Established in 1989, Tom Ballard is one of those comedians you just know is going places.
Established in 1989, Tom Ballard is one of those comedians you just know is going places. “The new show is called Since 1989, which refers to the year that I was born and it’s about two things: it’s about being young and about being in love and it sort of follows both.”
“It talks about being a young person and turning 21, because I turned 21 last year and going through your first heartbreak, which sort of also happened to me last year, so it’s quite a personal storytelling show,” he says.
The discussion as to whether comedy is appropriate or effective therapy is well-worn. “I think I definitely think that what you end up doing on stage has to be really considered,” says Ballard. “I don’t think you can actually legitimately be working through emotional issues live on stage because I don’t think that’s going to make the best comedy. You’re going to make people feel uncomfortable. Definitely writing the show was fairly cathartic and you know I just had that real need to be creative and make positive come out of it. I realise now why there are so many albums dedicated to heartbreak. After it you just feel a bit useless and you have a lot of energy that you want to direct towards making something really good come out of this thing.
While the show focuses on Ballard’s experience of break up as part of a common human experience, it’s almost impossible to consider his experience without taking into consideration the fact that both Ballard and ex-partner, Josh Thomas, have huge public profiles in Australia. Of course with many modern break ups, it eventually hit social media. “It was not a twitter break up,” clarifies Ballard, after one commentator claimed it was. “Josh and I said on Twitter that we had broken up. But we wouldn’t break up with each other over Twitter. That would be just ridiculous.
“It’s not an angry kind of revenge show; Josh and I are very much good friends and it’s just that this is the first time that it’s happened to me and I think for most people that experience. When you go through it, it really changes the way you look at lots of things. So I wanted to capture the idea of that turning point in your life and that it’s an important part of growing up and an essential part of being young I think.”
Tom Ballard performs Since 1989 at The Swiss Club from March 31 – April 24. It’s at 9.30pm Tuesday – Saturday and 8.30pm on Sundays. Tickets are $20 – $26 and available through Ticketmaster online, 1300 660 013 and at the door.
