Uncomfortable Truths

Hung Le - Melbourne comedian legend! He was the first Asian comedian to perform in Australian comedy clubs and on TV, back in 1987, and he was very successful. In 1975, as a child, Hung and his family had to flee Vietnam when South Vietnam finally fell to North Vietnam. He is one of the first ‘boat people' and his story is incredible! I read his autobiography The Crappiest Refugee by Hung Le – an amazing story! Well worth reading.

We talk about how he first started performing with a classical string quartet, The Como String Quartet, busking in the Bourke St. mall in Melbourne. He was the 3rd violinist, the 5thmember of a quartet, and he became the clown, the funny guy who interacted with the audience, danced with members of the audience, and made everyone laugh.

In 1987 they entered Red Faces on Hey Hey It’s Saturday Night, an incredibly popular live entertainment show on Channel 9 at the time, and they won! The Como String Quartet toured all over Australia and performed in Edinburgh and England. At their peak, the Como String Quartet performed on the Muppets! At the time, that was considered the highest privilege in show business.

Hung went on to try solo stand up comedy in 1992, and has been working as a professional comedian ever since. He has had comedy shows in all of the festivals here in Australia year after year, as well as Edinburgh and Montreal. He has also performed live and on TV in Kenya, the Philippines, and other parts of Asia.

His story is funny, sad, shocking, exhilarating, eye-opening, and educational. I feel very lucky to have had Hung tell me his story. I hope you get as much out of this conversation as I did.

Chris Franklin hit the Melbourne comedy scene back in 1997. He won RAW comedy in 1998, and then his song Bloke (parody of the song Bitch by Meredith Brooks) went to No. 1 on the charts in the year 2000. He then released several more songs, and has been a professional comedian ever since.

I met Chris in 1999 at comedy gigs when Clint and I were performing musical comedy on the scene. Chris also hosts a comedy night every night during the comedy festival, called The After Party at the Exford Hotel. On the last night of the After Party This year, I sang my parody of his song Bloke. I called it Chick. It went down a treat!! So before we start this podcast, I play you in with Bloke. After the podcast I play you out with my response song – Chick.

We discuss how Chris got into comedy back in 1997, and how things took off for him very quickly after that. He tells us what it was like to have a no. 1 hit, back before music streaming and social media. We talk about the different places where he has performed and how to cross cultural and language differences. Lastly he tells us what it's like performing for the troops in several different countries. Awesome stuff!! Enjoy the podcast.

He Huang, originally from China, started performing comedy in Washington DC, USA and moved to Melbourne specifically because it is one of the comedy capitals of the world. This woman is 100% committed to comedy, never says no to a gig or opportunity, is super humble and friendly and has been making waves in the Melbourne comedy scene since she arrived, even during all the lockdowns! She was a RAW national finalist in 2021 and hosts a number of showcase gigs throughout the year. She lives in Sydney now, but has been in Melbourne for the Melbourne International Comedy Festival performing in Comedy Zone, as well as Up Front! She’s very funny, clever, confident and inspiring. Please enjoy my podcast with He Huang!

He Huang

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Pradeepa Timmermans

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Chris Ryan is an awesome comedian from Canberra. She won Best Newcomer 2019 Sydney Comedy Festival and Nominee Best Newcomer 2021 Melbourne International Comedy Festival. Chris is in her 40s – this intrigued me that a woman in her 40s was winning these newcomer awards.

I went to see her 2022 Melbourne International Comedy Festival show “Can’t Complain”, and I was hooked from the moment she started. Her hilarious candid comments carry deep, dark truths – just my kind of comedy! We talk about how she got into comedy at the age of 38, her comedy path up to this point, how her career as a comedian changed after winning her first award, what it takes to step up to being a pro comedian, different audiences in different places, going darker with her comedy and performing for the troops!

Chris Ryan

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Pradeepa Timmermans

Instagram  |  Facebook  |  pradeepa.com.au | [email protected]

Brad Oakes, comedian, mentor and Melbourne comedy rock, has been on the Melbourne comedy scene for over 30 years. He is a treasure trove of comedic understanding, self reflection, experience, research and honing. He scrutines his work and the craft itself, to turn a comedic idea into a perfectly polished hilarious gag. He is the master, and that is why many Melbourne comedians turn to him to help polish their material. In this podcast we cover his history briefly, and then we discuss craft of writing comedy and then what it takes to make it believable and funny to the audience. I brought along 2 basic comedic ideas and he makes strong, concrete suggestions on how I can improve and build on each one. He knows what he’s doing! If you want to know how to improve your comedic writing, and comedy in general, this is a must listen.

