Zig and Zag (Australian performers)

Zig and Zag
Zig and Zag, Jack Perry (left) and Doug McKenzie, 1998
Medium	Television, radio
Nationality	Australian
Years active	1956 (1956)–1999 (1999)
Genres	Clown, slapstick
Notable works and roles	Peters Fun Fair
Former members	Doug McKenzie Jack Perry
Doug McKenzie Born Douglas McKenzie (1918-03-22)22 March 1918 Gloucester, England Died 4 August 2004(2004-08-04) (aged 86) Melbourne, Victoria, Australia Other names Zag Occupation Comedian, soldier, TV and radio presenter, TV producer Years active 1939–1999 Jack Perry Born 1917 Died April 2006 (aged c. 89) Melbourne, Victoria, Australia Other names Zig Occupation Comedian, TV presenter and actor Years active 1956–1999

Jack Perry (1917 – c. April 2006) and Douglas "Doug" McKenzie (22 March 1918 – 4 August 2004)— were an entertainer duo from Melbourne who were known and billed professionally as the clown act, Zig and Zag. They appeared on Australian television from its inception in 1956 to 1999 beginning with Peters Fun Fair. They featured on the annual Moomba parade (a community festival), and were regulars at annual charity events including the Good Friday Appeal for the Royal Children's Hospital. Perry was also an actor on television serials. In March 1999 the duo permanently parted company after it was revealed that Jack Perry had been convicted in 1994 of indecent assault on his granddaughter.

Zig and Zag were the clown duo of Jack Perry and Doug McKenzie and began performing together in the 1950s in Melbourne. Before 1939, McKenzie was a junior announcer on Melbourne radio station, then known as 3XY. By 1952, he was voicing advertisements dressed as a clown with a young Bert Newton. This led to Zig and Zag regularly appearing on a Saturday morning children's show with Frank Thring. They worked alongside disc jockey Stan Rofe and Newton. In March 1956, they drove a toy car at their first Moomba parade and were crowd favourites at the annual festival.

On 10 November 1956, local TV station HSV7 broadcast the first episode of Peters Fun Fair, with the duo as its stars, it was the first children's session televised in Australia. They dressed in costumes advertising Peters Ice Cream, with the slogan, "the health food of a nation", and used the catchphrase "No-o-o trouble". Zig and Zag added their theme song, "You and Me", to their act in the late 1950s. It was written by Tommy Steele and was originally performed by Steele and Jimmy Edwards in the 1958 London pantomime production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella. Peters Fun Fair also featured Roy Lyons as Cousin Roy and continued for 13 years.