Simply… They make me happy.

As a former (and hopefully one day again) radio personality, I can only aspire and wish I had a show like, and the ideas of Dan Debuf and Maz Compton. Apart from how great I think the show works and the personality they bring to it, I look forward to listening to them on the drive home. I don’t ‘look forward’ to that sort of stuff. But the Dan and Maz show on Fox FM makes me feel okay again.

I’m currently in a job that I’m not entirely pleased with. I feel stressed when I’m there, I cannot agree with what they believe runs better, I feel under appreciated, I don’t feel I will excel and I’m doing all I can to get out. Together with those feelings, I travel an hour, sometimes more to get there. It consumes a lot of my time, leaving minimal to zero time to do anything else. I also find it hard to have a continuous sleep, regardless of whatever time I go to bed. You can put money on me waking up a few times throughout the night. So, when I’m waking up at 5:45am to get there by 8am, you can understand how exhausted I am. This also doesn’t motivate me to stay positive. But, the best thing about the 8am shift, is that I get to finish on time to listen to Dan and Maz. That’s my motivation to get through the day.

So, what is it about some former MTV presenter and a this tall, big hair dude that makes me happy?
Well, let’s start with the fact that they are hilarious. But, you get the vibe that they’re not intentional hilarious, like it’s not scripted. I know radio shows have a plan in front of them and their funny gags ready to go, but they aren’t looking down at a piece of paper when they speak. They’re speaking to the listeners, and expressing the fact that this is them. They are actually funny. I don’t believe it’s scripted and I honestly feel like I know them like I know my own life story. So, when they’re saying things that get your abs working, it’s quick witted. Not many people can do that. Only some of the most intelligent people can come back with a hilarious line in seconds.

Which brings me to my next point. Dan and Maz are clever. Yeah, I get it. It’s a team effort and there’s people in the background, like producer Leon that can come up with their segments and the things to talk about. But does it honestly sound like that? No. The outline is there, Dan and Maz colour it in. Their ideas are original, smart, and well thought through, so that it works for the 4-6pm FOX FM audience. I have never rolled my eyes over about anything that comes up on the show. I’m learning whilst quietly laughing out loud, discreetly enough so that the drivers next to me don’t think I’m insane. I haven’t been this interested in a show since Matt and Jo for the breakfast run.

Which now leads me to say, it’s all about the chemistry between the hosts. Just because both individuals are well known, funny, and always interesting, doesn’t mean they will gel well together in the one environment. Take Jo Stanley from the good ol’ Matt and Jo show. Together, Matt and Jo were a powerful force. Here, you had two highly intelligent, funny people who for example, made boring subjects like politics interesting. They were butter on toast. But, since Jo has joined former Big Brother contestant, Michael on the weekend breakfast show, she’s not the same Jo anymore. Not in my eyes at least. There’s hints of the strong and smart woman we knew, but, I’ll go straight out and say, her co-hosts don’t let her be herself. It’s like the producers have asked her to dumb it down a bit. That’s not to say Byron and Michael aren’t interesting and clever people. They’re great. But with Jo, there’s no chemistry. Byron was better with Fifi and Jules and no offense to Michael, but Jo’s too good for him. Now, I’m no science expert, but whatever formula Dan and Maz have, combined, it is explosive. Even button pusher MC has a personality big enough to not overpower the main hosts, but squeezes in just right.

Together with chemistry, another important winning factor for Matt and Jo, was that they had the ability to put modern and simple twists on their more complex topics, so that today’s kids could stay interested in the conversation. That sort of stuff, you cannot find anymore and this world needs it. We are going in a direction where kids these days don’t have a clue about their own countries history, but as long as we have characters like Matt and Jo, the future may still be bright.

Dan and Maz do this also and you wouldn’t even realise. That’s what makes them so good at what they do. They have a weekly segment on their show where people ring in to explain what they learned that week. The catch is, it needs to be something that they should have already known a long time ago. Things like, how there’s one moon and not one for each country, or how there’s banana in banana bread. Dan and Maz know people these days lack a bit of common knowledge, so though this slightly picks fun at them, it’s a learning experience without it being forced on to the listener, and it’s fun. So, while you’re getting dumber watching stuff like Keeping Up With The Kardashians, Dan and Maz will forgive you enough to strengthen your common sense skills with segments like that. And because they use simple language and jokes, you can’t tell that your brain muscle is working.

There’s never a dull moment with Dan and Maz. Without one another, it would not be the same. I love Dan and Maz because they’re hilarious, they’re smart and they invite me into their world with opened arms. They make my day better, and I couldn’t thank them enough.