The Serious Business of Being Funny in Australia
In the early 1980s, the Australian comedy scene reinvented itself and took on a life of its own. The emergence of the art of stand-up created a surge of interest from the public and a select group of unknowns from all walks of life became household names as they took comedy into wild and uncharted directions.
It wasn't long before these comedians were snapped up by television, radio and the press. A multimillion-dollar industry was born and Australia finally started developing some world-class comedy talent.
Geoff Bartlett ventures into the dark, smoke-filled netherworld of Australian comedy to interview the men and women who are blazing their own trail in this most treacherous of performance arts. From TV identities to stand-up comedians, from radio personalities to performers who simply defy categorization, Bartlett's interviews are as diverse and multifaceted as the country they live in.
If you've ever wanted to know how these comedians get started in the business, how they survive in it, and what rewards - personal, financial, spiritual - they get out of it, this is one book you won't be able to put down.