Simon Hughes runs Kings of Comedy, a comedy room in the heart of Melbourne. He’s also an up and coming stand-up comedian. A class clown at school, Simon was naturally drawn to entertainment – until drug addiction turned his world upside down. But Simon has bounced back, and even turned his traumatic experience into a Melbourne International Comedy Festival (MICF) …
065: Rik Roberts – Comedy under Christian constraints
Rik Roberts runs the School of Laughs. But not in Australia. Rik is Kentucky born and now lives in Nashville, Tennessee, which will explain our two contrasting accents. As you can guess, like the School of Hard Knock Knocks, the School of Laughs is a stand-up comedy school. That’s where the similarities end. Rik, in contrast to just about all of …
064: Kieran Butler – The life of a satirist, antagonist and contrarian comedian
Kieran Butler is a political satirist, comedic antagonist, and a general contrarian. Heavily influenced by the Aussie alternative rock band, Tism, Kieran Butler is not afraid of speaking his mind and challenging the status quo. But many of you already know this. For those that aren’t familiar with Kieran and his work, you’ll enjoy this emotionally charged interview, where we …
063: Chris Wainhouse – Dark humour and the importance of taboos
New Zealand born, Brisbane raised, and globally travelled, Chris Wainhouse, has been in the comedy game for over 20 years. The son of a fundamental Christian mother, it should come as no surprise for those that know Chris’s material, that his views are somewhat different – after all, he called his most recent Melbourne International Comedy Festival show (MICF) ‘The …
062: Nadine Sparks – From improv to stand-up comedy
Nadine Sparks loves learning comedy. At aged 12 she began learning improvisation comedy, including a course at 18 at the highly respected NIDA, then performing with Improv Conspiracy, before travelling to the US to learn the Chicago method. And then seven years ago Nadine Sparks did a stand-up comedy course, and this resulted in her first five-minute performance at the …
061: Lee Ton – Persistence pays for a comedy career
Lee Ton first tried his hand at stand-up comedy in 2008. Ten years later, and with a couple of comedy courses under his belt, Lee has found himself performing at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival (MICF), headlining with Richard Stubbs, and being specially cast for a reality stand-up comedy TV show, “Is This Thing On?“. Lee’s recent success has been …
060: Khaled Khalafalla – How comedy killed the radio star
Khaled Khalafalla has had a meteoric rise in comedy. But it could have turned out very different. Born into a medical family of surgeons and dentists, and growing up in Saudi Arabia and New Zealand, comedy’s call must have been strong. Now calling Melbourne home, Khaled has well and truly put his mark on the comedy map, having come runner …
059: David Tulk – ‘No Filter’ but still lovable
Comedian David Tulk has been performing stand-up comedy for the past 15 years, and today he’s a regular feature at comedy rooms around Australia. A straight talker, Tulk’s rough edges are emphasised by the titles of his productions, namely his upcoming stand-up show ‘David Tulk has No Filter‘ and his YouTube video series, “Some People Are Just Arseholes.“ In this …
058: Marty Wilson – More Funny, More Money
Marty Wilson is an award winning comedian. He’s also an author, and in this Hard Knocks podcast we talk about his new book ON comedy – More Funny, More Money. Originally an online course, also called More Funny, More Money, the book was the obvious evolution, and in the interview Marty highlights that humour is not only useful on a …