Lehmo – The comedic journey from balls to sails

The audio interview of this transcript is available here.

Lehmo is one of Australia’s favourite comedians, both on stage and on TV. Star of Utopia, That’s Not My Dog, and regular on The Project, Lehmo’s comedy naturally dabbles in satire, showmanship, and current affairs.

In this School of Hard Knock Knocks podcast episode, Anthony ‘Lehmo’ Lehmann discloses his original and embarrassing nickname, his journey from Adelaide’s Rundle Mall ‘balls’ to Sydney’s Opera House ‘sails’. His book, This Shirt Won’t Iron Itself, making that jump into being a full-time comic, and advice for you, the up and coming comedian.

Morry:              Good afternoon, Lehmo.

Lehmo:             Hello, Morry. It is a pleasure to be with you. You know Maurie is a famous Australian comedy name?

Morry:              Yeah, Maurie Fields?

Lehmo:             I know it’s spelled differently, but yeah, Maurie Fields who of course is one of the greats, one of the great old school comedians. Sadly not with us anymore. But a very funny man, as is his son Marty, of course.

Morry:              Yeah, Marty Fields. Yeah, I grew up on a good, solid diet of Hey, Hey! It’s Saturday. So both Maurie and Marty were part of that. Yeah, definitely. Because I only got Morry when I was a teenager. It was a nickname because … I’m actually Andrew, my real name, and you’re an Anthony. And actually my first question is about nicknames, because Lehmo wasn’t your first nickname, I believe. I think it was a bit more dubious, wasn’t it?

Lehmo:             Yeah. Well, my nickname for a while, and I reveal this in my book, and I hadn’t spoken about it over the years. Mind you, I didn’t really have course to speak about it, but my nickname when I was a kid was Turd.

Morry:              Turd.

Lehmo:             Which was given to me … I had three older brothers, and we grew up on a farm and they thought that I was a little shit. A little shit is a turd, as in a sheep’s turd, and so that’s how that came about, and it just bloody stuck. Everyone called me that. Even school teachers would call me that. It was quite bizarre. And I was saying … Not many people utter this line, but I was saved by boarding school. So when I went to boarding school in year 10 … So I left the farm, went to boarding school in year 10, and no one at boarding … I didn’t know anyone there and no one knew me. So it was an absolute fresh start. So I was able to escape the horrors of the nickname, “Turd.”

Lehmo:             But whenever I went home, people would call me that. Even now. I’m deep in my 40’s, there’s still occasionally people that call me that. It’s very strange, but my mum used to go nuts when she heard people call me that. She would be absolutely furious, and it’s how my brothers used to deliberately try and get under her skin, by calling me that in front of her. But anyway, I’ve shaken the nickname, gotten rid of the nickname Turd now.

Morry: Thank god.

Lehmo: And with a far more pleasant, Lehmo.

Morry: Lehmo. It is nice. But of course, every single brother … All your brothers could have also been a Lehmo as well, couldn’t they?

Lehmo: Well, they could have, but none of them were, oddly enough. And I wasn’t Lehmo until I got to boarding school. So my brothers just went by their given names, which is very un-Australian. So my brother Bernard was Bernie. Kelvin became [Keln 00:05:54], and Timothy was Tim, and none of them were Lehmo. So I was the sole Lehmo to come out of four boys. And my sister, I guess she was never gonna be Lehmo. She was Helen and everyone calls her Helen.

Morry:              Yeah, great. Well, big Catholic family, I believe.

Lehmo:             Indeed, yes. Yeah, absolutely.

Morry:              Is there anything else? There’s only a big Catholic family, isn’t there?

Lehmo:             I guess. I’m sure there are big families in other religions, but we always attach it to being Catholic.

Morry:              It is. Yeah. It’s your stereotype. But it sounds like your older brothers were born in the 1800’s.

Lehmo:             With those names?

Morry:  Yeah.

Lehmo: Yeah, just because, again, good Catholic names. All named after saints.

Morry: Oh, there we go.

Lehmo:             Apart from Kelvin. I don’t think Kelvin was a saint. Anyway.

Morry:              No, I like to name … I haven’t, but I’ve already got a son. It’s too late now. But St Kilda, named after a non-saint, but everyone wonders, was he really? Have you never wondered that? Who Saint Kilda is?

