By Luke Voogt
Comedian and radio presenter Dave Thornton will make his comedic return to Geelong to support his Grovedale mum’s charity efforts next weekend.
Thornton broke onto the Australian scene as a 23-year-old at the Geelong RAW Comedy heats in 2003.
“I hope the god-awful stench of my first gig in there isn’t hanging around,” he told the Indy this week.
Thornton grew up in Belmont and returns often to visit his mum, Ineke.
However, he struggles to remember his last Geelong gig.
“It’s been a while,” he said.
But he does remember a Peter Helliar gig at Geelong Performing Arts Centre which first inspired him to brave the stage.
“I leaned across to my girlfriend and said ‘that looks kind of cool’,” he said.
“I’m not with her anymore – so maybe she thought ‘this guy is deluded’ and jumped ship.”
Thornton would go on to perform at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival for several years running, and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
“A severe lack of any other options made me continue it,” he said.
He has appeared on TV with the likes of Tommy Little and Tom Gleeson, and hosted morning radio with Fifi Box, Brendon Fevola and Byron Cooke for several years.
He described radio as “heaps of fun” and free of the “HR” restrictions of a typical office job.
“Our job is the complete inverse – you turn up hoping someone says something stupid,” he said.
“In another life I would be the annoying guy on the work site.”
Thornton was looking forward to seeing “some friendly faces” but admitted to being a tad nervous performing for mates.
“You look around and see people who have known you your whole life. They have a pretty good artillery of heckles.”
Thornton will perform at Buckleys on 18 February to raise money for Rotary Oceania Medical Aid for Children (ROMAC).
His mum supports the charity, which raises money to fly about 50 Pacific island children per year to Australia for lifesaving treatment.
“I’m proud my mum’s getting involved with it,” he said.
“When you do gigs like this you know it’s for the right reason and there’s also goodwill in the room.”
But Thornton insisted he wouldn’t censor his act for maternal ears.
“For better or worse, she’s gotten used to the things I say on stage. I can say whatever I want – so long as I put her in a good retirement home later down the track, she’s happy.”
Thornton will also bring his comedic mates to Geelong, like the man behind the Western Bulldogs banners Danny McGinlay and prolific TV comedy writer Karl Chandler.
Dave Thornton and Friends for ROMAC starts at 8pm on 18 February at Buckleys Entertainment Centre. To book online visit www.trybooking.com/book/event?eid=248627.
