Lynda and Jools Topp
These Kiwi cultural icons have been taking things easy the last six months or so while Jools recovers from a very public battle with breast cancer.
Robyn Salisbury
This Clinical Psychologist and Sex Therapist talks about the ‘Ins and Outs’ of sex therapy in New Zealand.
Helping Staff on KiwiSaver Decision Making
Workers will be thinking about what KiwiSaver means for them and how it fits into their financial situation.
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Sister Act - The Topp Twins
Lynda and Jools Topp
With their soaring two-part country harmonies, skillful yodelling and a suitcase full of alter-egos, the Topp Twins are real Kiwi cultural icons. Lynda and Jools Topp talked to Jo Bailey about being in the entertainment business and facing their most difficult challenge yet.
It’s been a while since we’ve seen some of our old mates – the hard-case Kens, bossy Camp Mother, poor, hard-done-by Camp Leader, and the straw-sucking, yodelling Gingham Sisters. They’ve been taking things easy the last six months or so while their co-creator, Jools Topp, recovers from breast cancer. It’s been a very public battle with the disease for Jools, which she admits has left her feeling vulnerable at times. “I pulled back from performing during most of my treatment although we did fit in a gig at the Tamworth Country Music Festival between chemotherapy sessions. Now that my treatment is finished I’m starting to feel stronger and looking forward to getting back on the road.”
Lynda Topp says the biggest thing the sisters have learned from Jools’ illness is that there is nothing more important than good health. “The focus of the last six months has been about me hanging out with my sister rather than thinking about rehearsing or figuring out shows. We’re glad to be through the other side of the treatment now. Jools looks like Annie Lennox as her hair has grown back a fabulous snowy white.”
One of the Twins first shows back was at the Havelock Mussel Festival, which they didn’t even rehearse for despite the six-month break from performing. “It’s second nature to us. Whatever happens on the day is the performance. Some people would freak out without a script, but we never script anything. That way we are able to react to the crowd - as that’s our real craft,” says Jools.
With the spontaneous interaction and friendly banter between the Twins and the crowd such a big part of the show, do they have trouble getting people to join them on stage? “It can be scary to come up there with us, but we find the characters help scoop them up. People are more than happy to help Ken and Ken or Camp Mother and Camp Leader.”
Jools believes it is their ability to “send up, rather than put down” that ensures the willing participation of the audience. “Anyone can put someone down, but that’s not comedy. If anyone is going to look silly on our stage, it’s us. When we bring someone up from the audience it’s our job to make them feel comfortable and look amazing, so they are the star at the end of the night.”
While the music and comedy duo’s business is providing entertainment, they don’t consider it work. “If being a Topp Twin became simply a job we’d give it up,” says Lynda. “For Jools and me it is our lifestyle, and one of the most rewarding businesses in the world.” They may not earn enough to ride around in limos or live in flash houses, but that was never part of their business plan, Lynda says. “We’re happy to have a tractor and a few dogs and get out on the road and perform. The rapport we have with our audience enables us to receive just as much love as we are trying to give out.”
The Topp Twins are very much a family business, “but we don’t make pasta,” quips Jools. Like any sisters working together there can be challenging times. “We have a big commitment to each other and the business, and it can be stressful being on the road and away from our homes for long periods. Sometimes we do bang heads when we’re trying to figure things out, but most of the time we are able to accommodate each other and communicate.”
The Twins love of music goes back to their childhood. “Our parents loved to have people over, get out the guitar and have a bit of a sing,” says Jools. “Lynda and I used to sing away with our tennis rackets and hair brushes and would write a few songs to sing to the cows in the cowshed.” When the Twins were nine, their 11-year-old brother Bruce bought them their first guitar with some extra money he had saved from his lawn mowing job. “He also bought us a book called Play in a Day that provided the only formal guitar training we’ve ever had.”
Further musical inspiration came from a neighbour, who had a country music collection of old 78s. “We used to ride up to the neighbour’s farm 30 minutes away, listen to the records on their wind-up gramophone, then jump back on the horse and ride home. Mum wouldn’t let us take the guitar on the back of the horse, so we’d get it out as soon as we got home and desperately try to play what we’d just heard.”
After a short-lived stint in the Territorials, the Twins spent some time in Christchurch before moving to Auckland in their early twenties. They soon had a cult following as buskers, attracting crowds of several hundred people to their regular Friday night performances of musical mayhem and political satire. It was in the eighties the Twins career really took off, when the Student Arts Council offered to support a nationwide tour.
“We didn’t have enough musical material to fill an hour-and-a-half show so came up with the idea of creating some characters who would interact with the audience,” explains Jools. The Twin’s first alter-egos were those lovable Hillbillies, the Gingham Sisters. The shows were such a success that the best were filmed for a Television Special for which they won several NZ Film and TV Awards, including Entertainers of the Year. “That’s where it all started. The next time we toured on our own, without the Student Arts Council, and that’s when the business emerged. We were never going to be singers - it just happened. Our ambition was to take over the family dairy farm. We could have been a couple of old spinsters milking cows by now,” Jools laughs.
