In 1988 The Comedy Company changed the face of Australian sketch comedy. Kylie Mole, Uncle Arthur, Con the Fruiterer, and Colin Carpenter became part of the Australian lexicon. So too their creators – Mary-Anne Faye, Glenn Robbins, Mark Mitchell and Kym Gyngell, as well as Russell Gilbert, Tim Smith and, the group’s founder, Ian McFadyen. You know them as comedy …
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 – 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 David Tulk – ‘No Filter’ but still lovable
The audio interview of this transcript with comedian David Tulk is available here. Comedian David Tulk is a lovable comedian – which is a surprise, because his comedy is antagonistic, biting and sometimes plain rude. And yet, his audience still buys him beers after the show. In this Hard Knock Knocks podcast interview, comedian David Tulk talks about how he …
Stand-up School Sends 27 to Raw
Australia runs one of the largest amateur stand-up comedy competitions in the world; Raw Comedy. But don’t be fooled by the name. While the heat’s comic quality can be hit-or-miss, the grand final at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival is world class. And competition is fierce! This is what 27 graduates of the Hard Knock Knocks have volunteered for. These …
069: Jeff Green – Building a comedy career, twice
If there’s a single take away message from this interview, then it’s about embracing change. British born comedian, Jeff Green, was at the top of his game in the UK, performing as an equal with comedy greats, featuring on TV and radio, and even living next door to Ricky Gervais. His career, fame, comedy connections, and bank balance were bigger …
051: Adam Jacobs – The best daze of his life and more
Adam Jacobs has popped the cherry of quite a few first time stand-up comedians. You see he runs an open mic night at Highlander Bar, in the heart of Melbourne’s CBD, and has helped hundreds of newbie comedians kick-start their comedy career. He’s also an accomplished comedian, and in this Hard Knock Knocks podcast episode, we talk about his upcoming …
040: Ben Horowitz – Looking back on 2017
What a year we’ve had at the School of Hard Knock Knocks. In this episode, Ben Horowitz and Morry Morgan talk about the year that was, the celebrity guest comedians who taught our stand-up comedy courses across Australia, the personalities that emerged from our comedy graduates, as well as the upcoming opportunity for our “Best” graduates to perform at the …
012: Michael Shafar – How Jewish-ish and community TV led to comedy success
Comedian Michael Shafar is a stand-up comic and writer for The Project on Network Ten. But this success hasn’t happened overnight. Like most stand-up comedians it started off with bombing at his first open mic, and then two years of performing at every opportunity that presented itself. His next step was hosting ‘The Leak’ on community television station, Channel 31, before …