Regular comedy the ideal situation

BURNIE-raised comic Justin Heazlewood - aka the Bedroom Philosopher - reckons Tasmania has got its stand-up routine just about right.

The 32-year-old, who received widespread recognition in 2010 for his hipster-bashing tune Northcote (So Hungover), believes the emergence of regular local shows, on top of the occasional festival, has been good for the Tasmanian scene.

Heazlewood was last in Tasmania in September for gigs at Launceston's Fresh Comedy and The Clubhouse in Hobart.

This week he praised his home state's current comedic climate, saying regular, well- marketed gigs in the North and South were encouraging more people to explore the genre.

"It is important to be able to go and see comedy every month, not for it to be just a delicacy that you can sample once a year at a festival or something," he said.

"When I was starting out, there was not much of a scene to speak of on a week-to-week basis. I really like what they're doing in Tassie, I like that they've got a few rooms going now."

Heazlewood left Tasmania for Melbourne in 2002 and has spent the past decade writing comedy for television, magazines and websites.

As the Bedroom Philosopher, he has four studio albums to his name.

The YouTube clip for Northcote has more than 380,000 views.

Heazlewood said Tasmanian comedy venues would be on a winner if they could set up regular, monthly gigs with a mixture of local talent and mainland-based headliners.

"Comedy is often not sold very well, it can look a bit underground or a bit cheesy," he said.

"If you put some effort into advertising it clearly and bother to book headline acts from the mainland, you'll always get an audience.

"The marketing has to be on par with music gigs."

Heazlewood also believes Tasmania is successfully building an identity as a quirky, unusual place for comics.

"I've always thought that Tasmanians have a special sense of humour," he said.

"Tassie people are always just a bit weird, in an endearing kind of way."