School of Hard Knock Knocks graduates

Meet the Aussie comedy company that pays its customers

It should be a joke, but it’s so successful. One Aussie comedy company, the Hard Knock Knocks, has turned the traditional business model of suppliers being paid by customers on its head. Instead they pay their customers! So what is their business? They teach stand-up comedy. The business model flip isn’t a marketing fad either. The school was established in …

Jeff Green Comedian

Jeff Green – Building a comedy career, twice!

Listen to the audio interview of British comedian Jeff Green by clicking here. Morry Morgan: Jeff Green. Thank you very much for your time today. Jeff Green: Hello Morry. Well, we know each other anyway, because I’ve done some mentoring for some of your Hard Knock Knock participants and have done a couple of your gigs and I’ve got some …

Comedian Fady Kassab

Comedian Fady Kassab – Winning Raw Comedy from the back of his head

The audio interview of this transcript with comedian Fady Kassab is available here. Steve D.: Comedian Fady Kassab, welcome to the Hard Knock Knocks podcast. Fady Kassab: Thanks for having me. Excited to be here. Steve D.: Now I’m told that you started standup in 2017 but originally, you came to Australia to study web design. Obviously you’re a pretty talented …

The Nelson Twins - Comedians

Life on the Australian comedy circuit

The Australian comedy circuit is tough. Unlike the US, where large comedy-club-supporting cities are separated by a few hours drive, it can take a day, or longer to get to the next audience in Oz. Worst still, these towns (yes, normally towns), are not linked by air, but by long, boring single lane roads and zero visual inspiration. How to …

086: Lee Ton – Where are you from from?

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What does it take to create a one-man comedy show? In this podcast episode, graduate of the School of Hard Knock Knocks, Lee Ton, shares how he harnessed peer group pressure and advice from successful comedians to take the plunge, with his up coming Melbourne Fringe show, “Where are you from from?”. Host Steve Davis also peppers Lee with questions …

Comedian Gavin Sempel

Gavin Sempel – The hard road to Raw Comedy

The audio interview of this transcript with Gavin Sempel is available here. Morry: Comedian Gavin Sempel is one of the hardest working new comics in Australia. At the age of 18, in March 2016, Gavin Sempel began his stand up comedy career by enrolling in the very first Hard Knock Knocks course. Two years later, almost to the day, he’s …

084: Viet Bui – Vietnam to VB

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Alumnus Viet Bui, or ‘VB’ as he’s known on the comedy circuit, is one of the Hard Knock Knocks most active comedy graduates, performing constantly in his home city of Adelaide, and also at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. In this Hard Knock Knocks podcast host Steve Davis asks VB what got him into stand-up, Vietnamese parents, how he balances …

Comedian Nikki Osborne

Nikki Osborne – Go hard or go home

The audio interview of this transcript with comedian Nikki Osborne is available here. Morry: In her very first Melbourne International Comedy Festival show, comedian Nikki Osborne, not only sold out, but also managed to attract over $100,000 of free or earned publicity for her show, On The Spectrum. That’s the good news. The bad news was she also endured an …

082: Cam Knight – Wistful wisdom and pissing in dishwashers

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What are the ingredients to become a stand-up comedian? For Australian comedian Cam Knight it was larrikinism, peer group pressure, and The Life of Brian. In this Hard Knock Knocks podcast, host Steve Davis talks to comedian and actor Cam Knight about his city-hopping comedy career, butterfly gags, and performing at the Sydney Opera House. Cam also talks about the …