Lehmo:             No, I have never wondered that. I’m curious now, though. I’m gonna look it up.

Morry:              Yeah. Well, the bad news is-

Lehmo:             As soon as I get off the phone, I’m googling Saint Kilda.

Morry:              Okay. Well, for the listeners, there is no Saint Kilda. It’s actually an island in Scotland and it was renamed accidentally, I think by a cardiographer who probably scribbled something in cursive and it came out as Saint Kilda. And then someone in Melbourne at the time when they were dividing the land was thinking of a name for the region, and there was a boat called St Kilda and it was a Scottish boat, and it was in the harbor. Yeah, so it’s not … Nothing religious at all, thank God, because it’s really the pinnacle of sin in Melbourne, isn’t it?

Lehmo:             It is. It is indeed. And the name of the St Kilda football club, so.

Morry:              Fantastic. But you’re a Hawthorn fan? A tragic Hawthorn fan, I believe. We have one thing in common, apart from having nicknames. We have another thing in common. My wife’s name is Rio Li, and of course Rioli as one word is one of your top players.

Lehmo:             What a great Hawthorn name your wife has.

Morry:              I know.

Lehmo:             Has anyone else identified the fact that her name is Rioli?

Morry:              Well, so my dad … I’m a Collingwood family. My wife with the name Rio Li, she’s from Chinese background so doesn’t have the generational Collingwood support. But when we do watch … My dad and I watch together Hawthorn vs Collingwood, just recently in fact in the finals for the AFL, the Australian Football League for those people who have no idea what we’re talking about … Came across the screen. It was just quite cute, I guess. Nothing more than that.

Lehmo:             Well, there is a Rioli at the West Coast Eagles. There’s a Rioli at Richmond, and there was one at Hawthorn until last year. But that name Rio Li, your wife’s name, if there are Hawthorn fans and tragic Hawthorn fans, I bet that if someone has a daughter they will now go, “Aha! What a great name!” So they can call their daughter Rio, first name, Li, middle name, and then whatever it is.

Morry:              Perfect. Yes. Yes, I could see that. Yeah, better than Dominico, isn’t it? It’s a bit easier. Rolls of the tongue.

Lehmo:             Look, if your wife’s name was [Dipia 00:09:30] Dominico, I’d come asking questions.

Morry:              She’d be a very hairy woman, I imagine. So you are a tragic, Hawthorn fan, surprisingly though because you’re from South Australia originally. You haven’t gone for the Crows or Port?

Lehmo:             Yeah, I am. So no, I grew up in the country and my team in the country had brown and gold stripes on their jumpers. So I was just always a mad Hawthorn fan, and then when the Crows joined the AFL in 1991, the Adelaide Crows, I had … Hawthorn had delivered me way too much joy.

Morry:              That’s true.

Lehmo:             Across the 80’s for me to jump off board and join the Crows. So I stuck with the Hawks and they’ve delivered me plenty of joy ever since.

Morry:              They have and there is quite a number of comedians who support Hawthorn. I imagine when you do … Have you ever done a charity event or raised for the Hawthorn club?

Lehmo:             Yeah. I mean, I do lots of stuff for Hawks. I’ve done stuff with [inaudible 00:10:28] who’s a Hawthorn fan. I’ve done a couple of things with Pete [Rosethorn 00:10:35] who’s also a mad Hawthorn fan. Jimeoin, also barracks for the Hawks, I believe. And Ernie from Elbow Skin is a Hawthorn fan, and I’m trying to think of … Declan Faye and Michael Chamberlain are also Hawthorn fans. Yeah, you’re right. There’s quite a few of us.

Morry:              There’s quite a few, yeah. I’ve got a friend who does get involved in the Hawthorn on a business level with events and raises, and he has no problem getting a comedian for any of those events. Well, talking about getting comedians together, you just came back from Sydney. You did a JFL, a Just For Laughs event there. At the Opera House, no less.

Lehmo:             It was at the Opera House, yes, yes, yes.

Morry:              I looked at the lineup and I had trouble finding any comedians from Sydney in that lineup.

Lehmo:             Well, now that you mention it, I’m actually struggling to think of any as well. I know Matt [inaudible 00:11:26] was on across the Just For Laughs festival.

