''CrossBread'' is a scripted comedy podcast written by Declan Fay,

Megan Washington Megan Alexanda Washington (born 7 January 1986) is an Australian musician, songwriter and voice actor who has worked mononymously as Washington. Originally performing jazz music, her style shifted to indie pop and alternative rock. She has re ...

, and Chris Ryan. The show was commissioned and produced by the

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is Australia’s principal public service broadcaster. It is funded primarily by grants from the federal government and is administered by a government-appointed board of directors. The ABC is ...

and executive produced by Tom Wright. The six-episode series follows protagonists Josh and Joan Burns as they form the eponymously named Christian rap duo. The show was nominated for an

ARIA award The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (commonly known informally as ARIA Music Awards, ARIA Awards, or simply the ARIAs) is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Austra ...

and won an

AWGIE award The AWGIE Awards are annual awards given by the Australian Writers' Guild (AWG), for excellence in screen, television, stage, and radio writing. History The AWGIE awards were conceived in 1967, with the first event being held in 1968. Bettina ...

in 2020 and 2021 respectively.

Production

The show was executive produced by Tom Wright and written by Declan Fay,

, and Chris Ryan with original music composed and performed by Megan Washington and Chris Ryan. The writing for the show began in September 2019 after being commissioned by

ABC Comedy ABC Family is an Australian free-to-air television channel owned by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and part of its ABC Television network. The channel broadcasts a range of family and teen entertainment programming. The channel oper ...

and ABC Audio Studios. The podcast is a scripted comedy podcast in the form of a mockumentary. The podcast is six episodes long. Each episode is between 14 and 35 minutes in length. Fay, Ryan, and Washington all grew up in Christian youth groups.

Cast and characters

Aaron Chen Aaron Chen (born ) is an Australian comedian and actor from Sydney. Early life and education Chen was born in . His parents are Chinese. His father, Peter, was a sent-down youth in the Cultural Revolution. His mother died in 2000 from breast ...

as Ken Lim *Chris Ryan as Josh Burns (aka MC Cross) *

John Waters John Samuel Waters Jr. (born April 22, 1946) is an American filmmaker, actor, writer, and artist. He rose to fame in the early 1970s for his transgressive cult films, including '' Multiple Maniacs'' (1970), '' Pink Flamingos'' (1972) and '' Fe ...

as Reverend Philip Brock *

Kate McLennan Kate McLennan (born ) is an Australian comedian, writer and actor. McLennan has performed in Australia and internationally, including at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. She is known in Australia for her work on television and web series such as ...

as Amanda *

as Joan Burns (aka Dr. Bread) * Sami Shah as DJ D

Plot

The story is set in the eastern suburbs of

Melbourne, Australia Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung/ or ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second most-populous city in Australia, after Sydney. The city's name generally refers to a metropolitan area also known ...

where the protagonists, Josh and Joan Burns, start a Christian hip-hop group called ''CrossBread''. Their songs are a hit on Christian streaming platform GodTube in 2015, which launches them into stardom. Joan and Josh are not religious, but see this as an opportunity for a musical career. The story is told by the rap duo's former social media manager who is sharing footage from their archives. The two members of the rap group are fraternal twins from

Boronia, Victoria Boronia is an eastern suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 29 km east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Knox local government area. Boronia recorded a population of 23,607 at the 2021 census. The area ...

. He traces the story of their beginnings working at a donut shop to the point when the group fell apart. Josh Burns pretends to be part of a Christian rap group to impress a date and picks the name ''CrossBread'' because his date is wearing a

crucifix A crucifix (from the Latin meaning '(one) fixed to a cross') is a cross with an image of Jesus on it, as distinct from a bare cross. The representation of Jesus himself on the cross is referred to in English as the (Latin for 'body'). The cru ...

and was buttering a piece of bread. ''CrossBread'' competes in the Battle of Believers for a $1,000 prize.

Reception

Writing for the Christian website ''Eternity News'', Ben McEachen praised the show saying that it "presents an excellent opportunity to humorously consider what you live for."

Awards

References

External links

* {{ABC Radio and Regional Content 2020 podcast debuts 2020 podcast endings Audio podcasts Musical theatre podcasts Scripted podcasts Comedy podcasts Australian podcasts