Interview with Adelaide Fringe Artists Tom Gleeson, Adam Richard and Justin Hamilton

With the start of the Adelaide Fringe Festival only a few weeks away, artists Tom Gleeson, Adam Richard and Justin Hamilton discussed their 2014 shows.

Tom Gleeson

Your segment I Hate You Change My Mind on This Week Live took on a life of its own last year…any chance we might get to taste a little Gleeson roasting in your new live show?

I don’t want to give too much away but right now I’m knocking up a big pink neon “I HATE YOU CHANGE MY MIND” sign in my shed.

When you say you are Quality and do quality shows for quality people who springs to mind that wouldn’t make the quality selection?

Christopher Pyne. He supported school funding, then he scrapped it, then he supported it again. If you’re going to be a c***, at least be consistent.

Which shows have you marked on your calendar to go see at the Fringe Festival?

Wil Anderson, Justin Hamilton, Dave Hughes, Peter Helliar … I really like white men.

Adam Richard

How did you arrive at your chosen theme for your 2014 show, GAYPOCALYPSE?

When gay couples could get married in the ACT, for that weekend before Tony Abbot went crying to the high court, there was this flood of fundamentalist religious types predicting cataclysmic events. I don’t know why, but I found that hilarious. That something that is legal in New York City, the biggest city on the planet, was only going to trigger volcanoes and earthquakes if a couple of lesbian civil servants tied the knot in Canberra. I like to think one of the catastrophic side-effects of gay marriage is a gay zombie apocalypse. In Canberra.

Apart from the concussion you achieved during Celebrity Splash, what’s prompted the departure from a decade long radio career in favour of stand-up?

It just felt like time. Ten years is a long time to be doing anything, let alone anything in the wildly turbulent entertainment industry. I’ve never stopped doing stand-up, but I always felt like I gave it short shrift while I was working at 4am five days a week.

The message that we’re hearing is that zombies are coming and that they’re fabulous. How can we prepare?

Gay zombies are fairly easily distracted by Kylie Minogue, so if you happen to know where she is, or even if you just know where her music is playing, the gay zombies will no doubt be congregating there, so keep away. In the case of the female gay zombies, just avoid Bunnings.

You’re podcasting past has included The Poofcast and The Shelf. If you were to create an War Of The Worlds style episode to accompany your show, Gaypocalypse, what would it be called?

Well, it would have to be set in Canberra, obviously, because that’s where the Gaypocalypse begins. Also, Bunnings would be a focal point of the terrifying events, all good zombie stories start with people trapped in familiar surroundings. There are only two stores in Canberra so I would have to call the episode:
Nightmare at Fyshwick Bunnings.

Justin Hamilton

You’re show this year focuses on moments from your performance tour in Afghanistan. Can you give us a glance of what comedy in a war-zone looks like?

Considering I’d done my homework and watched every episode of M.A.S.H. at least twice, it turned out to be nothing like that at all. The soldiers were an amazing audience and quite obedient. As an example you ask them to move forward and six hundred men and women move forward without question. Turns out they’re used to taking orders. They’re such a great crowd that after a few minutes you forget some of them were carrying guns. That definitely makes certain you’re funny. Yet it is never far from your thoughts that any moment you could have a rocket being launched at the camp so it is definitely a good idea to pack many pair of brown underwear for the occasion.

Would you recommend to other comedians that they participate in initiatives to entertain the troops overseas?

Depending on the type of comedian. If they were a surreal act that concentrated on mime I would probably suggest a place where people were more inclined to dress in taffeta. If they’re the type of comedian who can nail a late night club spot I would thoroughly recommend taking the opportunity.

Besides your show, which Adelaide Fringe performances should audiences make note to see?

I’ll be honest and say that at this stage of my career I want to see my friend’s shows to see how their ideas have developed from when we first started talking about them. So in no particular order Cal Wilson, Tom Gleeson, Hannah Gadsby, Wil Anderson and Adam Richard are top of my Fringe list.