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, Cameron is well known, having made the national final of Raw Comedy, performed all over Australia, and has representation. …
053: Gavin Sempel – The hard road to Raw Comedy
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 School of 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 School of Hard Knock Knocks podcast episode, we talk about his …
“The Best Of” at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival
A total of 39 graduates of the School of Hard Knock Knocks will be performing at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival (MICF) this year. Each of the 12 shows, starting on April 5 and concluding on April 15, are an hour long, and include a different mix of four graduates each night, plus MC Ben Horowitz. Ben is the co-founder …
048: Damian Callinan – Espy zero to Wagga Wagga hero
Damian Callinan is one of Australia’s most versatile performers. Actor, writer and comedian all rolled into one. As you’ll hear in this School of Hard Knock Knocks’ podcast Damian’s journey to comedy began as dabbling in theatre, then dying at the Espy, competing at Raw Comedy, before jumping into the movies – including his most recent comedy movie, The …
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 …
046: Adam Rozenbachs – Bringing comedy from Carlton to Kabul
Adam Rozenbachs has an impressive comedic resume that includes writing, broadcasting, acting, and of course stand-up. His humour has been known to be cutting at times, and in this interview host Morry and Adam discuss poorly timed Tweets and bouncing back after a media backlash. Adam also shares how he generates new material, why it’s important to have a people …