Two Tom Ballards seem to have emerged in the past 12 months.
One of them is the up-and-coming comedian Tom Ballard, who in the past year has been nominated for Best Newcomer at the Edinburgh Fringe, and performed alongside stand-up superstars Wanda Sykes and Jimmy Carr in Montreal.
“I was very cautious and nervous about how that [going overseas] was going to go down. It was kind of a real test,” says Ballard of heading to Edinburgh. I’d built up a bit of an audience in Australia but going overseas it was like ‘OK, let’s see if you can be funny to other human beings who have little shared experience with you and judge you on face value’.
“I had a lovely time and I really enjoyed Edinburgh and Montreal – but to come back to Australia to people who like my stuff and have seen me before, and like coming out and seeing what I’m talking about this year, it is a bit of a relief.
The second Tom Ballard is the increasingly political young man, who in the past year has hosted the ABC’s Q&A and interviewed politicians, journalists and priests for his political podcast, Like I’m A Six-Year Old.
The two Toms look set to join forces at the MICF, where the former triple j host is performing two stand-up shows, one of which seeks to deconstruct the history of Australia’s brutal approach to immigration and refugees.
“I’m 26 and I’ve done shows about coming out, having my heartbroken, a family holiday, and at this point honestly it’s things like refugees that interest me,” says Ballard, explaining how the show Boundless Plains to Share came about.
“I just found myself obsessing over it and wanting to learn as much as I could about this toxic issue that’s been around for as long as I can remember. And I do comedy shows, so I thought I’d marry those two together.”
On the surface, trying to make a comedy show out of an issue that tends to divide a room of Australians rather than make them laugh seems challenging
“I genuinely do hope people with lots of different political opinions do come along,” says Ballard. “It’s also a deconstruction of the history of Australia’s treatment of refugees and approach to immigration generally.”
Ballard continues down this path of mixing comedy and commentary with his second show at MICF, The World Keeps Happening.
“The world keeps going along and being fucked,” he says. “Maybe it always feels like this, maybe human beings always think we’re at the end of history. But it seems to me like a crazy time in the world: We’re on the verge of environmental collapse, there are psychotic extremists trying to kill us, looks like Donald Trump will be president soon. We’re ruled over by millionaires and I like Justin Bieber now.”
By Alexander Darling
Venues: Melbourne Town Hall – Supper Room, Cnr Swanston & Collins Sts, CBD. Trades Hall – New Ballroom,
Dates: March 24 – April 17 for The World Keeps Happening (except Mondays and Wednesdays), March 26 – April 17 for Boundless Plains (Saturdays, Sundays & Mondays only)
Times: 8.15pm for The World Keeps Happening (Sundays 7.15pm), 5.15pm for Boundless Plains (Saturday April 9 5.45pm & Sundays 4.15pm)
Tickets: $22 – $27.50