This podcast is comedy mentorship gold, and I’m very happy to be able to provide it to the comedy community. Brad is available for one on one mentorship. If you’re interested in that, please message him via facebook. I am certainly going to book a session now – polish up my material for my comedy festival show, Miss-Understanding, with Aarti Vincent and Lisa Gatenby. Here’s the link:

https://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2022/shows/miss-understanding

Brad is doing a Comedy Festival Show with Doug Chappel & Lisa Doherty - “It's a Mug's Game”.

Here’s the link:

https://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2022/shows/it-s-a-mug-s-game

Thanks so much for listening everyone, I really appreciate it. Please give me a good rating at Spotify or Apple or wherever you can. It really helps with the algorithms. Thank you for supporting comedy in general, and please get out and see some local, non-famous shows during the Melbourne International Comedy Festival – you’re patronage will be greatly appreciated. Over and out.

Marilyn Leder is a Melbourne comedian and University lecturer who teaches film & television, particularly comedy. We first met at Yes All Women’s around 2015, and gigged there together for 2 years. After not seeing her for a number of years, she has burst back onto the scene with more passion and vibrancy than ever! She has a show in the upcoming Melbourne International Comedy Festival – The MILF Next Door. Cheeky what! I’ve seen a little snippet of her show, and it looks awesome!  Here’s the link to her show:

https://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2022/shows/the-milf-next-door

We discuss online dating, and what it’s been like for her since her recent divorce, which is what her show is all about. It’s fascinating to hear what it’s like going back to dating in your 50s, particularly online dating.

Marilyn also runs a comedy night, leading up to the Comedy Festival, every Tuesday at The Kind of Tonga in Elwood. It’s a Tiki Bar and it’s gorgeous!

Marilyn captured me with her story from the moment we started. I had no idea that she had studied film and television in the US, and that she worked on Seinfeld! Amazing! She also toured with Buddy – The Buddy Holly Story as performer/actor. All of this, while being a good Jewish girl! I had no idea of Marilyn’s rich writing and performing background back when we gigged together at Yes! All Women’s. I’m so glad we did this podcast so I could find out! Don’t forget to go and see her show The MILF Next Door. Here's the link:

https://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2022/shows/the-milf-next-door

 And don’t forget to come and see my show, with Aarti Vincent and Lisa Gatenby - Miss-Understanding. Here's the link:

https://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2022/shows/miss-understanding

Now, since Marilyn studied in the US, I play you out with an old Cosmic Egg Song – Mr. Corporation, since that is where corporate culture has come from. Thank you so much for listening, and if you like the podcast, please give me a good rating on Spotify or Apple or wherever. It really helps. 

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Mimi Shaheen, comedian, telling it like it is! We get right into what’s going on in our heads behind the comedy, the addiction to comedy, the anxiety before a gig & our relationships to other comedians. Mimi tells us how her life was heading straight towards marriage and children, and then took a sharp hook turn, towards comedy. Amazing story! Mimi was born in Syria. She tells us what it was like growing up here in Melbourne in an Arabic family. She also tells us a bit about Syria and why there is the saying “There will never be peace in the Middle East.”

I gotta say, I love doing this podcast! I’ve known Mimi since I 2015, but this is the first time I really got to know her. And I’m so glad I did. Mimi is usually a bit reserved, so I feel really honoured that Mim was so open and told us all about herself. Her comedy gives us little insights into her life, and I wanted to know the full picture, so I feel fulfilled now! 

Don’t forget to go and see her Comedy Festival show with Matt O’Neill and Izzy Ali –  Die Already. It runs from March 31 – April 9 at the Colonial Hotel, in the CBD. Here's the link:

https://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2022/shows/die-already 

And of course, don’t forget my upcoming comedy festival show, Miss-Understanding! It runs from April 12 – 17 at the Lantern Lounge in Collingwood. Here's the link:

https://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2022/shows/miss-understanding 

I play you out with a Cosmic Egg song from the late 90s, called TV. It’s not directly related to our conversation, but it is about how watching TV and being on social media wash away any kind of independent thought process. And comedy is about observing all this, and having a unique perspective which hopefully, we all find funny. Clint and I wrote this song in the late 90s, pre-social media, and I think it’s more relevant than ever today.

Thank you so much for listening, and if you like the podcast, please give me a good rating on Spotify or Apple or wherever. It really helps. 

