Every January Austen Tayshus, the legendary white pointer of Australian comedy, makes his way to Byron Bay. It’s his favourite show of the year. ‘It’s a smart crowd,’ he says. And he’s right. Not everyone is going to ‘get’ a Tayshus show. But Byron, he reckons, does. And that he believes is the point. Austen likes to make people think. Push them to the brink of their comfort zones. And sometimes way over the edge.
It’s why he’s such a fierce figure in the Aussie comedy scene, a scene where many comics and promoters are terrified of him. Austen, aka Sandy Gutman, doesn’t play safe. He doesn’t suck up to venue owners. And he certainly doesn’t stroke the ego of other performers or promoters. In a landscape where comedy tends to lose its edge because of the corporate need to be mainstream and to be commercially successful, Austen Tayshus still doesn’t give a rat’s. He is a lone wolf. Smarter, funnier, and more experienced than anyone else in Aussie comedy. But be warned. He’s also a lot more dangerous. A Tayshus show is not for the faint hearted!
So we asked him to complete a few sentences…
I wear black because… I am the Man. The Taysh. The Comedy Commando. Also because I spill a lot of food on my clothes.
In my opinion the best comedian is… the one with the biggest balls. The one who couldn’t care less who is offended. The one who deals with drunks swiftly. Who doesn’t care if the venue won’t have him back. The one who pisses off the ingenues. Me.
People in the industry get pissed off with me because… I have never and will never compromise. Like Andre Rieu.
What I love doing most is… masturbating in public with my mates Louis or Dustin or Harvey.
Pauline Hanson needs to… be put in Manus Island detention for the term of her natural life. But she probably would learn nothing.
When it comes to tolerance… Mel Gibson is the man.
What I love most about standup comedy is… the absolute freedom I feel with a good audience. To improvise on something that occurs to me in the moment is the greatest feeling I have experienced, apart from masturbating in public with Dustin Hoffman.
The dumbest thing I have heard from a heckler… is halfway into my act they will yell ‘when does the show start?’ And think they were the first to come up with it.
Sometimes I wonder… why Jimeoin hasn’t retired.
One of the myths about Australians is… that they have a sense of humour and can take it. There are a lot of pissed-off people who have been to one of my shows. It’s a fucking show FFS!
Racism is… something I abhor. As a Jew I know firsthand how it feels to be vilified. My working life has been all about combating stereotypes. And fucking with them.
There are two types of people… in the comedy game: Comedians and George Smilovici.
The reason some people don’t get satire… is the same reason that some get an ATAR of 60 per cent.
What people don’t get about me is… that I am very loving. Austen Tayshus is a creation of mine who is there to attack mediocrity and people who masturbate in public like Germaine Greer and Gloria Steinem.
What I love most about coming to Byron… is the eclecticism of this place. The audiences up here, and I have been coming here before Russell Crowe ever threw a phone at a concierge, are itinerant and broadminded and enjoy a good laugh. A perfect fit. I will probably end up here in a share house with George Smilovici.
Austen Tayshus headlines at the Byron Services Club on Monday 8 January 2018 with Mandy Nolan as MC and support. Doors 7pm. Show 8pm. Tickets $20/25 at the club or online at mandynolan.com.au.
