Tom Ballard
A sweat-drenched political ranter who never learned how to whisper.
1 special · 2017
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Tom Ballard hits the stage at a volume that makes the microphone feel redundant. He sweats. He paces. If he is doing a bit about the housing market or the failures of capitalism, he does not calmly dissect the issue. He screams about it until he is red in the face. Often, he brings a projector and a clicker, turning the hour into a manic, high-speed PowerPoint presentation.
Specials
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Anxious political rants and filthy dating stories from Melbourne.
Stan · 81 min
On stage
He is a rare former mainstream broadcaster who shifted into full-throated political shouting. After spending years hosting a national radio show and a late-night television program that was ultimately cancelled for upsetting conservative politicians, he returned to standup with a chip on his shoulder and zero interest in sanding down his opinions.
He is a gay, left-wing, atheist cyclist, and he builds his hours around those exact identifiers. He will dedicate an entire show to the historical failure rate of Australian constitutional referendums. When the work flags, it is usually because the material tilts too far into a dry civics lesson. But he rescues the lulls by mocking his audience for living in the same comfortable, progressive bubble that he refuses to leave. He pairs dense political arguments with broad self-deprecation, usually leaning on a crude visual gag or a joke about his own ego just as the lecture gets too heavy.
Turning points
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Departure from Triple J Breakfast Show
After seven years with the national youth radio network and four years co-hosting the flagship breakfast show, Ballard stepped down to focus on his standup career.
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Helpmann Award for Best Comedy Performer
Ballard won the Helpmann Award for Best Comedy Performer for The World Keeps Happening, a show that also earned Edinburgh Comedy Award and Melbourne Barry Award nominations.
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Cancellation of Tonightly with Tom Ballard
Ballard's satirical late-night ABC Comedy show was axed after more than 150 episodes following political controversy and an internal ABC programming review.
At a glance
- Born
- , Warrnambool, Victoria, Australia
- On stage
- since 2006
- Style
- satire, observational, storytelling, dark comedy
- Breakout
- The World Keeps Happening
- Topics
- Elsewhere
- Website, Wikipedia, Instagram, YouTube
Fans also like
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Tom GleesonBoth are prominent Australian standup headliners and television presenters known for sharp-tongued, irreverent observational comedy and shared festival circuits.
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Wil Anderson
A fellow veteran Australian political satirist and radio broadcaster whose tour Ballard supported early in his standup career.
Podcasts
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Like I'm A Six-Year-Old · host
A long-running interview podcast featuring hundreds of longform conversations exploring progressive politics, activism, and ideology.
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Serious Danger · co-host
A satirical left-wing political comedy podcast dissecting Australia's political system, current events, and the Australian Greens.
Also on screen
- Reality Check
- 2017–2018
- Tonightly with Tom Ballard
- Deadloch
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- Fisk
A clip to start with
Tom Ballard - 2019 Melbourne Comedy Festival Opening Night Comedy Allstars Supershow