Laugh yourself silly with these highlights from the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. This year’s roadshow – coming to Singapore for the ninth time – features award-winning comics Frank Woodley, Nazeem Hussain, Tommy Dean, Kate McLennan and host Daniel Townes. Gwen Pew picks their brains.
19 Jun 2013:
Tommy Dean
What’s your favourite joke?
Knock knock, who’s there? Door bell repair man.
What’s the best (by that we mean worst) heckle you’ve ever gotten?
Where’s your mum now?
What’s your most embarrassing moment onstage?
My most embarrassing moment on stage was when I was performing stand-up in a theatre venue where the stage was all carpeted and I felt myself standing in a spot where there was a trap door. I continued my stand-up and began to dance and, the next thing I knew, I fell four feet below the stage. It got worse when I needed people to come and help me get out.
Sum up your impression or expectations of Singapore in three words.
Hot. Exciting. Shoppie.
Kate McLennan
What’s your favourite joke?
Kid’s jokes are my favourite because they often make no sense at all – like the time my four-year-old godson rang me up and said, ‘Aunty Kate I have a joke. Today I went to Kinder and I did a wee up my back and in my shoes.’ So proud.
What’s the best (by that we mean worst) heckle you’ve ever gotten?
Someone once yelled out in the middle of a set, ‘I slept with your sister.’ Apropos of nothing. It threw me, not only because it interrupted my routine but because I was genuinely curious. I wanted to pull him aside and say ‘Really? Gosh, she’s a dark horse!’
What’s your most embarrassing moment onstage?
I had to sing on stage in a children’s theatre show once. I’m no Mariah Carey but nothing will bring you down to earth more than a seven-year-old audience member turning to their mum and saying ‘She’s baaaaaad.’
Sum up your impression or expectations of Singapore in three words.
Bring. Me. Food.
Daniel Townes
What’s your favourite joke?
How do bees comb their hair? With a honeycomb.
What’s the best (by that we mean worst) heckle you’ve ever gotten?
I got booed on to the stage in England during The Ashes one year. It wasn’t so much a heckle as I hadn’t even started yet but it’s the one that stands out the most.
What’s your most embarrassing moment onstage?
One time i accidentally left the zipper open on my jeans and didn’t know until someone pointed it out after about 10 minutes.
Sum up your impression or expectations of Singapore in three words.
New. Clean. Humid.
Frank Woodley
What’s your favourite joke?
My current favorite: My dog is a cross between a pitbull and a collie. He mauls people and then runs to get help.
What’s the best (by that we mean worst) heckle you’ve ever gotten?
Playing a matinee. A busload of elderly people had come along from a local nursing home and at one point I paused for dramatic effect and the whole audience heard a gentle moan from the audience followed by ‘Oh, why do they make us come to these things?’
What’s your most embarrassing moment onstage?
I got an audience participant on stage and she backed away from the audience nervously and fell backwards off the stage. The audience gasped and I rushed over. She was fine and laughing but she was so embarrassed that she crawled out the back way and wasn’t seen again. I tried to explain to the audience, but all they saw was someone fall backwards off the stage and never reappear. Things were awkward from then on.
Sum up your impression or expectations of Singapore in three words.
Hot. Busy. Fun.
GWEN PEW 