His third appearance at the Melbourne Comedy Festival sees Tommy Dassalo perceiving the world through a Viewmaster. Annette Slattery caught up with him and asked him about his show and career, but mainly dwelt on childhood toys…cos they’re way more fun to talk about.
Tell us about your new festival show Viewmaster?
I found an old Viewmaster in my cupboard while I was cleaning up, with a set of reels that I’d never seen before. I have no idea where these reels came from but they all had weird, different stories in them. The show is about the afternoon I spent attempting to clean up, but getting distracted by this Viewmaster and the various moments of immaturity in my life that it reminded me of. There’s a bunch of great stories, lots of drawings, and some music.
You’re 21 years old and yet you are about to perform your third full length solo show. There seems to be a trend of hot, very young comedians such as yourself, Josh Thomas etc. who are jumping headlong into the frey. What positives or pitfalls have you found of having come so far so quickly?
I’ve never really thought about it that much to be honest. Sometimes you get a sense at gigs that the audience is a bit wary of you if you’re super young. I did a gig in Edinburgh, and when I walked out on stage, before I’d even reached the microphone, some guy in the front row turned to his mate and said ‘this is bullshit, he looks like he’s fourteen!’ But he sounded really angry about it too, like his friend had promised him that everyone performing would look AT LEAST fifteen. But I had a great gig, and it was my birthday too, so up yours, angry Scottish guy!
Will we see more theatrically based work or pure stand up in Viewmaster?
More stand up but a bit of theatre stuff too.
I remember the fascination I felt for an old viewmaster we had when I was a child. Even though it only had a sparse and elcectic collection of strange and unfamiliar slides, it seemed so much more captivating than real life or television, perhaps because it created this little world in which I alone was witness. Did or does the viewmaster have this kind of thrall for you?
Absolutely. I talk about it a bit in the show, but I’ve never been able to do those Magic Eye picture books. I don’t know why, I guess I have dodgy eyes or something. And when you’re a kid, Viewmaster is the only other 3D fun that’s readily available, so that was all I had growing up. It is very cool to have that sense of being locked in to this little world because the Viewmaster cuts out the rest of your vision, which makes it more immersive. I guess with the show I’m trying to recreate a similar kind of feeling for the audience, even though all I have at my disposal are some watercolours and a magic talky stick, and you’ll be sharing the experience with a room full of people.
You mention several of you’re childhood toys in your press release such as Slinkys and marbles. I had a hopperoo when I was a child which left my side only while I slept. What was you’re favourite childhood toy and why?
I don’t know if it’s technically a toy, but I always really wanted a Crocodile Mile when I was a kid. Our backyard wasn’t really big enough for one though, so what I used to do was get our pool covers, which are like those big sheets of bubble wrap, lay them upside down, cover them in detergent, and slide into the pool. It was so much fun. I got banned from using the detergent though, because one time dad came home and our pool was overflowing with foam. I got in a lot of trouble but it was so worth it. It’s all about perspective.
Tommy Dassalo will be peforming ‘Viewmaster’ at Trades Hall from the 19th March – 13th April. For booking details check out the festival website