Andy Moratis, comedian, musician, room runner, father – he’s had his fingers in many different pies over the years. We talk about his background in performing, his transition from musician to comedian, and now expanding into running comedy rooms. We discuss what attracted him to comedy, body language, getting into comedy later in life, what bookers are looking for and how comedy itself, as a reflection of society, is constantly changing and evolving. We talk about how comedy has changed here in Australia. I also enjoyed talking about how our confidence, and how we carry ourselves, makes such a big difference in how others perceive you, especially an audience.

Andy is doing a show in the Melbourne International Comedy Festival called No More Mr. Nice Guy on April 7, 8, & 9 at the Rubber Chicken. https://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2022/shows/no-more-mr-nice-guy

And don’t forget, my Comedy Festival show, Miss-Understanding, with Lisa Gatenby and Aarti Vincent. From April 12 – 17 at The Lantern Lounge, 108 Smith St, Colllingwood.

I play you out with one of Andy’s songs that we discuss in the podcast. A Bloody Good Riddance (Enjoy my Wife). I hope you enjoy it.

Kate Hanley Corley, comedian, music video creator, writer, mother. Kate does it all!

We discuss how she came to do her first Fringe festival show in 2012, Melbourne International Comedy Festival show in 2013 and how it has all snowballed from there. She performs a lot of musical comedy in her shows, and has made numerous music video clips that have gone viral! Kate has enjoyed success from her first festival show onwards, and we get an insight into how she has made that happen. She talks about how she is starting to come out from behind the characters and music to do straight stand-up as herself. And oh yes, and Kate is a mother of three children in high school. No mean feat! How does she manage writing, producing and performing in her own shows while being a mother of three? Listen and find out! Kate knows how to promote effectively, and she’s great at gathering a supportive team around her – essential skills for any professional performer. With the upcoming Melbourne International Comedy Festival, any performer looking for ways to get themselves out there – this podcast is a must!

Kate shows us that we don’t all have to tread the same path. Kate is having both creative and financial success without performing at 4 open mic nights per week. She has used character and musical comedy to create this success – unconventional these days on the comedy scene, but she makes it work, and has a following. She’s expanding into more straight stand up now, but my point is that we don’t all have to follow the same rule book. Do it our own way. Start with what we know, or what we have just learned, and go from there. I play you out with one of her hilarious parodies from lockdown – Victoria! You can find it on YouTube. It’s hilarious – well worth checking out, as well as her show in the upcoming MICF – Bad Mother. Here is the link to her show: https://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2022/shows/bad-mother

Also, I’ve teamed up with Aarti Vincent and Lisa Gatenby to bring you our MICF show Miss-Understanding!  We’re at the Lantern Lounge from April 12 – 17 and our show is going to be all guns blazing! Music, props, laughs – you name it! Here is the link to our show: https://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2022/shows/miss-understanding

And now, without any further adieu, here is Victoria!

Pradeepa Timmermans

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Akemi Kawabata, Melbourne comedian, is originally from Osaka, Japan. Her style is cheeky & “naughty”. She’s lots of fun to watch and hang out with. We discuss how she first came here 26 years ago on a working holiday visa, and knew very quickly that she wanted to stay here. She hardly spoke a word of English when she first arrived and studied hard to  become an interpreter and work in Tourism. We talk about the Japanese drumming group she played with in Melbourne, connecting with people here, cultural differences between Japan and Australia, family violence and finding her voice in comedy after being silenced all her life in Japan. Akemi has overcome many obstacles to be where she is today. She rejected the only narrative given to her in Japan, made the break, took the risks and now lives the life that she wants to live here in Melbourne.

Inspired by a friend here in Melbourne, who did open mic comedy, Akemi completed a stand up comedy course at the end of 2019. Not a great time to start comedy, in retrospect. Nonetheless, Akemi has been gigging regularly (when the venues have been open) and we met at Yes All Women’s at The Highlander Bar in 2020. Off stage Akemi can be a bit introverted, so this podcast is a great opportunity to get to know her better.

There sure are some Uncomfortable Truths in Akemi’s story!

I feel very privileged that Akemi was so honest with me. That’s one thing about becoming a comedian – you become more comfortable talking about some brutal truths about yourself, especially if you can make them funny. I find 2 things happen for me when hearing about other people’s challenges and difficulties from the past. Firstly, I have great respect for that person, because I see what they have had to overcome to be who they are. Secondly, I feel gratitude. Whether it’s being able bodied, or not having suffered through family violence, I feel gratitude for things that I just always took for granted.

I play you out with a song called Sleepy Seas because it’s been hot lately and I just feel like calm, chilled track is the way to go at the moment. If you’ve enjoyed this episode, please give me a good rating at Apple or Spotify – really helps with the algorithms. Thanks folks. Enjoy the podcast.