Hard Knock Knocks alumni, Laurence Driscoll, has been nominated for ‘Best Newcomer‘ at the 2024 Melbourne International Comedy Festival. The two-time RAW Comedy Victorian State Finalist and So You Think You’re Funny Edinburgh semi-finalist performed a full run of his ‘The Prodigay Son’ (notice the pun?) show. Veteran comedian, Claire Hooper, helped produce the show. Laurence Driscoll’s debut solo show …
If you work for a pub, sports club, RSL or events company then you how difficult it can be to book a stand-up comedian. Searching for suitable comedian, and then coordinating schedules is difficult enough if you’re working with someone famous, like Jeff Green, Bev Killick or Lehmo. But what if your budget only allows for a mid-level comedian. That’s …
Comedian Gabe Hogan has been a Raw Comedy state finalists twice. She’s also built a solid comedy career that has extended into commercial radio. In this Hard Knock Knocks podcast interview, Gabe talks about that initial comedic journey, advice for Raw Comedy competitors, and the importance and dangers of comedy cliques. If you’re curious about how to start a stand-up …
Dave O’Neil has been performing stand-up comedy for an incredible 29 years. It was only fitting that a TV show about his life should be made, and in this School of Hard Knock Knocks podcast Dave O’Neil and host Morry Morgan talk about producing ‘Dave‘ – the show about Dave. We discuss the politics of the TV world, casting stand-up …
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) …
Have you asked yourself, “How do I become a stand-up comedian in Australia?” There’s no one pathway to learn stand-up comedy. Dave Hughes took over four years on the open mic scene, whereas, some, like Chris Franklin and Matt Okine rose to fame quickly. But what is absolutely universal is that there is no substitute for practice. The more often …
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 …
Tegan Higginbotham started comedy when in high school, through the Class Clowns competition. Today, just shy of 30, Tegan has an impressive comedy resume, which includes writing columns, improv, sketch comedy, and stand-up comedy, at festivals right across Australia. This year also happens to be her 12th consecutive Melbourne International Comedy Festival (MICF). And that’s only the half of it. In …
Comedy success requires an ability to overcome and seek new challenges.
