Just for laughs: Joel Creasey struggles as a singer.
ERIN PEARSON
COMEDIAN Joel Creasey admits he is still getting his head around public speaking.
Since first appearing on the Perth comedy scene at the tender age of 17, Creasey has since headlined all the west coast’s top comedy venues and toured Sydney and Melbourne.
But performing without humor was a foreign concept to many comedians, the 21-year-old said
“I could never get up at karaoke or a birthday and do a speech,” Creasey admitted.
“Even to the point where at a sporting event, I can’t get involved because I fear I’m the one who will stuff everything up.
“I think I’m quite deluded. Comedy, though, just comes naturally to me and, as it is for most comedians, comedy is just something you do.
“No one knows where it comes from.”
Creasey, a full-time stand-up professional for 18 months, attributed his success to a high school teacher who set him on the “right path”.
“My year 12 political media studies teacher gave out at the end of the year a Mr Men book to everyone and she gave me Mr Funny. Then I begun to think about stand-up.
“When I entered my first stand up competition everyone was kind of shocked.
“People from school didn’t know I was funny but I was like ‘You’re an engineer and I didn’t know you were smart’.”
Creasey, touring with Melbourne International Comedy Festival’s Raw Comedy talent search, said Australia’s largest open-mic comedy competition was an important stepping stone.
His only words of advice for any novices thinking about competing was “just smile”.
“You can say the most horrible things about people as long as you have a smile,” he laughed.
“I look forward too seeing who’s going to come and take a cut of my income in the future.”
Chris Lilley, Josh Thomas, Hannah Gadsby, Peter Helliar, Claire Hooper, Mike McLeish and Tim Minchin all performed at RAW Comedy heats to help launch their careers.
RAW Comedy’s first heat in the region is at Geelong Performing Arts Centre on Saturday.
