Kenny at 20: How Australia’s Beloved Portaloo Plumber Found His Place in Our Hearts

Twenty years after its unexpected arrival in Australian cinemas, 2006’s mockumentary Kenny is enjoying a renewed moment in the spotlight. This month, the film – a low-budget, heart-warming portrait of a portaloo plumber – will be honored with a screening and Q&A session at the Aacta awards festival, a testament to its enduring cultural resonance.

The film, starring Shane Jacobson as the titular Kenny Smyth, began as an improvisation. Jacobson, then working as a lighting technician at stadium shows and festivals, drew inspiration from the “dunny men” he encountered while on the job. “Everyone’s going to have a joke at their expense, so they had gags ready for everything,” Jacobson recalled. “They were ‘working classy’, as we called them.”

Clayton Jacobson, Shane’s brother and the film’s director, recognized something deeper in his brother’s routine. Having himself cleaned toilets during his time at Swinburne Film & TV School, Clayton appreciated the essential, often overlooked nature of the work. “Without sanitation, you have nothing,” he reflected. “You have disease, you have anarchy, you have death.”

Kenny’s success was something of an anomaly. Made on a shoestring budget, the film pulled in nearly $8 million at the Australian box office, defying expectations and launching Shane Jacobson to national prominence. The film follows Kenny through his daily life, exploring both his work and personal relationships with a gentle humor and genuine warmth. It’s a mockumentary in the vein of early 2000s hits like Best In Show and A Mighty Wind, but with a distinctly Australian sensibility.

The Jacobsons’ approach was deeply rooted in their own experiences and observations. The film was shot entirely on location in the western suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria and Nashville, Tennessee, utilizing real locations and events like the Melbourne Cup and Calder Park Raceway to create an authentic feel. The family involvement extended beyond the brothers, with their father, Ronald, and Clayton’s son, Jesse, also appearing in the film.

The timing of Kenny’s release coincided with a particular political climate in Australia, one that Clayton Jacobson felt was increasingly focused on suspicion and surveillance. “There was so much talk about watching your neighbours,” he explained. “It didn’t feel very Australian. I’m not political, I just knew that the world that I’d grown up in was, for the most part, very tolerant.”

Kenny, became a “riff on decency,” a celebration of everyday Australians and the dignity of honest work. Clayton draws a parallel to another beloved Australian film, The Castle, noting that both were created by filmmakers deeply embedded in the same laconic, working-class environment of Melbourne’s Avondale Heights. Both films, he argues, offer a validation of ordinary lives, a recognition that everyone deserves respect and recognition.

The film’s protagonist, Kenny Smyth, stands in contrast to the often-gritty depictions of the Australian working class seen in films like Animal Kingdom and Chopper. Like the Kerrigan family in The Castle, Kenny is an underdog, but one who approaches life with optimism and a strong moral compass. Clayton Jacobson describes Kenny as “the Dalai-Lama of Waste Management, eternally optimistic and always ready to put others before himself.”

While a television series, Kenny’s World, followed in 2008, it wasn’t renewed for a second season, and the mockumentary format itself has largely fallen out of favor. However, the film’s fanbase remains remarkably devoted. The Jacobsons continue to receive fan mail and videos, including requests to screen the film at significant life events. One woman even asked to have it played at her funeral, while another family made it a tradition to watch the film during a world trip with a loved one battling cancer.

Shane Jacobson has become a recognizable face in Australian cinema and television, and continues to embrace the character that launched his career, often appearing in character during promotional events. He’s even been asked to sign restaurant toilet seats – a request he typically deflects with a good-natured quip.

The enduring appeal of Kenny, according to Clayton Jacobson, lies in its ability to validate the lives of ordinary people. “We’d hoped that the film would resonate with tradies and their families,” he said, “and hopefully film-makers. I’m still shocked that it has resonated with so many people, and I’ve come to realize it’s that thing of validation. The number one thing we all look for in life is to be validated. We need to know that we have been put on this earth for some reason. The saddest thing is a person that’s invisible.”

A screening and Q&A featuring Clayton and Shane Jacobson will take place at the Aacta festival on February 8 on the Gold Coast, Queensland. Kenny is currently available to stream on Netflix in Australia.