mainly aimed at youth (defined as those between 12 and 25). ... Andrew Denton (video tape cover) Andrew Christopher Denton (born May 4, 1960) is an Australian comedian and television presenter, and is the host of the ABCs weekly interview program Enough Rope. ... Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), better known as Eminem, is an American Grammy and Academy Award Winning rapper, record producer, and actor from Detroit, Michigan. ...

Safran attended RMIT to study journalism, a career he tried for a while but eventually dropped, without completing his degree. He then began work in advertising for Clemenger Harvie. During this time he wrote jingles for Mazda, Village Roadshow and Sea World. The Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (now officially known only as RMIT University), is a university in Melbourne, Australia. ... Journalism is a discipline of writing. ... Clemenger Harvie is Australias largest advertising group. ... A jingle is a memorable slogan, set to an engaging melody, mainly broadcast on radio and sometimes on television commercials. ... Mazda Motor Corporation ) (TYO: 7261 ) is a Japanese automotive manufacturer based in Hiroshima, Japan. ... Logo of Village Roadshow Village Roadshow ASX: VRL is an Australian media company with interests in cinema, theme parks, film production and distribution. ... Sea World is a marine park on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. ...

Launch to fame with "Race Around The World"

Safran's first taste of national fame came via Race Around the World, a television competition for young documentarians run by the ABC. Safran's segments, while failing to please the judges, scored well with the public audience. Despite being disqualified for a segment taped in a confession booth (the program forbade hidden camera footage), Safran topped the viewer poll. Regular judge Tony Squires labelled him as "mischievous", whereas Idiot Box director David Caesar called Safran a "smart-arse westerner taking the piss out of a soft subject" and his work "shithouse". Race Around the World was an Australian documentary series produced by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in 1997 and 1998. ... A contest is an event involving a competition at least two opposing individuals or teams, to be awarded a prize to the champion. ... A television documentary is a documentary or a series of documentaries that are meant to be broadcasted on television. ... The Australian Broadcasting Corporation or ABC (formerly the Australian Broadcasting Commission) is Australias national non-profit public broadcaster. ... A hidden camera is a still or video camera used to film people without their knowledge. ... Opinion polls are surveys of opinion using sampling. ... David Ceaser is an Australian television and film director and writer. ...

Safran started the race off timid and tame, being locked inside a Osaka subway station in his first entry. He soon however broke what he called the "fear barrier" to film his now infamous segments. These included: streaking naked through the streets of Jerusalem wearing only the scarf and beanie of his favorite football club, St Kilda; being baptised in Africa; placing a Voodoo curse on his ex-girlfriend; sneaking into Disneyland via a work area and attaching information plaques he made about founder Walt Disney to a display (highlighting little known Disney facts such as Walt Disney's alleged early support for Adolf Hitler); and getting a Catholic priest to review death metal music. Osaka )   is the capital of Osaka Prefecture and the third-largest[1] city in Japan, with a population of almost 2. ... A metro station is a train station for a metro. ... A participant of the Bay to Breakers. ... Hebrew יְרוּשָׁלַיִם (Yerushalayim) (Standard) Yerushalayim or Yerushalaim Arabic commonly القـُدْس (Al-Quds); officially in Israel أورشليم القدس (Urshalim-Al-Quds) Name Meaning Hebrew: (see below), Arabic: The Holiness Government City District Jerusalem Population 724,000 (2006) Jurisdiction 123,000 dunams (123 km²) Jerusalem (Hebrew:  , Yerushaláyim or Yerushalaim; Arabic:  , al-Quds, the Holiness)[2... The St Kilda Football Club, nicknamed The Saints, is an Australian rules football club playing in the Australian Football League. ... Voodoo (Vodou, Vodoun, Vudu, or Vudun in Benin, Togo, southeastern Ghana, Burkina Faso, and Senegal; also Vodou in Haiti) is a name attributed to a traditionally unwritten West African spiritual system of faith and ritual practices. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... For the company founded by Disney, see The Walt Disney Company. ... For the company founded by Disney, see The Walt Disney Company. ... Hitler redirects here. ... . ... Death metal is a sub-genre of heavy metal. ...

