Dave O’Neil is no stranger to Geelong; his wife hails from the city and he is an avowed Cats supporter.
But O’Neil, one of Australia’s best-loved comedians, is looking forward to performing next Thursday at the Palais as a contrast to his last Geelong gig.
“I did the Corio footy club three weeks ago on a Saturday night, which was interesting… nah, they were great,” O’Neil said.
“We were pulling up and Geelong were playing Port Adelaide, and they almost lost. I said to Brad [Oakes], the other comic, man, if Geelong loses it’s not gonna be pretty inside that club.
“But thank God, Geelong won and we went in and had a great time at Corio.”
O’Neil will be one half of a double feature at the Palais alongside fellow comedic veteran Peter Hellier on Thursday, August 25, which will be hosted by Evan Hocking.
O’Neil said the show was for anyone from teenagers to grandmothers, but certain demographics would find his material even more relevant.
“If you’re a middle-aged married person, it’s possibly the perfect show for you,” he said.
“I’ll be talking about parenting, how life was better in the 80s, and of course my love of the Geelong Cats. I’ve got about three minutes of Geelong jokes then I’ll just talk about the Cats.
“They’re not playing that weekend, so I’m expecting a few of them to be there. Tom Hawkins, Gryan Myers, they’ll probably be sitting down the front.
“And then they can rub it into Peter Hellier, who’s a Collingwood supporter.”
O’Neil, who did a number of gigs via Zoom over Victoria’s lockdowns, said he was really enjoying being back in front of live audiences again.
“It’s been great, I did a lot of online gigs, which were also great, but audiences are pretty happy to be out seeing live stuff again,” he said.
“Although sometimes that’s a downside, I did a school fundraiser the other day and they were off their trolleys, all these parents who hadn’t been out for a long time. But generally it’s been really good to be back out there again.”
