In the lead up to British comedian Ed Gamble bringing his sharp wit and cheeky humour to Australian audiences this month, we take a look back at the moments we can’t stop laughing at.
Stand-up comedian, podcaster, TV presenter and all-round funny guy Ed Gamble is about to touch down on the land down under. The cheeky Brit boasts a slew of accolades to his name – like wining Taskmaster and publishing a book – however, it’s his current stand up tour that has us pining for more Gamble.
The Off Menu podcast host and Taskmaster champion is bringing Hot Diggity Dog to Australian audiences this month, including a performance at Melbourne’s Hamer Hall on 15 June. Speaking about the show’s title, Gamble revealed the decision was made in the most mundane of circumstances.
Ed Gamble Hot Diggity Dog Tour
- Sunday 15 June from 7pm
- Hamer Hall, Arts Centre Melbourne
- Tickets here
Explore Melbourne’s latest arts and stage news, features, festivals, interviews and reviews here.
“I wish I had a deep and meaningful reason for it,” Gamble admits. “The truth is, you have to come up with a title and a poster way before you have written a job for the show. I decided I wanted to be eating a hot dog messily on the poster (because the photoshoot was at lunchtime) and came up with the title straight after I swallowed the first bite.”
The comedian has been adapting his material for Australian audiences in characteristically thorough fashion. During a recent London preview, he consulted Australians in the audience about local references. “Every time I hit a reference I thought might not work outside the UK, I consulted one of these ambassadors,” he explains. “All we really got to the bottom of is that rather than ‘service station’, I should say ‘servo’. I’ll be shortening most of my words and adding an o just in case.”
Gamble expresses genuine enthusiasm for Australia’s comedy scene, praising it as “brilliant” with “some insanely inventive comics”. He mentions his admiration for Aaron Chen, Dan Rath, Danielle Walker, Rhys Nicholson and Anne Edmonds, adding that he doesn’t worry about other comedians being funnier than him. “Panicking about that sort of thing is an awful way to live your life and stops you working on your own stuff.”
Food remains central to Gamble’s comedy, with Hot Diggity Dog featuring what he describes as “a cooking based bloody accident”. Despite his limited time in Melbourne, which he considers “one of the best food cities in the world alongside Tokyo, Paris and London”, he plans to maximise his culinary experience. “I’ll be having the best brunch available, eat pastries for the rest of the day and then drowning in dumplings in Chinatown before and after the show.”
The comedian believes his self-deprecating style resonates well with Australian audiences, noting the shared “perfect balance of sense of humour and self hatred” between the UK and Australia.
The comic will be taking on Naarm’s Hamer Hall on 15 June after a stint across the ditch and before touring the rest of the country – and then the world. To start warming up your lungs for the superstar’s appearance in Naarm, check out our favourite six moments from Gamble’s stand up career so far.
Becoming far too drunk on Drunk History
It might be the premise of the show, but few comedians have gotten this drunk on Drunk History. While trying to detail a story of a war-time great escape, Gamble’s attempts at a German accent sound more like gibberish. He then precedes to fall asleep in a drunken stupor without finishing the tale. Bonus points to Gamble for laughing at himself as much as us.
The vape tangent in Blood Sugar
While the entirety of Gamble’s Blood Sugar stand up special will have you in fits of giggles, the detour that has him comparing his glucose monitor to a vape is top tier Gamble. In Blood Sugar, the comedian dives into his experiences of living with type 1 diabetes – like calling out inaccurate diabetic film characters and recounting moments when people mistake his glucose monitor for a phone – but nothing riles him up more than a mate asking if he’s vaping when he checks his blood sugar levels. It’s hard to decide what’s funnier – Gamble’s friend mistaking the two devices or Gamble’s anger at the accusation that he vapes.
Ed Gamble’s Taskmaster stint
Gamble’s time on the UK TV series in 2019 saw him take home the winning trophy, plus a bucketload of new fans. While the challenge of Taskmaster is primarily to win the show, Gamble won more than his fair share of laughs, too. Many of his winning tasks can be boiled down to his willingness to be humiliated on television. Shenanigans include being dressed up as some kind of demented donkey by his fellow contestants and singing the Taskmaster theme song in the voice of a baby. Comedy gold, if you ask us. Gamble returned to the show in 2022 for the Champion of Champions II season, and although he finished last, he still managed to win over hearts and laughs once again.
Anything from Off Menu
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It’s too great a challenge to just pick one moment from Gamble and Acaster’s long-running podcast Off Menu, so you may as well listen to the whole thing. Off Menu sees the hosts invite guests – usually celebrities – into their ‘dream restaurant’ in which they get to construct their dream menu of pickings, assisted – or, more aptly, provoked – by the comedians at the helm. Listening to Gamble interact with both Acaster and the assortment of guests that appear on the podcast is delightful, bringing out a banteress side to the comedian you might not catch on stage.
The limits of intimacy
Gamble’s high-energy takes on acutely observed mundanities of life and relationships are always a laugh, but this anecdote he shares is one that will have you non-stop giggling. The comedian’s rants are undoubtedly when he’s being his funniest. So, of course we can’t stop laughing at what life has been like after he and his partner got married. Without giving away too much, they essentially become as intimate as two people can get before morphing into the same person.
Chaos on Celebrity Hunted
Gamble teamed up with his co-host of Off Menu and fellow funny guy Acaster for a go at Celebrity Hunted. No surprises here – the hunters caught the duo in no time at all. Hiding out at the Taskmaster house in London, Gamble and Acaster come up with a ridiculous plan to hunt the hunters. Suffice to say, the comedian couldn’t’ve been any more unserious about the task at hand. Hunted? Yes. Laughs? Many.
For tickets to see Ed Gamble at Melbourne Arts Centre on 15 June, head here.
This article was made in partnership with Bohm.