Morry:              But he’s from Brisbane, isn’t he?

Lehmo:             Actually, originally he is, yes. He lives in Sydney now.

Morry:              Yeah, he does. Yeah.

Lehmo:             You know what? The only Sydney comic I can think of is Steve [Phillips 00:11:39] who was doing the audience warmup.

Morry:              There you go.

Lehmo:             And wasn’t actually part of the broadcast section of the show. You’re right. We’re all from Melbourne or Adelaide.

Morry:              Yeah. So there you go, Sydney.

Lehmo:             Now that I think about it.

Morry:              What’s going on? This is a good opportunity for a little plug. We do a standup comedy course. We’ve been doing it for the last two years in Melbourne and also in Adelaide, but we’re starting next year in Sydney. So maybe we can help that problem. So next time JFL does their Sydney show, hopefully an actual Sydney comedian can be on it.

Lehmo:             A little bit of Sydney representation. Yeah. Come on, Sydney. Pulls your socks up. Seriously. I mean, we know Melbourne’s the capital of comedy in Australia, but Sydney should have more than none at the Just For Laughs festival at the Opera House, for crying out loud.

Morry:              It is a bit embarrassing.

Lehmo:             But it was an amazing experience to be at the Opera House. I was there with Justin Hamilton who I started doing comedy with 24 years ago now. Hamo and I started together, and we sat at a Bolts Cafe. There’s where we did our first open mic spots. Bolts Cafe in Adelaide, [Rundell 00:12:50] St in Adelaide. To be on the same bill at the Opera House was cool for us to be able to say, “Wow, that’s a hell of a journey we’ve had.” Had a lot of fun in between times, mind you. But it was cool.

Morry:              No, absolutely.

Lehmo:             This all started at Bolts Cafe in Adelaide, and here we are at the Opera House.

Morry:              Yeah. From the balls to the sails.

Lehmo:             Yeah, that’s right.

Morry:              That could be the name of your next book.

Lehmo:             From the balls to sails? I like it.

Morry:              Yeah, balls to sails.

Lehmo:             I like it.

Morry:              Yeah, that’s Rundall Mall balls, by the way, for reference. Anyone who doesn’t know Adelaide-

Lehmo:             If you’re planning a trip to Adelaide, you must check out the balls, of course.

Morry:              They’re like our Yellow Peril in Melbourne. That yellow squarish thing that gets moved around. What’s that called? Do you know that one?

Lehmo:             What thing is that? I can’t think of that thing?

Morry:              It used to be at Batman Park, opposite the casino, but the casino probably has complained about it. It was this yellow squarish … Oh, it was probably seven foot tall. Squarish but angular, and I think it had a proper name, but it was called the Yellow Peril for probably most of the 70’s and 80’s since it’s been developed. Look, I think it’s as Aussie as the Burke and Wills statues on the corner of Collins and Swanston, but … But there you go.

Lehmo:             Well, like that can’t be missed if you’re in Adelaide, you must go and visit the Malls Balls.

Morry:              See the balls.

Lehmo:             They are famous.

Morry:              It is the Opera House of Adelaide, because that’s not much more is there in Adelaide for landmarks.

Lehmo:             As far as landmarks go … Gee, what is there? There’s not really.

Morry:              The stadium, probably.

Lehmo:             Not much else going on.

Morry:              The river.

Lehmo:             There’s a couple of pigs up Rundall Mall. So that can be exciting. There’s [Torrens 00:14:45] River. I tell you what, that really is about it, as far as actual landmarks go.

Morry:              No, that’s right. And your tram doesn’t even go all the way to North Adelaide.

Lehmo:             You know what? It’s getting there.

Morry:              It just stops. Oh, is it?

Lehmo:             I was in Adelaide yesterday and I drove up O’Connell St, and the tram is slowly edging past Adelaide Oval. Now, I don’t know if the plan is to go the length of O’Connell St up to the top of North Adelaide there, but it’s pushing itself in that direction. So one day. I’m holding out hope that the tram will make it all the way through North Adelaide.

Morry:              Yeah. No, well, there you go. I’ve been to Adelaide a number of times and I’m heading back to Adelaide in two weeks’ time for our Adelaide course, with another Adelaidean, Glenn Nicholas, who’s started busking in the Rundall Mall next to the balls.

