Happy Birthday
Kenny! A short 10 years ago almost no one knew who Shane Jacobson was. A low budget, family made mockumentary about toilets changed all that. From fearless Aussie plumber Kenny Smyth to the set of Top Gear and The Bourne Legacy, Shane has the knack of keeping things fun and helping people laugh along the way. Our resident plumber from the trenches, Matt Reynolds, spoke to the man himself to discuss plumbing, life in front of the camera, maintaining his schedule, and his thoughts on learning.
42 | Australian Plumbing Industry Magazine | September 2016
Matt Reynolds Being a plumber
myself I have to ask how in the movie Kenny you so accurately portrayed many of the intricacies about a plumbing life. What was the secret behind it all coming together? Shane Jacobson The truth is, I come
from a very working class family, I went to a technical school and most of my mates are tradies. I have a licence for driving trucks, fork lifts, and most things. I knew all those guys at Splashdown and during the filming I actually did the work, drove the trucks, fired up the generators and plumbed the toilet blocks in.
When I was a kid, I helped a plumber for a few weeks so none of it is that strange to me. I just kind of know that world, feel comfortable in it and talking about it. Working as a roadie you know what it feels like to have people staring at you dressed in black. My brother Clayton actually cleaned toilets to get himself through film school so he knows what it’s like to be frowned upon. We both understood the sensitivity in it. All plumbers know this, especially the Splashdown workers, the first ten things they hear out of anyone’s mouth when they tell people what they do for a living