We caught up with former triple j breakfast presenter, Tom Ballard, for a quick chat about his new stand up show, UnAustralian(ish).
How are you finding standup now you’ve stepped away from radio hosting?
I’m having a great old time thank you. Now I can do gigs every night of the week and feed my alcoholism guilt-free! Plus I’m able to tour a lot more and occasionally do other activities so all my material isn’t, “Hey you guys what’s the deal with getting up at 4am every day? Like seriously, how good are naps?”
Who are your comedy heroes?
My favourite comedian ever is the British genius Daniel Kitson, but I’ve also shamelessly stolen from the likes of Jerry Seinfeld, Patton Oswalt, Sarah Silverman, Louis CK, Greg Fleet, Tripod, Rod Quantock, Wil Anderson, Patrice O’Neal, Tom Gleeson, Bill Burr, Stewart Lee, Jim Gaffigan, Chris Rock, Ricky Gervais, Dave Hughes, David O’Doherty and like 50 others.
Obviously I’m better than all of them now.
Tell us about (Un)Australianish. What’s the show about?
On the surface it’s about a family holiday the Ballards went on in 1995 in which we drove halfway around Australia, but it’s actually a incisive commentary on national identity and patriotism and our inhumane immigration policies.
But with anal sex and dick jokes.
What has the crowd reaction been like so far?
It’s been to Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney, so now for Perth it’s in PEAK FUNNINESS MODE.
All those crowds have been lovely and laughed at all the right places and been offended in the wrong places and we haven’t given out any refunds.
Who else on the festival bill are you keen to check out?
Ray Badran is hilarious, I’d strongly recommend checking out the new faces of Breakout Comedy and Lawrence Mooney is a national treasure.
For a proper old-school hands down comedy legend though, you can’t go past Dom Irrera. He was on Seinfeld! And he was Ernie from Hey Arnold!
What’s up next for you?
After Perth I’m hitting the road with the Melbourne Comedy Festival Roadshow, that’ll be awesome, except for the part where I have to find vegetarian options in Geraldton after 9pm.
The second half of the year is pretty open, so I’ll probably embarrass myself by desperately doing anything to get on television. Or maybe I could work for you? Seriously. Anything going at X-Press? Guys? GUYS?!
Tom Ballard presents UnAustralian(ish) as part of the Perth International Comedy Festival at the Mount Lawley Bowling Club until Saturday, May 10. For tickets and session times, go here.