Their hugely successful prime time television show Do Not Adjust Your Twinset also received numerous awards, and the Twins have performed to rapturous reviews around the world. As well as public shows, the Twins do a lot of corporate gigs and perform at fundraising events at least three or four times a year. Lynda also recently produced her own television programme, Ken’s Hunting and Fishing Show, which screened on TVOne earlier this year.
With their bevy of brilliant characters, Lynda jokes there are actually about 20 people in the Topp Twin’s business these days. She says the characters are created from generalisations, rather than being based on people they know. “It’s amazing that some people believe that Ken and Ken and Camp Mother and Camp Leader really do exist.”
The sister’s creative sessions are all about having fun and trying to make each other laugh. “That’s the beautiful thing. When we are creating, we don’t have to sit down in lengthy meetings with thousands of people. We just sit at home, make each other laugh, and maybe write a new song.” Jools says they usually write new songs separately then give it to the other twin to sing. “After we’ve sung it once, we’ve got it. Boom! It’s in the repertoire and we never have to rehearse it again. It must be a twin thing.”
As they prepare to get back to work in earnest, Lynda says the Twins will continue to follow their mantra of being positive, truthful and having fun. “Jools and I haven’t lost the ability to play, as that’s where creativity comes from. If you can hold on to the art of playing and having fun, it makes life so much easier.”
By Jo Bailey
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Let’s talk about Sex
Robyn Salisbury
How do you write a story about sex therapy without resorting to smutty innuendo and stereotyped images of a sleazy doctor prescribing Viagra to the masses? Easy. You talk frankly with Clinical Psychologist and Sex Therapist Robyn Salisbury about the ‘Ins and Outs’ of sex therapy in NZ.
Talking about sex - our desires, fears and needs - is not as taboo as it once was. Sex and its many facets and guises has seen an ebb and flow of repression and revolution over the years. In more recent times, services have become available that can help people take a more expressive and proactive attitude towards their sexuality.
Robyn Salisbury’s first experience in this field found her at Marriage Guidance (now Relationship Services) in counselling training, where her first supervisor was a sex therapist. Here, Robyn became accustomed to talking to people in a matter-of-fact way about their sex lives. This practice revealed two things to her: “If I didn’t ask, I didn’t find out that most couples were struggling with some aspect of sexuality,” she confides. “And when you have the right skills and do talk about them, many sexual problems are quite easily resolvable.”
Later, Robyn trained as a Clinical Psychologist and Psychotherapist and has spent the last twenty years furthering her expertise in the specialist field of sex therapy. Concerned at how poorly sexuality and relationship issues are dealt with in New Zealand and at the limited sources of skilled professional help there was available, Robyn made the decision to do something about it. In 2000 she formed her own training company and referral service, Sex Therapy New Zealand Ltd.
The original role of the organisation was to offer skilled professional help for anyone struggling with any issues about sexuality or intimacy. Robyn began by providing professional training courses for psychologists, psychotherapists, counsellors, nurses and general practitioners. However, the training is now available for other professional groups or can be custom-made for various interest groups.
Robyn also chose the cream of the crop from the advanced training group and established a national referral network system, so those seeking help can be put in touch with someone to talk to in a non-judgmental environment.
Robyn believes that in New Zealand it’s not yet the norm to talk about sex openly and honestly. “That results, for some, in a vacuum of accurate information in which the common myths abound, with the consequence of huge pressure to perform, [to] measure up.”
Measuring up is just one of the sexual ‘problems’ that for 70% of people will come up at some stage during their life. Robyn and her team provide therapy and advice, catering for both individuals and couples and cover issues as varied as sexual addiction, differing sex drives, difficulty getting or maintaining an erection, lack of sexual desire or the much talked about and sought after orgasm.
As well as covering the nitty-gritty details such as the how to’s and where’s, sex therapy can identify any areas that need ‘work’, what caused the problem and, more importantly, how to make healthy changes. “I’m very pro making relationships work for both partners by helping couples develop their capacity for intimacy, helping everyone feel good about their sexuality and to express it in life-enhancing ways,” explains Robyn.
When asked about any negative feedback related to providing sex therapy, Robyn recounts that there are sometimes some confused associations with what they offer. “Some of the phone calls to our 0800 number remind us that some only think of sex in sleazy ways,” comments Robyn. “Once people make contact with our service they quickly realise we’re highly professional and nothing sexual happens in our consulting rooms.”
Robyn’s website makes it expressly clear that what they are not offering is porn, stating that the aim of the site is to offer practical basic information, not to titillate. For those who are not quite ready for therapy or simply have a pressing question such as ‘where is the G-spot?’ or ‘is it okay to masturbate?’ there is an excellent FAQs page. It also stipulates that during therapy sessions you keep your clothes on and no physical examination or sexual activity occurs.
