It’s been over 15 years since Anthony Morgan announced his retirement from comedy. Exhausted by the pressure of performance, and stumbling through a fog of alcohol and chemical enhancements, Morgan took his leave of Melbourne and moved to Tasmania, setting up residence two hours outside of Hobart. Morgan made a comeback of sorts in 2007, playing his first live comedy shows at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival in just under a decade.
But despite returning to performance – which includes shows at this year’s comedy festival – Morgan prefers the solitude and tranquillity of his adopted home. “We have a notionally organic existence down here,” Morgan says of the lifestyle he and his artist partner share in Tasmania. “We’re not crazy about it – we’re just too cheap to buy pesticides, and we’re certainly not vegetarian or anything. The bloke across the road does a bit of killing in his spare time, so we get meat from him.”
Morgan says the remoteness of his life in the best thing about his current location. “I need a bit more room – I need to able to shout at the radio without then having to interact with the neighbours. I didn’t have a dog in Melbourne before I left ‘cause I couldn’t see any freedom for it, but we’ve got dogs now.” In fact, Morgan is so enamoured with where he is that he struggles to identify a negative aspect. “It’s the best thing I’ve ever done. There are dickheads here, I suppose – by dickheads, I mean people who disagree with me. But I have no regrets about coming here.”
Historians have portrayed 19th century Tasmania as the original Australian frontier country, governed by a motley mixture of transplanted English law, dictatorial edict and local cultural lore. “There’s still remnants of that here in some ways,” Morgan muses. “But there’s people living like that on the mainland, too – maybe not in the centre of Melbourne. I read a funny thesis about American about the frontier values being the thing that made the country great and that’s what should be lauded and celebrated. But those values have no values in the modern world – they destroyed the world!”
Morgan’s comedy performances over the past 15 years have been sporadic at best; Morgan admits to occasionally missing comedy performance, though his busy schedule of domestic activities means that he doesn’t have a lot of time to ponder the performing life he’s left behind. “Every now and again I think about it, but most nights when I stop to think about it I’m so tired I just fall asleep because I’ve been so busy,” Morgan deadpans. “That’s pretty well been my life for the past 15 years – working and then falling asleep.”
This year’s comedy festival sees Morgan return to the mainland for a rare series of performances. Morgan has never been one to overcook his routine – the typical Morgan show rests on a simple formula of Morgan’s deadpan observations on the world around him, and his sincere, and usually blunt criticisms of the people and events that cross his path. “This year it’s just me ranting – it’s me attempting to talk to the public, again,” Morgan laughs. “We haven’t got a television here, but we have got a radio, so I now what you’ve all been up to. So I’m fairly well aware of what’s been going on. And I think it’s about time someone offered an outside perspective on it.” Now past 50, Morgan is as passionate as ever, but he acknowledges he has mellowed slightly. “There are a number of what I consider crimes – and still do – that I used to rail against, but which I don’t anymore. I just keep myself busy, and don’t let that stuff give me a heart attack.”
BY PATRICK EMERY
Venue: Trades Hall – The Meeting Room, Cnr Lygon & Victoria St, Carlton
Dates: Currently playing until April 20 (except Mondays)
Times: 7.15pm (Sundays 6.15pm)
Tickets: $22-$28