After "The Race" was over

After this brush with fame, Safran tried to pitch several television pilots to the ABC and commercial channels. These were not taken up to due to the legal action of A Current Affair host Ray Martin over a satirical segment in which Safran turned up at Martin's house and harassed him in the tabloid style characteristic of A Current Affair and its peers. Though all unsuccessful, they became a hit via the internet [1] amongst media university students. Safran also recorded a parody of Baz Luhrmann's motivational Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen) entitled Not the Sunscreen Song which includes lines such as "Never live in Adelaide, it's a hole" and "Remember, you can't get pregnant the first time you have sex". It peaked at #39 and was nominated for an ARIA. Recently, in Triple M's 2005 Greatest Songs Ever Written And Performed Since The Beginning of Time poll, Not The Sunscreen Song came in at #706 - one spot above Superstition by Stevie Wonder^{[citation needed]}. This article or section may contain original research or unverified claims. ... The Australian Broadcasting Corporation or ABC (formerly the Australian Broadcasting Commission) is Australias national non-profit public broadcaster. ... A Current Affair host:Tracy Grimshaw A Current Affair (or ACA) is an Australian television current affairs programme, broadcast on the Nine Network. ... There are a number of notable people by the name Ray Martin. ... Baz Luhrmann (born Mark Anthony Luhrmann on September 17, 1962) is an Oscar-nominated Australian film director. ... Everybodys Free (To Wear Sunscreen) was a single released by Baz Luhrmann under the EMI Music Australia Pty. ... Adelaide is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of South Australia, and is the fifth largest city in Australia, with a population of over 1. ... A pregnant woman Pregnancy is the process by which a mammalian female carries a live offspring from conception until it develops to the point where the offspring is capable of living outside the womb. ... The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (commonly known as ARIA Music Awards or ARIA Awards) is an annual awards night celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Australian Record Industry Association (ARIA). ... Superstition is a number-one single written, produced, arranged, and recorded by Stevie Wonder for Motown Records in 1972, when Wonder was twenty-two years old. ... Stevie Wonder (born Stevland Hardaway Judkins on May 13, 1950, name later changed to Stevland Hardaway Morris),[1] is an African American singer, songwriter, record producer, musician, and social activist. ...

Safran also presented segments for the Seven Network's now defunct Late Report, some were also screened in the United Kingdom with Channel 4's Disinformation program. Never escaping his wild side, Safran attained infamy and police attention for a stunt to try and coerce cricketer Shane Warne into breaking a "no smoking" clause in an advertising contract with a nicotine gum manufacturer. Safran drove a remote controlled seagull with a cigarette onto the pitch during a match. He was arrested for "pitch invasion", but the charges were dropped. This article is about the Australian television network. ... The Late Report was a short-lived news satire show on Australias Seven Network during 1999. ... It has been suggested that Channel Four Television Corporation be merged into this article or section. ... For the insect, see Cricket (insect). ... Shane Keith Warne. ... A television remote control A DVD player remote control A remote control is an electronic device used for the remote operation of a machine. ... Seagull or Seagulls may refer to: Gull, a family of seabird, members of which are often called seagulls. ... A lit filtered cigarette will burn to ash from one end. ... A pitch invasion occurs when a crowd of people who are watching a sports game run onto the field, to celebrate or protest about an incident, for example in games of football or cricket. ...

As of 2002 Safran has been a regular host of Melbourne community radio station 3RRR (Triple R) on its morning show "Breakfasters". Additionally he has hosted Sunday Night Safran on national youth radio station Triple J. In 2006, he appeared on JJJ with Father Bob. 2002 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Community radio is a type of radio service that caters to the interests of a certain area, broadcasting material that is popular to a local audience but is overlooked by more powerful broadcast groups. ... 3RRR (pronounced Three Triple R, or simply Triple R) is a popular Australian community radio station, based in Melbourne. ... Triple J (JJJ) is a nationally-networked, government-funded Australian radio station (a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation), mainly aimed at youth (defined as those between 12 and 25). ...

The era of SBS documentaries

In 2002 John launched his documentary series John Safran's Music Jamboree. The show was a novel approach to documentary genre, combining John Safran's comedic talent, personal passions, and typical outlandish stunts with solid information and interesting trivia. He at times raised the ire of his former High School Principal. On one occasion he and his crew stormed the courtyard of his former school and amid shocked religious students and teachers, he and his crew began to dance to the song Footloose. Screened on SBS' on Saturday nights, it opened Safran's work to a whole new generation who had not seen the original Race Around the World material. The show impressed the Australian Film Industry so much that it won two AFI awards in 2002; "Best Comedy Series" and "Most Innovative Program Concept". For album titles with the same name, see 2002 (album). ... John Safrans Music Jamboree (or just Music Jamboree) was a light-hearted Australian music documentary television series, hosted by John Safran for SBS television. ... Footloose is a 1984 movie that tells the story of Ren McCormick (played by Kevin Bacon), a teenager who was raised in Chicago and moves to a small town where the town government has banned dancing and rock music. ... The Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) is one of two government funded Australian public broadcasting radio and television networks, the other being the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). ... Ned Kelly depicted in the first Australian feature-length narrative film The cinema of Australia has a long history and has produced many internationally-recognized films, actors and filmmakers. ... The Australian Film Institute (AFI) was established in 1958. ...

