The Australian comedy circuit is tough. Unlike the US, where large comedy-club-supporting cities are separated by a few hours drive, it can take a day, or longer to get to the next audience in Oz. Worst still, these towns (yes, normally towns), are not linked by air, but by long, boring single lane roads and zero visual inspiration. How to …
The audio interview of this transcript with Gavin Sempel is available here. Morry: Comedian Gavin Sempel is one of the hardest working new comics in Australia. At the age of 18, in March 2016, Gavin Sempel began his stand up comedy career by enrolling in the very first School of Hard Knock Knocks course. Two years later, almost to the …
When it comes to stand-up comedy, not much has changed in the last 30 years. Turn up to a pub that runs an open mic night, perform five minutes of embarrassing jokes – repeat. Do that for three or four years, night after night, and you might have a shot at the big time. Maybe. That’s how Christine Basil got …
For someone so lightly framed, Gavin Sempel’s humour packs a punch. Indeed, the seemingly incidental goings on in most people’s lives, become highly visible targets, ripe for the Sempel comedic treatment. More often than not the target is Sempel himself (as well as the “odd” family member) which he pounds relentlessly with self-deprecating effect. Born and raised in Sydney’s west, …
Australian comedian Gavin Sempel is one of the hardest working new comedians in Australia. At the age of 18, in March 2016, Gavin began his stand-up comedy career by enrolling in the very first School of Hard Knock Knocks course. Two years later, almost to this day, he’s done close to 300 open mic, curated, and paid gigs all around …
A total of 39 graduates of the School of Hard Knock Knocks will be performing at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival (MICF) this year. Each of the 12 shows, starting on April 5 and concluding on April 15, are an hour long, and include a different mix of four graduates each night, plus MC Ben Horowitz. Ben is the co-founder …
BUNGEE JUMPING, PARACHUTING and stand-up comedy. These are possibly the three most legally terrifyingly activities that one can do today, and yet, with the Melbourne International Comedy Festival in full swing, the city is crawling with hundreds of comic masochists. So what makes them do it? What makes someone leave a perfectly safe seat, climb onto a stage, grab a microphone …