Lehmo:             Yeah. He would know the balls very, very well, Glenn.

Morry:              He did. I think that was … In fact, he was probably the landmark in Adelaide back in the 80’s.

Lehmo:             It could well have been him. I tell you what, he was … The big gig, which was a TV show on the ABC, and if your listeners haven’t ever heard of that show, they should go and check it out on YouTube. And Glenn Nicholas was one of the stars of that show, and that show was one of the things that made me want to get into comedy.

Morry:              Is that right?

Lehmo:             It was so audacious and like nothing I’d ever seen before, and so hilarious. It really opened my eyes into some of the things that were possible, as far as comedy was concerned.

Morry:              Sure. It was such [inaudible 00:16:21]. You had the Doug Anthy all-stars on there as well, and it was filmed live. Maybe with a five second delay or something.

Lehmo:             Yeah. Crazy. And Wendy Harmer and the empty pockets, and Greg Fleet was on it from time to time. And Doug closed out every show. It was just an amazing production.

Morry:              Absolutely. And so, that’s a good segue. I’ll go back. You mentioned that you started … That got you into comedy, because were you an accountant at one time? I heard this rumor.

Lehmo:             I was.

Morry:              Oh, that’s embarrassing.

Lehmo:             I was an accountant for 10 years, yes. And there’s not many of us who have gone from accounting into comedy. In fact, I met ever I think only two others.

Morry:              Dilruk.

Lehmo:             There’s Dil, who’s also a Hawthorn fan. We’ve got a lot in common, Dil and I. And the other guy is a bloke called Fred McCauley who’s a Scottish comedian and who I met a couple of times in the UK. But that’s it. I can’t think of another one. Hughsey studied accounting, but … Hughsey says he did accounting, but I think he might have studied a couple of accounting modules at university. So he was never actually an accountant. A few lawyers go into comedy, which makes sense, because you’ve got to be good with your words. But yeah, not a natural fit or natural flow from accounting to comedy.

Morry:              And when I interviewed Dilruk earlier this year on this podcast, I said to him … I set it up. I said, “Mate, you’ve got this massive handicap here in Australia,” and I was going … I was leading him down a path, and I said, “Mate, you’re a former accountant.” Obviously, I was alluding to his Sri Lankan heritage, but went straight for the accounting. Good standup comedy trick there.

Lehmo:             It’s a massive disadvantage. I will say this, though. An advantage in the sense that there’s only two of us. So there’s a world of accounting jokes that just Dil and I are sharing.

Morry:              There you go. Absolutely.

Lehmo:             Yeah. I don’t know how big the audience is who wants to hear those accounting jokes, but still.

Morry:              Do accountants go out to watch comedy?

Lehmo:             Look, I did, which is how I got in to comedy. But do other accountants? I’m sure they do. I’m sure they do.

Morry:              They do. They do.

Lehmo:             What happens these days though is people don’t call themselves accountants anymore. They say they’re in business advisory or they’re consultants or financial managers. They don’t say accounting because it has a boring undertone.

Morry:              No, I can understand that. And, well, you’ve got a lot of mediums to make your accounting jokes anyway, because you’ve written a book as you alluded to earlier. Is this This Shirt Won’t Iron Itself? Is that the one?

Lehmo:             That is correct, and that has a dual meaning. One is it’s something my mum used to say. So she would say … I’d say, “Can you do this for me?” And she’d say, “This shirt won’t iron itself,” meaning you’ve got to get off your ass and do something. So she used to say these dishes won’t do themselves, this bed won’t make itself, the car won’t clean itself, etc. So that was her way of saying, “Get off your ass and do your jobs.” And the second reference is, when I finally quit my accounting job to get into comedy, I’d really lost interest for the last six months and I knew … Well, really, the last three months. Like really, really lost interest in the last three months, because I just wanted to get into comedy full-time. And when I eventually went into my boss’s office to quit, I sat down and he said, “You’re about to resign, aren’t you?” And I said, “How do you know?” And he said, “Because you haven’t ironed your shirt for the last three months.” And I went, oh, yeah. Right. And I said to him, “Well, this shirt won’t iron itself.”