In August 2004, he debuted his new show John Safran vs God, also on the SBS television network. The first seven episodes were typical Safran informative satire, but the series' finale was something else. It featured John being exorcised of demons which had allegedly possessed him during his dabblings with world religions. The exorcism was performed by well known Christian fundamentalist Bob Larson. It has been claimed that it was all faked for cameras, but Safran has neither confirmed or denied these rumours. However, in an interview with an Australian radio personality, John did say that he "felt something was going on", and that "there was something about the expression on my face". In an interview on Andrew Denton's "Enough Rope" program, he claimed that he had no memory of the events during the exorcism, and stated that the footage shown on the show was merely the most interesting from hours of footage. John Safran vs God won an award in the 2005 Australian Film Industry Awards for Best Comedy Series. 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... John Safran vs God is an 8 part television documentary series by John Safran which was broadcast on the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) of Australia in 2004. ... The Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) is one of two government funded Australian public broadcasting radio and television networks, the other being the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). ... Saint Francis exorcised demons in Arezzo, fresco of Giotto Exorcism (from Late Latin exorcismus, from Greek exorkizein - to adjure) is the practice of evicting demons or other evil spiritual entities from a person or place of which they have possessed (taken control of). ... St. ... Demonic possession, in supernatural belief systems, is a form of spiritual possession whereby certain malevolent extra-dimensional entities, demons, gain control over a mortal persons body, which is then used for an evil or destructive purpose. ... Christians believe that Jesus is the mediator of the New Covenant (see Hebrews 8:6). ... In comparative religion, fundamentalism has come to refer to several different understandings of religious thought and practice, through literal interpretation of religious texts such as the Bible or the Quran and sometimes also anti-modernist movements in various religions. ... Bob Larson (born 1944 in McCook, Nebraska) is a radio and television evangelist, currently based in Colorado. ... Andrew Denton (video tape cover) Andrew Christopher Denton (born May 4, 1960) is an Australian comedian and television presenter, and is the host of the ABCs weekly interview program Enough Rope. ... John Safran vs God is an 8 part television documentary series by John Safran which was broadcast on the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) of Australia in 2004. ... The Australian Film Institute (AFI), established in 1958, is an organisation that promotes Australian film and television through the annual AFI Awards, a membership program and AFI film events throughout the year. ...

Safran also went to Mozambique to have a curse, previously placed on the Australian national football team by a now-deceased witch doctor, lifted. He was covered in chicken's blood in the process. On 16 November 2005, Australia qualified for the Football World Cup for the first time since 1974. [2]. First international New Zealand 3 - 1 Australia (Dunedin, New Zealand; June 17, 1922) Largest win Australia 31 - 0 American Samoa (Coffs Harbour, Australia; April 11, 2001) Qualifier for 2002 World Cup (World Record) Worst defeat Australia 0 - 8 South Africa (Adelaide, Australia; September 17, 1955) World Cup Appearances 2 (First... November 16 is the 320th day of the year (321st in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 45 days remaining. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Football World Cup 2006 - Oceania - South America Qualification Playoff is a home and away playoff between the winners of the Oceania qualifying tournament (Australia) and the fifth placed team from the South American qualifying tournament. ... The FIFA World Cup Trophy, which has been awarded to the world champions since 1974. ...

In 2005-06, Safran co-hosted a television talk show entitled Speaking in Tongues with his collaborator Father Bob Maguire, a Catholic Priest who Safran met during the filming of "John Safran Vs. God" and with whom Safran performs a weekly radio show on Triple J. The 12-part series broadcast on SBS Television and began 7 November 2005. [3] Fans were divided on the show; some finding it a fascinating irreverent insight into world religions, others want him to return to his trademark prank based work. Speaking in Tongues is an Australian television program broadcast on SBS Television. ... Father Bob Maguire (born approx. ... Triple J (JJJ) is a nationally-networked, government-funded Australian radio station (a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation), mainly aimed at youth (defined as those between 12 and 25). ... The Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) is one of two government funded Australian public broadcasting radio and television networks, the other being the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). ... November 7 is the 311th day of the year (312th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 54 days remaining. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

• The Official John Safran web site (written by his ex-girlfriend)
• John Safran at the Internet Movie Database
• John's Safran's Music Jamboree homepage
• John Safran vs. God homepage
• John Safran is the Sixth Fifth Spice Girl — the first website about John Safran
• Speaking in Tongues Official site
• Enough Rope with Andrew Denton Interview with John Safran
• Interview with John Safran conducted after "Speaking in Tongues"
• John Safran Community Livejournal Community