Charne

Graduate Highlight: Charné

South African born Charné performed her debut stand-up comedy performance at the Hard Knock Knocks Comedy School in February, and as you can see she nailed it. Witty, sassy with humility to self criticise, Charné quickly won over the audience, becoming a favourite for the night. Charné perfomed alongside comedy greats, Bradford Oakes and Dave O’Neil, as well as returning …

Best New Comer Laurence Driscoll

Comedy school alumni nominated for ‘Best Newcomer’

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 …

Hard Knock Knocks Knocks Students

Australian comedians building the next generation

Some of the Australia’s funniest stand-up comedians coach the Hard Knock Knocks comedy courses around Australia. Actually, that’s not entirely true. We also have funny Brits (Jeff Green and Glynn Nicholas), Japanese (Mayumi Nobetsu) and did you know that Greg Fleet is actually an American?! These hilarious comics provide advice, give feedback, and share their comedic journeys. They also perform …

Comedian pointing by Jena Friedman

A Guide to Melbourne’s Comedy Rooms

So you’re after a fun night out, and watching stand-up comedy in Melbourne is at the top of the list. Well, you’re in luck, because Melbourne, and its neighbouring inner suburbs, has some of the best comedy clubs, pubs and rooms in the world! Really! Lonely Planet writer, Tim Richards, ranks North Melbourne’s The Comic’s Lounge as the world’s number 7, …

081: Matt O’Neill – Being delightfully dark

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Matt O’Neill just supported the legendary Steve Hughes. How’d it happen? Like all things great in comedy, luck, a friend of a friend, and humility. In this Hard Knock Knocks interview with our new host, Steve Davis, we learn how Matt O’Neill’s bad experience with a comedian delayed his comedy career, how he has a ‘nice’ persona, and the origin …

076: Gabe Hogan – Raw comedy, radio and cliques

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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 …

068: Dave O’Neil – Producing ‘Dave’ for Pilot Week

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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 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 comedians as …

059: David Tulk – ‘No Filter’ but still lovable

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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 …

Laughter to make Australians more resilient

Never has there been more important time to laugh. News and social media are bombarding us with doomsday predictions, nuclear annihilation, and societal chaos. Not that the kids have noticed. The average kid between 3 and 6 will laugh around 400 to 600 time’s a day, whereas their ‘miserable’ parents only chuckle between 12 to 15 times. It’s not surprising …