Lehmo:             So that’s the double meaning. So I really stopped … I stopped wearing a tie to work. I stopped ironing my shirts. I stopped shaving. I didn’t really look very accounting like in the end. I looked more like a homeless bloke who’s

Morry:              You gotta be a comedian or a meth head. One of the two.

Lehmo:             I think they were worried I might’ve had a meth lab set up at home given my general appearance.

Morry:              Right. What was that movie? Falling Down. Come in with your briefcase that’s empty. It’s got nothing in it. Kill everyone.

Lehmo:             Exactly. In those dying days of my life as an accountant, I … Justin Hamilton and I ran a Tuesday night gig in Adelaide at [TJ 00:21:13] Brian’s, and it was a really good successful gig and we did a pretty good job of running it. We used to get a really good crowd in there every week. And every Tuesday after the show, we would go to Q Bar, which was on Rundall St in Adelaide. And one night, we were standing at the bar and there was Hamo, myself, and Adam Hills, and we’re standing there having a drink at the end of the bar. And I turned around and behind us a curtain was on fire, and I was like, “Oh, what the hell’s going on there?” Anyway, we tried to call staff over. Anyway, the joint burnt down.

Morry:              Oh, Jesus.

Lehmo:             Yeah. It was crazy. The whole place obviously had to be evacuated. Anyway, Q Bar burnt down. That was the end of Q Bar in Adelaide. It reopened years later as something else. And out the front of the building journalists turned up and fire brigade obviously and everything else, and I spoke to a couple of journalists who were there. So not the next day’s paper because it was too late, but the day after there was a story about it in the paper, and the story read. Blah, blah, blah, fire. And it said, “Patron Anthony Lehman said that it started with a curtain in the corner of the room and then the place just went up really quick,” something like that. Anyway, my boss at the accounting firm I was working at calls me into his office. He holds the newspaper article up. He says, “What were you doing at a night club at 3:00 on Wednesday morning?” And I went, “Oh, yeah. Right.” Because I started work there at 8:00, yet I was still out at a night club at 3:00 AM. So that was just another indicator that I’d slightly lost interest in my day job.

Morry:              He He wasn’t worried that you were a potential pyromaniac?

Lehmo:             No.

Morry:              No, just that you didn’t clock in on time.

Lehmo:             He said I was probably a little bit tired in at the office that day.

Morry:              You smell a lot like smoke today, Anthony. What’s going on? Burning plastic.

Lehmo:             You’re wearing the same clothes you’ve worn for four days and you don’t have shoes on. Yeah, it’s funny. I called 000 for that fire, right? So we’re running down the stairs. I called 000 and they say, “Fire, police, or ambulance?” So I say, “Fire.” And then the next call they say, “Which city are you in?” I say, “Adelaide.” And then someone answers the phone and says, “You’ve got a fire, mate?” I go, “Yeah.” And he goes, “Where are you?” I said, “Rundall St, Adelaide.” And they say, “What number on Rundall St?” And I said, “I don’t know.” He said, “Can you find out?” And I said, “Mate, it’s not that hard to miss. It’s the one that’s on fire.” And he goes, “Okay. We’ll see you shortly.” And needless to say they found the building that was up in flames.

Morry:              There we go. And so did all his debt, I imagine, as well, with the insurance payout. No?

Lehmo:             Yes, well, I imagine it was of some description. But yeah, it opened … It was years later. It took two or three years for a new club to open up. They’re called Sugar.

Morry:              There we go.

Lehmo:             Which is also a fringe venue now.

Morry:              There we go. Well, that’s awesome. Well, you mentioned fringe so I’m gonna go there. Are you doing any fringe shows for next years’ Fringe Festival in Adelaide?

Lehmo:             So I’m gonna be over in Adelaide for a weekend of the Fringe, but I don’t have any shows penciled in at this stage, and I’m not doing a solo show there. But I am doing a show in Launceston at the Launnie Comedy Festival, which is a new festival starting up next year.

Morry:              That’s right. Chris Franklin, is he behind that or is he just one of them? I saw that. He said big news and then announced it.

Lehmo:             Yeah. So Chris is absolutely one of the organizers of that festival, and they’re all very excited about it down there in Launnie. So I’m doing that and Melbourne Comedy Festival.

