The inner suburbs are traditionally where most Melbourne comedy rooms are located, forcing many comedy punters to commute from the suburbs for their live comedy fix. To make live stand up more accessible for people in the outer east, “Michael Connell”:comic has produced the Young Blood Tour. According to Michael “There’s no effective public transport in the Yarra Ranges beyond Lilydale so it makes it impossible for young people to get to see comedy shows…If you don’t drive a car, you’re stuck.”
“I grew up in Gladysdale”, he adds,”and I always wished there was more stand up locally…The Upper Yarra Arts Centre in Warburton occasionally gets comedians if they’re putting on a regional tour…but that doesn’t happen too often (I imagine it’s not terribly profitable). Also Burrinja Gallery is making a real effort to get comedy happening in the Belgrave area. They’ve put on shows with people like Rachel Berger and Sue Ann Post which is great. They’ve only started doing that this year, but so far they’ve had a fantastic response and it’s great that they’re putting on such high quality entertainment.”
The tour brings a number of high profile comedians to the people of Melbourne’s east. “Sammy J”:comic, “Fox K”:comic, “Danny McGinlay”:comic, “Oliver Clark”:comic, “Wayne Dixon”:comic, “Tom Ballard”:comic and “Kent Valentine”:comic are among the names that people may have seen on TV or heard on radio and will be gracing the Young Blood stage.
In addition to the inner city comedians, many performers from the local area are on the tour. Names familiar to patrons of inner city rooms include “Alison Bice”:comic, “Celia Pacquola”:comic, “Marcus Neofitou”:comic, “Lance Petrie”:comic and “Simone Simpson”:comic. Compared to their inner city counterparts, outer suburban comedians have a special kind of drive. Michael commented that “when a comedian spends over an hour traveling to get to a gig in Melbourne, you know they’re serious about comedy. “Michael Williams”:comic travels three hours from Warnambool for five minute gigs. If you’re doing this on a regular basis you’ll quit if you don’t really have your heart in it. We’re also very big on making our own work…a lot of comedians from the outer suburbs put on their own shows.”
After a successful season at this year’s Melbourne Comedy Festival with the support of the City of Melbourne, Michael has once again gained the support of local government. When asked about the difficulty in gaining such support, Michael commented that “Usually there is a LOT of red tape. Most government/arts organisations don’t even consider Stand Up as an art, and there’s nothing worse than writing a 9000 word application only to be rejected because someone’s got a closed mind about comedy…There were a few hefty forms to complete for this project. However I was very lucky because I got assistance from The Yarra Valley Arts Council who helped me with my application, and Burrinja Gallery who even contributed some of their own money to fund a workshop with Rachel Berger for young comedians. The Shire of Yarra Ranges is very supportive of the Arts and very keen on Youth participation. I was also lucky enough to get a lot of support and assistance from The Foundation for Young Australians who’ve helped me in just about every way you can imagine. So thanks to the help of these organisations I was able to produce this show.“
When asked about any “Hidden Gems” in the line up, Michael mentioned that “”Evan Hocking”:comic and “Rohan Johnson”:comic (both from Mooroolbark) are both great new comedians. They’re both very funny and they’ve been working hard to make this tour a success (going on radio, sticking up posters, handing out flyers, etc.).” With this sort of effort from all involved, it promises to be the biggest comedy event to ever hit the Yarra Ranges.
The Young Blood Tour will be at Burrinja Galley on September 13th, Upper Yarra Arts Centre on September 14th, Healesville Memorial Hall on September 15th and Swinburne University on September 16th. Tickets are $16 full /14 concession. For bookings call (03)59665 040. For full details see our gig guide or visit “Michael’s Myspace Page”:http://www.myspace.com/michaelconnell .
Thank you to Michael for his time.