Stand and Deliver!

Gosh it’s easy to fall behind with the transcripts and synopses of Radio Ha Ha. The episodes go out weekly, so if you subscribe, you get them anyway. If you’re stumbling on to these episodes after the fact - and in this case, waaaaaaaaaay after the fact, download and listen to the episode (if you think it takes your fancy) and then download the latest gig guide to bring yourself up-to-date.

So on with the synopsis-slash-psychodrama…



Quite recently a comedian accused me of "liking everyone", which, strictly speaking, isn't true - even though, admittedly the amount of comedians I've ever reviewed negatively is remarkably tiny. Which is why some comedians take great joy in drunkenly encouraging me to accost the recipients of said reviews when either one of them happen to be across the room. Which probably was what led Fiona O'Loughlin to ask me, over a drink in the Peter Cook Bar during the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, "Why aren't you reviewing for anyone? You'd do a good job; you always say nice things..." (Maybe that's why she recently appeared in a dream, handing me a bunch of those small, sweet bananas. Right now in Australia, that's like someone appearing in a dream offering you jewelry or a large sum of money.)

Tommy Dean was also at the table having a drink at the time, and he replied, "No, what Dom does is he finds nice things to say". Tommy may not appear in a dream handing me bananas, but he's certainly sussed me out! Even if my tastes are so broadly Catholic, I can honestly say that they are not arrived at lightly. I refuse to jump on bandwagons, or to accept anything I haven't either discovered or at least explored, in my own time and/or on my own terms. Which brings us, in quite an around-about way, to Chuck Boyd, co-host of Episode 36 of Radio Ha Ha.

When I first encountered Chuck, he was quite a slick up-and-comer competing in the Raw Comedy competition and, truth be told, what with the sophistication of some of his jokes and his American accent, I naturally assumed that he was an American comic who had gotten to a certain level in his home country, emigrated, and decided to pass himself off as a newbie. Chances are, I marked him harder as a result. But then again, getting billed as Sydney's 'Hanging Judge', that's my prerogative! Irrespective, by the time of State heats ended, Chuck had clearly earned his place in the National Finals, and I didn't think much more about it - until I heard about the Sydney Underground Comedy DVD, of which he was the main organiser, administrator (and, it seems, seller…) Again, I had to approach with at least a slight amount of suspicion. I mean, why did it take a newly arrived American to organise the next wave of the burgeoning Sydney comedy scene? Well, that's part of what Chuck does... and that's part of what we discuss in this episode.

In addition to the examples of Chuck's own comedy, the episode contains great stand-up from Lila Tillman (check out her deliciously dry line about children) recorded live at Comedy On The Rox, at the Roxbury Hotel, Glebe, and Melbourne comic turned Tasmanian comic,Gavin Baskerville recorded live at Mic in Hand at the Friend in hand Hotel, Glebe.

In addition to the more recent stand-up, Lano & Woodley get another run on account of their winning the inaugural Helpmann Award for Comedy (announced Monday 31st July).

Once again, there is a transcript of the episode available for perusal at the Radio Ha Ha blog.

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