Remembering Dave Grant - an outstanding comedian and person

Saturday - 30th of January 2010

Earlier this month, the Australian comedy community lost true legend Dave Grant to his battle with cancer.

One of my earliest memories of Dave was performing with him one of my first trips to Melbourne at the Last Laugh Comedy Club on Collins St. I was a relative newby to the national circuit at that stage and Dave was headliner for the night. I struggled with my rhythm the whole set, then watched in total appreciation as Dave went up and just torched the night.

Far from ignoring my work or dismissing me as just some kid having a crack, Dave (who by the way had offered to hold the camera and video my set for me that night, when he could well have been excused for wanting his own time to prepare) sat down afterwards and had a really open chat with me about what he liked about my work and also what he thought could be improved. He then proceeded to give me a lift across town to where I was staying, even though it was in the opposite direction to where he was headed.

I remember just sitting there next to him that car ride - this guy in outstanding healthy shape, rocking a thick leather jacket, crusing along in a shit hot car, having just rocked 300 people for 40 minutes solid, making a great living off his talents - and thinking “this guy is officially THE BUSINESS”. What a role model for how to perform, how to carry yourself in a professional sense and how to be a great person.

I didn’t contact Dave during the time he was unwell prior to his passing as i didn’t know if it would be appropriate to call but I hope he realises just how much he was appreciated.

Dave Grant was an outstanding guy and a comic that you would put your house on to smash a gig.

He will be long remembered by a lot of people who loved, respected and appreciated both him and his work.

 

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Welcome to 2010!

Wednesday - 13th of January 2010

Alright…first gig back for 2010 and we are back MCing at the Marion hotel where my 2009 wrapped up.

After feeling the pre-show nerves of not having performed for a couple of weeks over the Christmas break, I settled into this gig quickly and really enjoyed interacting with and warming up the crowd. It is truly funny how quickly after a break in performing that you feel like you can’t remember how to do your job, but then also how quickly once you are back up on stage it all comes flooding back! 

Feature act Gordon Southern did a great job headlining the night and support acts The Nelson Twins and newcomer Deb Bland were also really well received.

I got a lot out of getting back into the swing of things tonight and also trialling a few new thoughts for my upcoming Fringe show, Just Say It, which premiers mid February this year.

Here’s hoping for lots more great nights at the Marion Hotel this year, a room that Craig Egan does a great job getting a friendly regular crowd to. .

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Wrapping up 2009 in style

Tuesday - 5th of January 2010

2009 wrapped up with a couple of very fun shows.

The first of note involved featuring at Michelle Stanton’s Zone Breakfast at Cafe Vagabondo in front of 120 people from South Australia’s business community at 7.30 in the morning. I am not normally in my prime at this time of the day and I have certainly never had to be switched on in a comedic sense either, so this definitely presented a new challenge for me! 10 seconds into the set though it was totally apparent that people were there to laugh and enjoy the start to their day. I was able to relax into this one very quickly and just enjoy the experience of feeling on the same page as everyone else - only with a mic in my hand! The appreciative, open minded crowd were a joy to perform to and the feedback and range of opportunities that have sprung up as a result of the show have been tremendously encouraging for me as I take my performing beyond the basic comedy club scene into the corporate world.

The second performance of note was featuring alongside Tom Gleeson at the final Marion Hotel gig for 2009. With 200 people packed in, we all got a chance to see just how good this venue can be when well attended. The night went off from start to finish and I really enjoyed performing 15 minutes of content that will be in my upcoming Fringe show, Just Say It, to a large, energetic crowd. I’m really happy with the quality of the material I am presenting at the moment and I just need to focus on continuing to create more of it on more subjects. Watching Tom feature after the break was then an absolute privilege, as I’m sure every one of the crowd would agree. Tom has a magic balance of self effacement, cockiness, playfulness, nerdiness and coolness, mixed in with being just thoroughly professional. He is a headline act who genuinely continues to improve and expand his skills range and is a shining example of how sharp you can get when you combine natural funiness and talent with significant off stage application and lots of travel and live performing. 

