One of the hardest parts of being a comedian is finding new ideas and experiences to inspire material, according to award-winning comedian and Gold Logie winner Tom Gleeson.

The 52-year-old, who is currently touring his stand-up show Out of Touch, says comedians have to avoid repeating themselves to stay relevant.

“I think one of the hardest parts is to remain inspired,” Gleeson tells Central News. “When you’re a comedian, you have to keep putting yourself in positions where you’re open to new ideas.”

“If someone says to me, ‘Do you want to go and ride dirt bikes up in the state forest?’ I’m like, ‘well, yeah, I guess so’.

“I’m sort of open to adventure and experiences and also open to meeting new people and talking to strangers and listening to their stories.”

Gleeson’s current show draws heavily on his life, including the unusual experiences that have come with his success.

“The show’s called Out of Touch and to some degree it’s about my relationship with money,” he said. “I’m sort of relating to the audience as to what it’s like when everyone knows who you are, and I’m just trying to tell honest stories about that. Unapologetically, rather than pretending to be humble or trying to make it sound nice.

The audience is what keeps us funny… If I’m in front of a live audience, I feel like the live audience is going to draw it out of me.

“I’ve got a story about how a former cricket captain of Australia wanted to get a selfie with me.

“That’s such a ludicrous story, but, again, trying to explain how it came about and why it happened, rather than not telling it because it sounds like boasting, I just kind of tell it anyway.”

Gleeson says his approach to comedy developed over many years, starting with more observational comedy, before taking greater risks – an approach that helped shape the more provocative persona audiences know today.

“I found it a little bit too safe and a bit too nice,” he says of his early comedy. “I started to think, well, while I’m standing here, what should I not be saying, and then say it, and see what happens.

“So I started to be a bit more, I guess, a bit more edgy.”

Gleeson got into comedy after discovering activities other people found difficult came naturally to him.

“I was doing mathematics at university,” he says. “Everyone hates that, but I found it easy. And everyone hates public speaking, and I found that easy.

“I thought this seems like a good way to go.”

Television versus live performance

After winning a university stand-up competition and taking home the $500 prize, Gleeson decided comedy could be a career. And, it is something that has expanded from stand-up comedy into television, where he hosts Hard Quiz and appears on Taskmaster Australia.

However, Gleeson said stand-up offers a different kind of freedom because comedians can respond directly to the audience.

“One good thing about stand-up is whatever you say … you perform with the understanding that everything that happens in the room kind of stays in the room,” he says.

“When you do Taskmaster or Hard Quiz, you’re bearing in mind that this is going to eventually be seen by hundreds of thousands of people.”

Despite his television success, Gleeson said live audiences remain central to his enjoyment of comedy.

“The audience is what keeps us funny,” he says. “I’m accountable to the live crowd.

“If I’m in front of a live audience, I feel like the live audience is going to draw it out of me.”

Gleeson met his wife at university in the same week he performed his first-ever comedy gig, and says he prefers watching others being funny.

“To some degree, it’s been completely demystified for my family and friends,” he says. “I’m just one of the funny characters in our family.

“I’m not the funniest.

“I prefer to sit back and watch other people be funny. It’s fun to see someone come out of their shell and tell an unlikely funny story. That’s always far more entertaining than hearing from me.”

One of Gleeson’s standout career memories came while performing at Sydney’s Enmore Theatre, when he noticed comedy legend Jerry Lewis watching from the wings.

“I could see Jerry Lewis, like, stamping his foot on the ground and clapping his hands like he’s having a great time,” he says.

“It was extraordinary.”

Gold Logie drama

While winning the Gold Logie was a career highlight, Gleeson said he was more proud of his controversial acceptance speech and to be opening the awards ceremony.

“When you do the opening at the Logies, you have to walk out and do like, you know, a whole comedy bit,” he said. “And it’s actually a really tough room to perform to.”

After finishing the opening, Gleeson says an executive producer congratulated him through his earpiece.

“All he said in my ear was, ‘Well, you absolutely nailed that one, didn’t you?’” Gleeson recalls. “And it felt so good.”

 

Gleeson says his Gold Logie speech was deliberately designed to be more entertaining than the traditional acceptance speech.

“I’ve watched so many boring versions of that award, I decided I’d try to give a speech that was a bit more entertaining,” he adds.

For Gleeson, comedy ultimately begins with an idea that people genuinely want to talk about and some of his best ideas come from ordinary conversations with friends.

“I’m just sort of trying to tell honest stories,” he says.

Tom Gleeson’s Out of Touch will be at the Enmore Theatre, Sydney, on October 27.

Main image supplied by Tom Gleeson.