S1W7 2016 - Arc @ UNSW Arc UNSW Student Life

HATLLTOM BALLARDBy Victoria SauleSTEPHEN K AMOSBy Harry Rutner and Nyasha NyakuengamaBlitz sat down with StephenK Amos to chat about hisupcoming shows at the SydneyComedy Festival, his memoir‘I Used to Say My Mother wasShirley Bassey’ and his perfectimpression of an Aussie bogan.You’re currently part of theMelbourne Comedy Festivaland doing a talk show. Why’dyou decide to do a talk showalongside your stand-up?Blitz chatted with Tom Ballardabout his upcoming show forSydney Comedy Festival.What’s your origin story,when did you realise youwere a hilarious person?Well my parents were killedby an accountant who hadno sense of humour and so toavenge their death I thought Iwould enter comedy to try tomake people laugh. And everytime I make an audience laugh Iknow mum and dad are lookingdown on me and they’re saying“Good on you boy, you makeus so proud” and a single teardrips down their face and I geta boner. But really, I mainly justneeded attention and I didn’tget into acting school and then Ikept doing comedy and it wentkind of well. I realised I coulddrink and work at the same timeand now I’m here.You’re performing in April atthe Sydney Comedy Festivaland your blurb mentionsJames Bond. What’s therelevance of James Bond?It struck me that James Bondhas never faced off againstsome big Islamic extremist and Irealised that wouldn’t be a goodmovie, it would just be him in abunker in Florida, sipping on amartini launching drone strikesinto the Yemen.I used to havea thing about how sexist it wasand how even though it’s allmodern stuff he’s still allowedto be sexist and a misogynist.You’re like “Oh it’s just JamesBond, he’s from another time.”But then I go “No, he’s using aSamsung Galaxy and he’s usingWi-Fi, so he should be aware ofwomen’s rights.”What can people expect fromyour show ‘The World KeepsHappening’?They can expect hilarity, myfriend. Solutions to all theworld’s problems and everythingyou’ve ever wanted from acomedy show can be found inmy hour long oration on thesituation of the world. I talkabout Grindr, I talk about JamesBond, sexism, homophobia,euthanasia, drugs. You name it,I solve it.You’re also doing what you’vecalled a ‘comedic lecture’ inMelbourne called ‘Boundless Plains to Share’. Do youthink that people are morelikely to listen to what you’resaying because it’s dressed inhumour?I think it’s just making it moreaccessible, right? I meanit’s like just trying to makeentertainment out of talkingabout an issue and exploringit and looking at the history ofAustralia and how we ended upwhere we are. I have no illusionsabout the show fixing a problemor changing the world, but if itcould just push people alongthen that’s what I’m going for.Tom Ballard is performing atthe Sydney Comedy Festivalat The Comedy Store April 28and 29. Grab your tickets atsydneycomedyfest.com.au.Talk shows are big around theworld and I realised that inAustralia you guys don’t havemany talk shows on TV andno-one is doing it in a liveformat. In the talk show wehave poets, performers and alsopeople not doing the festival.For example, a good friend ofmine is talking about his heartattack, which doesn’t seem likea funny topic but he turns itaround and makes it quite funnyand he is alive.10 years ago you came out ashomosexual. What role do youhave as a public figure to speakout against homophobia?It’s not just about being a publicfigure, I think everyone on thisplanet has a duty to their fellowman. I think that duty should berespect, love and compassion. Idon’t want to ever to do a show,pretending to be something thatI’m not. Others need to know theworld has moved on and thereare many different typesof people in this world andwe should acknowledge andaccept them.What were yourexpectations when writing ‘IUsed to Say My Mother wasShirley Bassey’?When I started comedy I didn’tthink it could be my full-time job.I was going to become a lawyer. Ifell into comedy by accident andthings just kind of snowballed.Then someone asked me towrite an autobiography, I said “Iwon’t write an autobiography,what I will do is write a memoir”.I think any one of us could writea memoir, if anyone on thisplanet sat down in a dark roomthey would have a story to tell.I just wrote it and it was simpleand quite cathartic.Where did you get your boganaccent from that you do inyour shows?It’s a mish-mash of people I’vemet along the way. I get tolda lot by Australians that in theUK we have a lot of accents. Tomy ear you guys here have verydifferent accents and it’s veryeasy to pick it up.Catch Stephen K Amos inthe Sydney Comedy Festivalat Enmore Theatre on May 6and at The Concourse inChatswood on May 7.

