I love Australian comedy. If you’re also an avid fan of Australian comedy, congratulations: you’ve pushed through the cultural cringe that still makes most Australians treat our comedy scene like that odd cousin your family doesn’t like to talk about.
I’m Ben Searle, a Melbourne-based comedian, and Loiter asked me to tell you what your favourite Australian comedian says about you. Our comedy scene is young compared to those in other parts of the world, but with 40 years of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival behind us and more of our acts making waves on the world stage, there’s plenty to celebrate. Like our mates in the music industry, most Aussie comics still have to go to the UK or US before anyone here takes them seriously. We now know there’s another way: be from New Zealand.
If you haven’t engaged with Australian comedy since Rove Live – or you don’t know what that is and I’ve aged myself horribly – consider this your catch-up.
Dave Hughes
You still consider yourself a battler, even though Centrelink is 25 years behind you and you bought your house for $150,000 in 2001. These are tough times for fans of Australia’s hardest-working stand-up – the woke mob is out to get you. Sure, you don’t know much about facts, figures or critical thinking, but you’ve got feelings, an insatiable desire for attention and the kind of energy that makes strangers wonder if breakfast came with dexies. You understand Hughesy’s anger. Who wouldn’t be furious after opening a packet of Snakes Alive and discovering they were all dead? You were once the poster child for the proletariat. Now you’re more at home at Kooyong Tennis Club.
Brett Blake
You have three parking fines in the glovebox and a spreadsheet detailing why none of them are legally binding. People see your mullet and assume you’ve just come back from Thailand. They’re right, but what they don’t know is that you actually took time to honour the culture between sinking bulk Changs. Your teachers would be blown away by how well your small business is doing. The last time they saw you, you were on the roof of your high school.
(Video: Brett Blake)
