Tom Gleeson
Brunswick Picture House | Friday & Saturday, 7pm | Sunday 5pm | $30/35
Tom Gleeson is the funniest man on TV. Generally TV is comedy death – meaning people get less interesting, not more interesting. That’s not the case for Tom Gleeson – he has this amazing ability to be himself no matter whether he’s on the box, or on the stage. Tom is currently working on his new show Lighten Up and he’s bringing it to Brunswick Picture House to stretch his comedy legs. This is a great chance to catch our Gold Logie winner!
You’re the Hard Quiz host but what’s your special subject?
I won Australia’s Brainiest Radio Star with the subject Quantum Physics. Not the most entertaining subject, but who cares? I won!
What’s the most bizarre answer you’ve had on Hard Quiz?
There are sooo many. An answer to a question we recorded just the other day is ‘pretend vagina’.
How do you get away with not upsetting people – you seem to be able to be cutting without being injurious? Do you ever worry you go too far?
Always! But I have to abandon my good manners for entertainment. I think I get away with it because I genuinely have no malice. I went to boarding school, and my mates and I would tear strips off each other all day. You only insulted people you cared about. We never wasted our time on people we didn’t like.
Is anything off limits when you chat to politicians in Hard Chat? Who was the best sport? Who was the worst?
No-one ever gets to see the questions on Hard Chat, so nothing is off limits. I really enjoyed Anthony Albanese. On the surface he was being a good sport, but I could see that underneath I was giving him the shits.
You’ve got yourself quite famous now Tom… do you ever get sick of people hassling you when you’re having a quiet Sunday coffee out with friends? What do you say to people?
Australians are polite in general. So it never worries me. TV is a one-way conversation, so it’s natural for people to want to talk back when they see me around, so I’m always happy to listen.
Do you feel the pressure when you’re creating a new show – when you’ve got the eyes of everyone on you expecting gold, is it still easy to give it?
Sold-out shows are a great motivator for having something to say. I do feel the pressure but I love it. One of my proudest moments in my career was waiting backstage to do the opening at the Logies. I knew that it was privilege to be asked, and I knew that there were only a handful of people in Australia that could pull it off. Watching everyone else freak out backstage made me feel calm.
How did you get this upcoming show together? Are you a bit of a sketch-it-out and wing the fuck out of it till it’s ready kind of guy?
I just tell stories to audiences and they improve the more I tell them. I’ve been plugging away in Sydney and Melbourne clubs, but the attention span of audiences at clubs can be a bit short, so I thought it was time to get to a theatre and stretch out – which is why I’m coming to the Brunswick Picture House.
Alright, what should they expect from your show at Bruns Picture House?
I’m in ripping form, the tickets aren’t expensive, so people can expect a fucking bargain!
Tom is at the Brunswick Picture House this weekend from Friday till Sunday. Friday and Saturday shows are 7pm, and Sunday is at 5pm. Shows run just one hour. Tickets $30/35 from brunswickpicturehouse.com
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