Robyn believes that advertising by pharmaceutical companies on TV has been a positive step and has opened up the topic of sex. However, she feels that in a negative light this has created more pressure on people to perform and reinforces the assumption that sex = intercourse and requires an erection. Robyn says candidly, “No information is given that what is between the ears is as important as what is between the legs, and that fingers and tongues can do a good job too.”
Sex aside, Robyn lists a loving, intimate, alive relationship as one of her great sources of energy and wellbeing and refers to her relationship of 30 years with husband Kevin as being the centre of her life. She clearly practices what she preaches. “I’d be a hypocrite, (and frankly, very dumb!) if I worked all day to help others make their relationships intimate and healthy and didn’t care for my own.”
It seems that being able to talk about sex in an open and honest way in a relationship is just as important as doing the act itself and, realistically, can only serve to improve on an activity that already has some very obvious benefits.
By Kelly Alexander
For more information on Sex Therapy NZ phone 0800 sex therapy (0800 739 843) or visit:
www.sextherapy.co.nz
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Helping Staff on KiwiSaver Decision Making
With KiwiSaver just around the corner, New Zealand’s 2.11 million* workers will be thinking about what it means for them and how it fits into their personal financial situation.
The Retirement Commission has developed new tools to guide workers through the significant decision of whether to sign up for the workplace savings scheme or not. Employers can help their employees and themselves by introducing these tools to their staff.
From July 1, most people who change jobs will automatically be included in KiwiSaver but can decide whether to stay in or opt out.** All other employees can also voluntarily decide to opt into the scheme, even if they haven’t changed jobs. Either way, every worker needs to have a clear picture of their personal finances and a sound knowledge of financial management.
“The Financial Knowledge Survey we carried out last year with the support of ANZ and the Ministry of Economic Development indicated that some Kiwis lack knowledge in important areas of personal finance, such as mortgages, investments and savings,” says the Retirement Commissioner, Diana Crossan.
“These are some of the very things New Zealanders need to be thinking about when deciding if KiwiSaver suits their financial situation.”
Ms Crossan says that employers can play a significant part in ensuring that their workforce understands KiwiSaver, and the Retirement Commission has developed tools to help. “Getting sorted on money matters and improving workers’ financial situations doesn’t just benefit the employees and their families,” says Diana Crossan. “Workers who aren’t worried about money tend to be less stressed and take fewer sick days, so do better on the job.”
Sort Me and the Sorted KiwiSaver Decision Guide
The first step all workers need to take when making their decisions about KiwiSaver is to review their personal finances. Sort Me is an online financial health check designed to help all New Zealanders do just that. It asks a series of questions about their current finances and future goals, and then offers suggestions for how that situation can be improved.
The Sorted KiwiSaver Decision Guide is the next step for employees. The guide takes employees through a series of questions to help them decide the suitability of KiwiSaver or any other workplace savings scheme.
The Sorted KiwiSaver Decision Guide asks questions such as:
• How much will KiwiSaver cost me each pay?
• How much will I save by 65 years of age through KiwiSaver?
• What incentives am I looking for in a scheme?
• Should I ‘stay in’, ‘opt out’ or ‘opt in’ to the scheme now?
• What type of scheme should I select?
Everyone will have a different answer because what is an incentive for some may be a disincentive for others - like having their savings locked up until they are 65. Whether or not their employer will contribute will also be a significant factor.
Employers can help
Employers are required by law to pass on KiwiSaver information from Inland Revenue to their employees, but there’s much more they can do voluntarily.
The Retirement Commission has a suite of resources for employers to offer their employees. These include:
Intranet Tools – links to all resources on
www.sorted.org.nz, the Retirement Commission’s website to help New Zealanders get sorted on money matters.
The Sorted KiwiSaver Decision Guide – is available in different formats from early June:
- Online, at www.sorted.org.nz, featuring calculators to help make an informed KiwiSaver decision
- Brochures, available in various languages
- Posters, featuring a summary of the Sorted KiwiSaver Decision Guide
- KiwiSaver decision-making seminar content (including a guide for facilitators and handbooks for participants), designed for all literacy levels.
- ‘Sort Me’ – a link to the online personal financial check-up tool, available from www.sorted.org.nz
- Calculators and general information – covering a range of financial topics including debt management, saving and investments.
- Employers should go to www.sorted.org.nz to order or download these tools and services.
To find out how KiwiSaver works, both employers and employees will find information on the Inland Revenue Department’s KiwiSaver site
www.kiwisaver.govt.nz.
To receive Sorted information to help staff make well-informed decisions on KiwiSaver, and receive KiwiSaver updates and notification about new resources, register online at
http://www.sorted.org.nz/kiwisaver-registration.html
*Labour force figure from Statistics New Zealand 2006 census
**KiwiSaver is open to all New Zealand citizens and people entitled to live here permanently who are under the age of eligibility for New Zealand Superannuation (currently 65). This includes workers on a part-time or temporary contract, self-employed people and beneficiaries. See www.ird.govt.nz/kiwisaver for more details about membership
