Young Tom Ballard (he’s only 34), sure has done quite a bit.
He’s an author and a former Triple J host. He has guest hosted Q&A and even had his own edgy political satire late-night TV show, Tonightly with Tom Ballard, until the ABC axed it in 2018.
Now, he travels the world performing stand-up comedy.
Despite his TV show failing to ‘meet a quality threshold’, his TV show was a comedic incubator for aspiring writers and performers. It explored and exposed the hypocrisies of straight-edge society, in a very uncompromising way.
The skits and list of guests were impressive, and is a reminder of how little confidence and appetite the nation’s broadcaster has in variety TV, especially when it pushes boundaries.
Tom is coming to Mullumbimby Ex-Services Club to perform on January 24, as part of the Mandy Nolan juggernaut, which aims to get her elected as a Greens MP for the federal seat of Richmond.
Tom’s Q&A
How accurate is your Wiki page? Are you as smart and funny as it makes out?
I think it’s generally pretty accurate on the facts and historical details, and it’s very nice that it gave you the impression that I’m smart and funny, especially when the truth is I’m quite shy and dumb.
I will say, the line about Tonightly being cancelled because the ABC failed to meet a ‘quality threshold’ appears to have been completely made up, and is an outrage. I firmly believe we always managed to compensate for the low quality of Tonightly with our high rates of quantity. I shall be writing a letter of complaint forthwith.
I know the Tonightly show is old hat, but I was a fan. There was a raw, courageous ‘fuck you’ attitude to the prevailing conservative winds. There’s not a lot online regarding the reasons why you were axed, but from the audience perspective, it looked like the boundary was being pushed beyond what a cardigan wearing ABC executive could handle. Was there a sense of knowing this just before it was axed? Did you guys even care at the time?
It certainly makes me feel cool to believe that the show was cancelled because it was simply too edgy and dangerous and the ABC suits wanted to silence our powerful, razor-sharp satire – but it probably had more to do with the fact that we were being beaten in the ratings by re-runs on 7mate of Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo.
We were also a pretty expensive show to make, and it was certainly a, err, tumultuous time at the ABC in terms of executive turnover and restructuring and such. But yes, I suppose our naughtiness and the fact that we were being a relatively consistent editorial headache for them might have made the decision to bring things to an end a bit easier.
I have no bitterness about it at all. Looking back, I’m very grateful that we got to do the show at all, and there’s a bunch of stuff we did that makes me laugh and feel pride. My only concern is that I don’t think our show has been replaced with anything that gives the same number of opportunities to young new talent, or that stirs as much trouble. The ABC has to keep making weird, risky shit for young people. It simply must!
How did Mandy convince you into this gig?
She asked me, and she’s Mandy Nolan, so you know she’s going to make it a fun gig and look after you. It was a pretty easy yes.
I’m also a dirty Greenie and I happen to think Mandy would make a brilliant MP for Richmond, so I was happy to help.
Also she has photos of me in various compromising outfits and is holding them over me like the ruthless political operative she is.
