Tom Ballard interview

Tom Ballard is fast becoming one of Australia's best known comedians. Ahead of the London run of his critically acclaimed show, BCG asks a few questions...

Hi Tom. How is life? You've just finished a run at the Edinburgh Festival. It went pretty well?

It did, thank you. Life is lovely. I mean, apart from all the usual existential anguish that torments my soul in the dead of the night, I'm having a great time doing comedy and having people come and laugh and such. I've also just had a holiday in Croatia and Slovenia and Austria with my friend, so if I complained about things I think I'd be a dick.

You were nominated for the prestigious Edinburgh Comedy Award, and last year picked up a Newcomer nomination too. Are these nominations helpful or do they raise expectation levels too high?

There were certainly some odd shows after the nominations were announced. I got the sense that a fair chunk of the audience were there to "see what all the fuss is about", which is not a great energy for a show.

I spoke with James Acaster about this briefly and he pointed out that comedy is supposed to be a pleasant surprise: an audience should walk in to a show expecting someone just talking into a microphone to not be very entertaining, then be happily proved wrong. So if you walk into a comedy show with a sense that what you're about to see is definitively and objectively great, it's probably only bound to let you down a bit.

WHO CARES THOUGH I STILL GOT THEIR SWEET CASH, SUCKAAAAAZ!

You've been performing for about 10 years now, but In the last couple of years have picked up lots more awards recognition worldwide. What, if anything, has changed do you think?

I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN A COMIC GENIUS AND ONLY NOW I AM BEING RECOGNISED FOR MY SUPERB ARTISTRY.

(Not really, I think I've just got a better idea of the kinds of things I want to talk about and am getting better at saying them in a more "me" kind of way.)

So you're bringing 'The World Keeps Happening' to the Soho Theatre this week. What can audiences expect?

It's an hour-long rant about how the world is fully messed up right now and we're largely powerless to fix it. Laughs ahoy!

You do touch on some 'weighty' subjects in the show. Is it hard to get the balance right between the topics and laughs?

I want the show to be as funny as humanly possible, but I also want to talk about things I feel strongly about or are consuming me at the moment, so for this show that's definitely the refugee crisis, terrorism, sexism, class and homophobia. I made a commitment to talking about those things in this show and I'm happy with how it's worked out, but there's definitely been chunks of material that have been tossed into the flames of rejection. I enjoyed them - audiences did not. Consistently. Some jokes are making a good point but not really tickling anyone, so they have to go.

What's next for you after this Tom? Back to Australia?

I've been away for two whole months, so yes it'll be nice to be back home to see friends and family and experience (an actual) summer. I miss my pet kangaroo and me sheila and wearing my cork hat whilst going Walkabout. Also the coffee.

I'm looking forward to start work on a new stand up show. World Keeps Happening has been very kind to me and a bunch of fun, but it will be great to put it to rest and start trying to find new jokes in my head.

As you say, you've spent a while in Britain this year. What do you like most about this country? And least?

I really love the mystical and charming melancholy of this country. There's an air of pessimism about the place and expectations are set so low that when something small and quite nice happens, it takes on this extra level of significance and joy. It's good stuff.

My least favourite part of Britain is the House of Lords. Seriously, you guys - what's that about? Please fix that, if you wouldn't mind. Cheers.

'Tom Ballard: The World Keeps Happening' is on nightly at the Soho Theatre at 8:45pm until Saturday 17th September. Details & Tickets