Morry:              Melbourne Comedy. For those people who are not from Australia, Launnie as Lehmo has shortened, is Launceston. And it’s pronounced LON-ceston even though you’d look at it and read it as LAWN-ceston. And it’s the top part of Tasmania. I assume tickets are going to be pricey for the Spirit that particular week.

Lehmo:             Yeah. I would’ve thought get in early would be my advice. But it’s a beautiful part of the country, Launceston.

Morry:              Absolutely.

Lehmo:             In fact, the whole of Tassie is fantastic. So get on down there for the Launnie Comedy Festival.

Morry:              Launnie Comedy Festival. It’s awesome. It’s awesome. Now we are slightly off order, but that’s fine. I’m gonna go back a little bit to some advice. So the people that listen to this podcast are often newcomers to comedy. Maybe they’ve been in the game for a year, two years. They might be someone who’s interested in starting standup comedy and wants to know how. Obviously the rules change all the time, but if you were to give any advice to an up and coming comedian, what would it be?

Lehmo:             Look, the number one bit of advice I always give comics is do as many gigs as you possibly can. Just do gigs, gigs, gigs, gigs, gigs. So do heaps of gigs, write as much material as you can, and record your spots and listen back to them. They’re the three main bits of advice I’d give you as regards stand up. And I’d say find comedy buddies as well, people you trust and connect with that you can talk to about your comedy, because it’s nice to have a handful of reliable mates that you can ring and say, “Hey, I’ve had a thought about this bit. What do you reckon?” Or you just sit down … Even just catching up. You sit down, you talk shit together, and you just generate comedy. So get your comedy posse together, and just do as many gigs as you can. Just keep booking gigs.

Lehmo:             And from a business perspective, because you are a small business when you’re a standup comedian. Get to know people who run the rooms because they’re the people who book you, and always be really grateful for the stage time they give you, because they don’t have to give you stage time. So when they do, just make sure that you’re grateful for it. And don’t ever treat a club owner like they owe you something, because they don’t owe you anything. And if you disappear off the face of the earth, the club’s going to be just fine without you. You know what I mean? Some comedians, I’ve seen them come and go over the years. New comics come in and all of a sudden they think they’re a rockstar on day one, and there a complete asshole. And they say, “Well, I’m never going to book you again in this room.” So be really grateful for all the stage time that you get. And if you are grateful, it’ll have an exponential effect that’ll get more and more stage time.

Morry:              Well, that’s awesome. Has that been a running theme? We’ve met, as I mentioned, off air. We met a couple of times very briefly. You had no idea who I was and you gave me a lot for a stranger coming off and introducing himself to you. You’ve been super nice. I know nice can sometimes be a euphemism for not very attractive, but what I mean by that is you come across as someone … You seem to focus. You give 100% attention when you’re talking to me, at least. And I notice that your success, going from a country town to … All these handicaps. A, from a country town. B, you were an accountant. C, you come from South Australia and Adelaide. So three strikes.

Lehmo:             I really had the odds against me.

Morry:              You did. And here you are, books, TV. Of course everyone knows you from Utopia, but you’ve done other TV shows of course as well. Radio, you’re into Triple M now. In another radio station prior to that. Movies. That’s Not My Dog, I think, was the most recent one. Was that Shane Jacobson?

Lehmo:             Yes, that’s correct. In fact, this year. This 2018.

Morry:              Just came out, yeah. That’s right. Awesome. Now, all these successes. I’m assuming it’s because you’re nice, but maybe it’s something else.

Lehmo:             Yeah, look, I mean, I guess being nice doesn’t … I mean, it’s not going to work against you, I don’t think, even though people say sometimes nice guys come last. I mean, you say nice, I just say, for me it’s just normal, I guess. You meet people and you be respectful and you talk to them. Maybe it’s that country upbringing that I had back in South Australia taught me. I had niceness beat into me as a kid. I didn’t have a … Metaphorically beat into me. But I think, you know what? It’s hard work wins the day. That’s what gets you all these opportunities. Hard work and just treating people well absolutely helps. There’s no question about that. But it really is hard work. It’s the amount of work you do and the quality of the work you do, and the combination of those two things will deliver the results you’re after. And some people are fortunate enough to be unbelievably gifted, so perhaps they don’t have to work as hard, but you’re never going to find someone at the top of the tree who hasn’t worked hard. People might look at Carl Barron and go, “Oh, it’s so effortless.” But you can bet your bottom dollar that behind the scenes, Carl Barron absolutely works his ass off to create the comedy that he creates.

