A whole new generation is discovering the wit and wry humour of Tony Martin.
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And it’s all thanks to the internet.
It was the mid 80s when the New Zealand-born comedian scored his first funny gig: lining up with the likes of Rob Sitch, Marg Downey and Magda Szubanski for the D-Generation.
From there it was onto TV’s The Late Show, then radio programs Martin/Molloy with Mick Molloy, and Get This.
(Martin mentions that they investigated re-releasing episodes of Martin/Molloy, but were told by lawyers they could not because it was too “legally contentious”.)
In between the main gigs, there’s been stand-up shows, books published, and an array of guest appearances.
“The joke line I tend to say in interviews is ‘Why do one thing properly when you can do a number of things with middling success’ and there’s a little bit of truth to that,” Martin said.
“I often think ‘Hang on, If I just concentrated on directing, I could be a really good director. If I just did stand-up I could be a much better stand-up. Or if I just did radio all the time…’
“So sometimes I think ‘Why can’t I just do one thing?’ but you can’t have a 30-year career if you just do one thing, unless you’re like an incredibly good and popular stand up.”
Martin said he liked to concentrate on one “job” at a time – throwing himself fully into writing, presenting, or stand-up.
Right now, it’s stand-up, and Launceston audiences will get the opportunity to witness it firsthand later this month as he cracks the proverbial bottle of champagne to christen Fresh Comedy’s new room at the Royal Oak.
He’ll be bringing his show The Arse/Elbow Equation, which he presented at the 2015 Melbourne Fringe Festival.
“It’s simply a series of disasters that have happened to me in real life, a lot of which occurred when I turned 50,” he said.
“And it’s pretty everyday sort of stuff but hopefully funnier. Turning disasters into material is kinda what I do.”
Age has brought Martin more material – intentionally and unintentionally.
From years of doing radio shows, Martin explained his hearing had suffered.
“Journalists are always asking about hecklers - and I said “I can’t hear what they’re saying” - I’ve lost a lot of my hearing from wearing headphones on radio for so long so if someone heckles from the back I usually can’t hear what they’re saying,” he said.
“I need to ask someone in the front to repeat it – ‘Can you just repeat what that young man said?’
“If you get someone to repeat a heckle, that’s pretty funny stuff I find.”
You can see Martin telling his stories (“When I started out my act was half stuff that really happened to me, and half of it was just clearly invented” – but he assures us it’s all true now) at the Royal Oak in Launceston on Friday, May 20, in two shows: one at 6pm and one at 8pm.
Reserved seating is $20, general admission is $15. Door sales – if available – are $20.
Tickets are available now through trybooking.com