AKMAL SALEHBy Harry Rutner and Nyasha NyakuengamaBlitz radio spoke with a comedian sopopular that like Beyoncé, he’s oftenreferred to on a first name basis. Akmaltalked about his immigration to Australiaand what’s it like coming from an academic family where despite your successyou’re still considered the ‘loser’.How did you get into comedy?I never really intended to be a comedian,I come from a very academic family, all ofmy family are doctors and architects – I amconsidered the ‘loser’. But I’ve always lovedcomedy. It just feels natural.Was there a turning point where youdecided you would pursue comedy as acareer?It was such a gradual thing. You start offby watching, when I was young it was TheComedy Store in the city. I started becomingfriends with some of the comedians and I’dstart making suggestions. Then I’d see themdoing it and getting laughs! From that pointI thought maybe I can do it. And I did and itwas just such a thrill.You used to go by Peter instead of Akmal, Is that true?You use to go to the comedy store and youwould put your name on the list and therewas a woman there managing and shewould decide who would go on and whowould not go on. I missed out two weeksconsecutively and then finally she said “I’llput you on tonight, what’s your name?” andI said “Akmal Saleh” and she went “Ayyy?”and I just went “Peter, Peter Saleh”. It musthave been subconscious because theremust have been about five Peters doingcomedy at the time. I must have thought‘I want to be like them and they’re calledPeter’. So Peter is a funny name.What made you change back to Akmal?I used Peter for about two years and thenI was in a sketch show that got picked upby Foxtel and because I didn’t think it wasgoing to be very successful I used my realname. The show turned out to have cultfollowing and people would greeting me onthe street as Akmal and it felt good!You immigrated to Australia from Egyptas a child, could you please tell us alittle about that experience?When I was 11 Egypt was a troubled place.My parents were desperate to leave, theyapplied to Australia, America and Canada.We got accepted by Australia first so wemoved from Egypt to a place in Sydneycalled Punchbowl – which wasn’t that muchof an improvement back then *laughs*.You voiced Jim McConnolly from one ofmy favourite childhood shows, TracyMcBean. How did that opportunitycome about?It’s funny, I did everything I could to not getthe gig. I said “I’m not a voice guy, I don’t dovoices and I can’t read well. I’m dyslexic so Ican’t read scripts.” They interrupted me andsaid “You’ve got the part, you’re perfect forrole!” I said “What’s the role?” They said “Athug, your voice is perfect, you sound like acriminal!” Honestly it was the easiest moneyand the most fun I have ever had! It wasgreat fun to do something like that, it wassilly, innocent and childish.Akmal will return to Sydney later thismonth. Head to akmal.com.au/tour/ tofind out when he’s touring.

Blitz chatted with thehilarious man-puppet duoSammy J and Randy Landfresh off the back of theirnew live show, ‘Sammy J& Randy Land’. Full of sarcastic humour, they jokedabout their new ‘self-destructive phase’ and theirso-called French opera gigwith tickets costing morethan 1700.What’s your new show‘Sammy J & Randy Land’about?SAMMY J &RANDY LANDBy Amy KimballFELICITY WARDBy Gemma Lipman and Michelle WangBlitz chatted with Aussiecomedian, Felicity Ward, whotold her craziest toilet story.This toilet talk was inspiredby her upcoming show, ‘WhatIf There Is No Toilet?’ whichshe’ll be performing thismonth as a part of the SydneyComedy Festival.How did you get into comedy?I never wanted to do this ever,it was a bit of an accident.Seriously. My first gig was thistrivia show and had these toytanks that shot at each other. Iwould get someone out of theaudience and if they got thequestion wrong I’d shoot themand they’d get electrocuted,if they got it right they got toshoot me. And then someonestole the tanks two days beforemy first gig and I had to write 12minutes of stand-up comedy,so a thief got me into stand-up.10BLITZ MAGIt’s a 7-hour opera. We’vegone in a different directionthis year, it’s all in Frenchand you don’t actuallysee us on stage at all. Infact, we’ll be in Melbourneduring the Sydneyperformance, that’s howavant-garde we are thesedays. Tickets are 1700 eachplus booking fee. We’vecrossed from the successfulphase of our career to theself-destructive phase,we’re just trying to see howfew tickets we can sell atthe Enmore. The actualshow is far funnier but farless exciting than an avantgarde show, but I don’twant to give it away. All I’vegot to say is trust us andyou’re going to have thebest night of your life!So you can’t reveal any ofthe attractions we mightsee at ‘Sammy J & RandyLand’?Well yes I actually can;there’s a petting zoo andthere’s a ferris wheel thatis three kilometres tall.Randy and I are battling forsupremacy over whetherit’s Sammy J Land orwhether it’s Randy Land.So I’m naturally keenfor it to be a safe andeducational experience forall our visitors but Randyjust wants to turn it intono safety nets, no safetyharnesses. If he loses a fewkids on the dodgem cars,a couple of fatalities, welllook it’s all in the name ofgood fun! The show sort ofescalates quite dramaticallyfrom the very first sceneand becomes probably thebiggest battle we’ve had onstage which is quite funWhat’s the best andworst thing about havinga puppet as a partner?The best part is he’s reallyfunny, so you know thatmakes it a lot easier. I enjoywatching Randy at workYou’re touring with yournew stand-up show, ‘What IfThere Is No To

Bo Burnham. He’s hilarious. What Greek god/ goddess would you take on a date? Janus. He looks into the past and into the future. That’s the dream. Favourite viral video? A cover Nicki Minaj’s ‘Anaconda’ played in the style of bluegrass. Favourite of the three: knock knock jokes, dad jokes or puns? Puns.