Morry:              Yes. And I believe he’s coming out with a book, according to his agent?

Lehmo:             Oh, is he?

Morry:              Yeah.

Lehmo:             Right. Well, I imagine that will be hilarious. And I also imagine it will be a bestseller. He’s a goddamn freak, Carl. People love him so much, and I get it because he’s hilarious. But people just love him. Even to the point where … I mean, he did a stand up special on ABC2. I think it was last year. Now, I was looking at Twitter. I saw Carl Barron was the number five trending topic in Australia. And I thought, “Geez, what’s Carl doing?” So I click on it. His special was on ABC2 at like 9:30 on a Thursday night. I mean, ABC2 shows that are on at 9:30 on Thursday night never trend on Twitter. But there he was. He’s just an amazing comic.

Morry:              He’s good. Hopefully I can get him on here, but I’ve asked his agents and they’ve said no, he has to finish his book. So we’ll let you know.

Lehmo:             He’s a hard man to track down.

Morry:              Yes, I imagine so.

Lehmo:             Or hard man to pin down, I should say.

Morry:              Yeah, no. You can go see him … You can pay money to see him, but yeah. Having an interview’s a different thing. Well, talking about getting down, where can someone come and see you? What have you got coming up in the next couple of months? Obviously, you’ll be in Adelaide as you mentioned and Launceston, but maybe before then.

Lehmo:             Yes. What am I doing? I’m going on a couple of cruises. I’m not sure which cruise ships they are, but I’ve got a comedy cruise in a couple of weeks in December, and then one early February. What else am I doing? I’ve got a gig at, I think it’s the Manhattan Hotel, on about the 17th of January. You can go to my website actually and get dates there. Lehmo.com.au.

Morry:              Perfect. That’s good.

Lehmo:             That’s probably the best place for me to send people, actually.

Morry:              That’s excellent. That’s excellent. And given that you’ve gone from books to radio to TV to movies. What’s next? The stage show?

Lehmo:             I don’t think you’ll see me in a stage show any time soon.

Morry:              Shane Jacobson might put you in one.

Lehmo:             Shane Jacobson’s way more talented than me. There’s no way I can do what he does.

Morry:              He’s a good dancer, too. Have you seen him dance?

Lehmo:             He’s got it all. He’s a quadruple threat, Shane Jacobson.

Morry:              Yeah. He is.

Lehmo:             He can act, he’s funny, he sings, he dances. He’s got it all. So, no. No stage production for me. Unless fat bloke on couch eating pizza is a role that comes up in a stage play sometime.

Morry:              Gogglebox the stage show or something, is it?

Lehmo:             Yeah. Hey, there it is. I could do that.

Morry:              Nice one. Well, fantastic. So I think you’ve pretty much answered my last two questions, which is where people can get hold of you, and if they want a book you, are you an approachable comedian? Can people for sports clubs or conferences or whatever get you?

Lehmo:             Yeah, 100%. Yeah, absolutely. Again, on my website, the contact details are there. Or you can just hit me up on Twitter or Instagram or Facebook.

Morry:              Beautiful.

Lehmo:             And we can take it from there.

Morry:              Awesome. Well, fantastic. Lehmo. Anthony. I’m not gonna use your original nickname. It’s just too rude, though-

Lehmo:             It is too rude. No, I’ve buried that nickname. Well and truly buried that one.

Morry:              I really hope no one listens to this podcast and starts a new habit of calling you that word. You’d blame me for it, wouldn’t you?

Lehmo:             Someone will heckle me with it. They’ll just yell it out in a crowd and it’ll really put my off my game, too. So if you’re a heckler … Do hecklers listen to your podcast?

Morry:              I think yeah, no doubt. Yeah, I think that’s all we appeal to. Assholes.

Lehmo:             That’s a good bit of fuel there for you. Just yell that out. But Morry, it’s been a pleasure, mate. Really enjoyed chatting with you.

Morry:              Excellent.

Lehmo:             Always love talking about comedy.

Morry:              Excellent. Well, thanks very much. Have a great rest of the week.

Lehmo:             Good on you. Thanks, mate.

Morry:              Cheers.