It’s 2012: stuck in a rut, award-winning comedian Justin Hamilton decides to shake things up a bit. “I kind of got to the point where I didn’t want to be doing a festival show every year,” he recalls. “It was just a constant cycle and I was starting to feel claustrophobic…it was feeling like this was how things were going to be until I dropped dead.”
Naturally, something needed to be done. “I called my manager and I said, ‘I’m going to break the cycle of doing a show ever year and tie off all the continuity that I’ve built up from Three Colours Hammo and The Killing Joke and all these recurring characters. I’m going to put this all to rest. I need to do something different next year.’
Hamilton’s plan almost immediately backfired. “She called me three weeks later and said, ‘How would you like to go and perform in Afghanistan?’ I was like, ‘When I said I wanted something different, I was kind of thinking The Project.’” he laughs.
A true cinephile, Hamilton likens his reaction to a scene from The Untouchables. “It was the first movie that I ever became obsessed with as a kid…and there’s a great moment where Kevin Costner’s trying to pitch to Sean Connery that they should team up to find Al Capone. Sean mutters to himself, ‘Well, the Lord hates a coward.’ That was kind of my first reaction!”
On the advice of his friends, fellow comics Tom Gleeson and Lehmo, Hamilton made the trip to Afghanistan and performed for the troops. His time abroad ultimately inspired his new comedy festival show, Johnny Loves Mary Forever 1994. “It’s basically the story of what happened when I went to Afghanistan…and all the funny and terrible things that happened when I was away.”
Lately, Hamilton has been blogging about each of his gigs with great detail, providing a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the world of stand-up comedy. He expected to celebrate the 20th anniversary his comedic debut during the festival, but it didn’t quite go to plan. “I thought I might find a little place, invite some friends, put some money on the bar and say, ‘All those idiotic dreams of stepping on stage for the first time have led to this!’ Anyway, my dear Mum emails me and says, ‘I forgot to tell you congratulations! It was your 20th anniversary on the 31st of March.’ I was like, ‘No it was the 19th of April!’ As always, Mum was right, so I missed it.”
Hamilton has mixed thoughts regarding the milestone. “On the one side there’s that sense of, ‘Maybe I didn’t get quite to where I wanted to be,’ but on the other side, I’ve done lots of things that I would never have expected to do,” he muses. “I think it’s a balance that all creative people have trouble with, where you’re trying to enjoy what you do and feel happy about it but you have this restlessness of still wanting to achieve more. But to be honest, I’ve been having a great time at the festival. I’ve really enjoyed performing the show and the audiences have been great.”
Well, most of the audiences anyway. “No one else could see this…but a husband tried to take his wife’s hand to hold it and she slapped him on the hand. Then they had a bit of a tussle,” Hamilton recalls of a recent gig. “It made me a little bit word imperfect and a little bit frustrated with my performance. Then, in the back of my head I hear ‘Nah, this’ll be good for the blog.'”
BY NICK MASON
Venue: Victoria Hotel – Acacia Room, 215 Lt Collins St, CBD
Dates: Currently playing until April 19 (except Monday)
Times: 9.45pm (Sundays 8.45pm)
Tickets: $22-$28
