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 …
055: Nikki Osborne – Go hard or go home
Australian comedian Nikki Osborne not only sold out her first Melbourne International Comedy Festival (MICF) show, but also managed to attract over 100,000 dollars of free, or ‘earned’, publicity for her show “On the Spectrum”. That was the good news. The bad news was she also endured an emotional onslaught for her show’s topic – autism. In this Hard Knock …
MICF Review 2018 – Rich Hall
The “Cranky Yank”, a true seasoned professional with an impressive CV including performances on Saturday Night Live, is able to have the audience laughing by mocking the politically correct before he even comes on the stage. His prolific use of ‘F bombs’ fits in well with his sarcastic style and demeanour. The America/Australia theme is a fertile ground for his …
054: Cameron James – Building a comedy brand with your own hands
Sometimes anonymity can give you the courage to try something scary. That was the case for Cameron James, the Newcastle born comedian whose first open mic was at Comedy on Edge in Sydney, where he knew no one – intentionally. Today, comedian Cameron James is well known, having made the national final of Raw Comedy, performed all over Australia, …
053: Gavin Sempel – The hard road to Raw Comedy
Australian comedian Gavin Sempel is one of the hardest working new comedians in Australia. At the age of 18, in March 2016, Gavin began his stand-up comedy career by enrolling in the very first Hard Knock Knocks course. Two years later, almost to this day, he’s done close to 300 open mic, curated, and paid gigs all around Australia. Last …
MICF Review – Phil Wang – Kinabalu
Few comedians could successfully weave the Human Papillomavirus, or HPV, and male feminism into a hilarious joke. But that’s no problem for ‘Old Wang’. The Malaysian born Brit, who also refers to himself in multiple first persons, aka White Wang, Horny Wang, and Young Wang, takes the audience on a audible slide-night of his life, from his kungfu father and archaeologist …
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 …
047: The Kagools – Building a comedic brand on slapstick
The Kagools are an award winning, mute physical comedy duo from the UK. Off stage they are the talkative Claire Ford and Nicky Wilkinson. In this interview you’ll learn about the dangers of slapstick, rocking up on stranger’s doorsteps, how to build a brand in comedy through longevity, and the upside of being a double-act. You’ll also get advice on …