Josh Thomas, Australia’s witty, too-pure-for-this-earth, and loveable prince of comedy is back. After a six-year hiatus and a move to Los Angeles (armed with only his Dyson vacuum cleaner and sweet pooch, John), Thomas will once again grace our shores in his upcoming comedy tour, Whoopsie Daisy, hitting Subiaco’s Regal Theatre on Friday, November 22. JADE SCHRANDT enjoyed a short but sweet chat with Thomas to see how he’s feeling about his new ventures.
You’ve been living in Los Angeles for some time now. How does it compare to Australia?
The thing about Americans that creeps me out is, that they’re like so willing to lie to you. They just pretend things are good, when they are not that good, or they will pretend that they’re excited when they’re not really that excited. Or they’ll like, walk into my house and I’ll be like “Oh my house is so messy” and they’re like “Oh, no, no it’s not messy”. But it is actually messy, and it’s fine, but then lying about it makes me think that they think it’s something I am just working through, but that’s just how it is. So, I’m happy to be back in Australia and be like “This place is gross” and people are like “Wow, yeah, it is gross.”
I think perhaps they’re doing that to spare your feelings?
Yeah but then it creates this like weird vibe, like you are living in a radio commercial where everyone loves their new guttering or whatever. It’s weird man.
You’re about to embark on your tour Whoopsie Daisy and have said that you’re feeling nervous. Any excitement in there?
Yeah, I am excited. I like my show now, which is a big thing. You know when you are putting it together and don’t have it, then you are terrified and think maybe it’s never going to happen, but now that I have something to say, I’m feeling really good about it.
What are you wanting the audience to take away from it?
I just want them to not feel ripped off. That they didn’t waste money and an hour of their life, which you know, is precious. I have done some shows where people have left feeling ripped off. There’s been one or two where I thought, oooh, I shouldn’t be charging for this. When I was younger, 23 maybe, I would just do a shit show. But not anymore, now I’m all grown up (laughs).
You’ve written, produced, and are starring in new TV show Everything’s Going To Be Okay coming out in January. What’s your message there?
Ummm… everything’s going to be okay? (laughs). I think it says that there is a little bit of doubt. The title itself doesn’t really mean anything. I name these shows, these things, and never really thought about why. I just had to call it something.
What are you wanting people to feel watching it? Please Like Me was profound and incredibly moving, so what are your hopes for Everything’s Going to be Okay?
I just want it to be real, y’know? Honesty is such a big thing. It’s funny, and kind of optimistic, even though it’s seeped in melancholy. I think maybe that’s why it’s called Everything’s Going to be Okay, because that’s what I want them to feel, optimism.
So, what’s your writing process, Josh? How do you create such immensely complex and beautiful characters who are so honest and firmly grounded in reality?
I mean, I’m always like “Would this really happen? or Would they react this way?” In Please Like Me, I could have learnt to fly if I wanted, and stuff like that would have probably made the writing process really easy, because the stuff that wouldn’t happen is so easy to write. So, we just reject anything that we don’t think would happen, which sometimes is annoying because the stuff that wouldn’t happen can be so fun to write about. I don’t know how the scripts come about in the end. There comes this day in pre-production where someone puts the printed script on my desk, and there is always this bit of shock that it’s happened, it’s there, we made it. I think because it’s the process of a tiny piece at a time.
What’s your favourite TV series this year?
All I have watched this year is Seinfeld! Like re-watched every single episode of Seinfeld. I just started watching it and got obsessed, and it wasn’t good because I was making a new show. Watching shows you like when you are in production isn’t fun because you can feel the cameras, and whatever you worked on that day, I’ll watch a show but be thinking about what we worked on in production that day. So, I never want to watch anything that I’m excited to see because I won’t enjoy it, and I don’t like watching bad things because it’s not fun, so I just watched every episode of Seinfeld. Oh wow, now that I think about it, that’s a lot of episodes! (180 episodes).
Have you seen The Matrix?
Oops, no, I haven’t.
That’s okay, have you heard about the red pill/blue pill question though?
Oh, yeah, yeah. Definitely.
Okay, so the red pill represents a life of harsh knowledge, desperate freedom, and the brutal truths of reality, and the blue pill represents a life of security, a tranquil happiness and blissful ignorance to the harsh realities of life. Which would you choose?
I would pick the real one. Which was that? The red one. The other one sounds so boring. You need some challenges. You know when you meet super rich people, they’re always a bit weird. They are not quite right; they just seem so disconnected like they’re not quite in the same place in their head. They have grown up in an easy life, but they’re not happy. You need challenges.
What are your hopes for your future? What more do you want from your career, and life in general?
Oh, man. Uhhh. I don’t know.
Okay, more like the immediate future. Your new series and stand up tour?
I mean having a second TV series is a bit of a weird thing because everyone obviously has your old show in their head and they don’t want you to fuck it up. But it’s going to be different. I hope people don’t hate it. I mean, I really like it. For me mostly, that’s it for now, really. But then part of me is like, well if I like it, then I don’t really care if they don’t like it, because not everything is for everything. Everything can’t be for everyone. And my stand up, I just want to have fun. I really just want to have the very best time.
