Showtime with Andrew G | Arts and Entertainment

Andrew sits down with Dr Ben Eltham, journalist, researcher and arts policy expert, to ask whether Melbourne can still call itself Australia’s cultural capital. Ben explains how state funding for artists and small-to-medium arts organisations has fallen 35% in real terms, what that means for the gigs, books and theatre Victorians love, and why artists are starting to leave the city.

They also dig into the festival Ben ran that went broke, how streaming platforms send the value of Australian music offshore, and why sport keeps winning the funding fight. It’s a sharp, honest conversation about money, politics and what we stand to lose, ahead of the Don’t Break Our Arts rally on Monday 9 November.

Andrew sits down with Callum Rigg, the standby Elder Price in the Australian tour of The Book of Mormon, for a behind-the-curtain look at one of the strangest jobs in musical theatre. Callum explains the difference between a standby, an understudy and a swing, what it’s like to prepare for a huge role without knowing whether you’ll go on, and why audiences notice far less than performers fear.

They also dig into what really happens backstage when a set piece fails mid-show, the producers who recorded an entire performance so his Nan could watch from home, and the night he performed through grief. It’s an honest, funny conversation about trust, teamwork and the invisible village behind every big show.

Andrew sits down with Jonathan Biggins, co-creator of the Wharf Revue and writer and star of The Gospel According to Paul: The Second Coming, the hit one-man show about Paul Keating. Jonathan reveals how Keating first reacted to being impersonated (including his verdict on the suit), what he saw in two hours in Keating’s office, and the secret behind 25 years of political satire: cut, cut, cut.

They also dig into rewriting a show overnight when the Prime Minister changed, why Jonathan believes satire works best when it isn’t malicious, and why he thinks live performance has a future no algorithm can touch. Plus: how a career in political comedy led to a cosy crime novel about retirees pulling off an art heist.

Andrew sits down with Melbourne actor, director and playwright Tim Byron, the writer behind Jimmie the Beatle, the true story of the session drummer who stepped in for Ringo Starr on The Beatles’ 1964 Australian tour. Tim admits he was never a Beatles fan, and explains how one photo of a drummer sitting alone at Essendon Airport sparked a play, survived a rejected film script, and went on to fill a theatre.

They also dig into discovering theatre at 40, why Tim never gets nervous on stage, what community theatre does better than anyone gives it credit for, and why he still won’t call himself a playwright. It’s a warm, funny conversation about finding your thing late and telling the story only you noticed.

Andrew sits down with award-winning comedian, actor and writer Tegan Higginbotham ahead of the world premiere of her most personal solo show yet, Follow That Turtle! at Melbourne Fringe. Tegan talks candidly about the night she realised she’d fallen out of love with stand-up, why saying yes has always come easier than saying no, and the opportunity she accepted even though her gut told her it was wrong.

They also dig into training for a real boxing match for her first solo show, the way being polite can override your best instincts, and what she’s learned about choosing the right project rather than just the biggest one. It’s a funny, honest conversation about ambition, instinct and finding purpose in your work.

Andrew sits down with comedian and writer Simon Taylor, who became a writer for The Tonight Show with Jay Leno at 24 and later became the first Australian comedian to perform stand-up on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon — earning a rare invitation to join Fallon on the couch. Simon opens up about still battling imposter syndrome despite the résumé, the supportive rejection that pushed him to finally make his own show, and the discipline that came from writing thousands of jokes on Twitter before he ever met Leno.

They also dig into the ethics of the unregulated podcasting world, whether audiences actually want authenticity or just a convincing performance of it, and what it's like releasing a satire about podcast culture just as real headlines start mirroring the show almost exactly. It's a candid, funny look at collaboration, rejection and building something of your own.

Andrew sits down with actor Claudia Greenstone, whose extensive career spans Neighbours, Wentworth and Offspring, ahead of her new role in The Sonny Disposition, a satirical comedy about the world of podcasting. Claudia talks candidly about growing up in a household full of performers, the biggest misconception people have about being a working actor in Australia, and the real weight of preparing for one of her most intense roles, playing a woman living through the Taliban's return to power.

They also dig into her conflicted relationship with social media and authenticity, raising two performing daughters without ever using the word "career," and a simple, quietly profound realisation about human nature that struck her at school drop-off one ordinary morning.

Andrew sits down with George Kapiniaris, the comedy legend behind Wogs Out of Work and Acropolis Now, now touring the country with Nonna and Yiayia alongside James Liotta. George talks candidly about growing up the shy son of a frustrated entertainer, the teacher who redirected his entire career, and what it felt like to become an accidental pioneer of ethnic comedy in Australia decades before that kind of representation was celebrated.

They also dig into the heart surgery that nearly ended everything last year, why he was back on stage doing stand-up about it just six weeks later, and his simple, no-nonsense approach to dealing with online criticism after nearly forty years in the spotlight.

Andrew sits down with Isabelle Davis, a WAAPA graduate and singer-songwriter behind the debut album An Inconvenient Youth, ahead of the premiere of The Eternally Hopeful, her first show as writer, director and producer. Isabelle talks candidly about the quarter-life crisis that finally pushed her to write her own work, why she believes hope is innate to being human, and the pleasant surprise of finally discovering who she is, just last year.

They also dig into growing up between Melbourne and Shanghai, why her deeply personal songs land differently once someone else performs them, and the most beautifully painful rejection email she's ever received, one that taught her more about resilience than any callback ever could.

Andrew sits down with comedian Nick White, the Brisbane-born, TikTok-famous impressionist with over 800,000 followers and more than 50 million views, ahead of his musical theatre debut as the Man of Many Characters in Monty Python's Spamalot. Nick talks candidly about leaving a stable career in architecture to chase comedy full-time, and about inventing entire families and backstories for imaginary characters since he was seven years old.

They also dig into the years he spent holding in a secret before finally feeling free to be authentically himself, the nerves of singing and dancing live for the first time, and what it means to lose the safety net of editing once you step on a real stage in front of a real audience.