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Tiger Watching in Melbourne

Tuesday - 24th of November 2009

This trip early in November was designed specifically to coincide with watching Tiger Woods play in the Australian Masters Golf. How sweet is this job!

What a great week, spent at Kingston Heath Golf Club during the days and The Comic’s Lounge during the evenings.

These 4 nights MCing were a great chance to really have some fun in front of some rock’n'roll crowds, and were a refreshing reminder as to why this job can be so enjoyable - a venue perfectly set up for outstanding standup comedy shows, highly talented lineups of comics to present (including Lawrence Mooney, Jeff Green, Adam Rozenbachs, Pete Sharkey, Brad Oakes, Gab Rossi and a guest appearance frrom international US superstar Jo Koy), friendly staff, over 1000 punters for the week, and great pay at the end of it all!

As for the golf, it was just amazing to watch a superstar that in control of what he is doing and who has everything working so beautifully in alignment. Kind of surreal to stand a few feet away from a billionaire athlete who may well end up being the best to ever play his chosen sport, and definitely just plain cool too - just ask the other 20,000 fans that crowded each and every hole he played from Thursday through Saturday.

Props also to Melbourne based comedian and Rove writer, Michael Chamberlin, who was a wonderful host for the week.

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Brisbane Tour

Tuesday - 24th of November 2009

This 10 night run of Brisbane gigs in October warmed up with a three night run of suport spots in front of about 300 each night at The Sit Down Comedy Club alongside Hannah Gadsby and Michael Chamberlin.
Next stop was then MCing at the beautiful, if not daunting, Powerhouse Arts Centre - a cavernous room with 100 foot high ceilings, no back and 3 tiers of crowd around the sides. Good fun there warming up the crowd in the first bracket, but ultimately a room that will take a couple of go’s to get really comfortable and familiar with.

The bulk of the next week was spent MCing open mic nights around Brisbane. These are interesting gigs to say the least - lineups of 12 -15 newer comedians trying to work their way into longer paid spots in the professional rooms around the city; often no door charge; and rooms that are not necessarily set up perfomer-friendly. Funnily enough with the expectations removed and the formality of the bigger gigs non-existent, these three nights at The Newmarkt Hotel, The Bank and Stones Corner actually turned out quite enjoyable, and in each case I was reminded that the punters in the crowd can still really enjoy what you have to present even when the nature of the gig, room and night mean the feedback isn’t as rewarding from the perspective of the performer. Probably the most fun night of the tour actually ended up being spent with a couple of Colombians after a show at The Bank which literally started in front of the other 12 comedians on and finished in front of a crowd of about 30, most of whom were international students over here to learn English! Work that out!

The tour finished MCing St Paul’s Hotel, a night featuring several of the more established local comedians from Brisbane. This was a really lovely way to finish things up - a beautiful warm crowd that was a pleasure to interact with and entertain, a well set up room that I bet would absolutely cook when packed, and solid performances from each of the comedians, who included Bill Hicks fanatic Corey White, promising Nathan Pickle, talented Ben Graw and upcoming Mark Werner.

Off stage, Queensland was a pleasure - lots of sun and tanning weather, temporary membership at Fitness First, a couple of trips down south to the Gold Coast, and a tour of Bond University from my sister finishing her degree there. Oh, and the hospitality of old school mate Ben Haylock, up there alongside his girlfrind working with architecture firm Woods Bagot. 
   
     

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Awesome tour of Perth

Thursday - 29th of October 2009

This recent toured the Perth Comedy Club scene late in September included Feature Spots and MC roles at their regular nights at The Brisbane Hotel, The Charles Hotel and The Brass Monkey, as well as new rooms at Little Creatures Brewery in Fremantle, Rosie O’Grady’s at Northbridge and a crazy gong-style show at the Elephant and Wheelbarrow!

This was one really enjoyable and successful tour - new jokes working, appreciative crowds, great fun off stage at the King’s Park Health Club, the hospitality of US/Perth comedian Mikey G, and some really positive feedback from crowd members over FaceBook.

What a cool scene and what a majorly fun trip! 

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