Geelong’s Tim Young will achieve a long held dream this month when he presents his own solo show at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. He chats with Ash Bolt
A firefighter at the Geelong Refinery by day, Tim is a regular performer and promoter on Geelong’s stand-up comedy scene.
But he will be taking to the stage at Melbourne’s The Charles Dickens Tavern with his debut solo Melbourne International Comedy Festival show, Tangent, from March 31 to April 10.
Tim said it was a dream to perform at of the one of the world’s most well-known stand-up comedy festivals.
“I actually had a show ready to go at the 2020 comedy festival but as we all know now, that got cancelled,” he said.
“I didn’t do it last year – I wish I had now but I don’t know, a little bit of me broke off when it was cancelled in 2020 so I didn’t do it last year.
“But I’m finally doing it this year. I’m pumped and I’m terrified all at the same time.
“When you’re trying to sell tickets and you haven’t got a big name to rely on – it’s just you – that’s terrifying, but it’s the dream to be involved.
“I’ve always wanted to do a debut show at the festival.
“I think if you’re going to be serious about your comedy – it’s a funny sentence, isn’t it? – but if you want to do it, you’ve got to do a solo show at the festival.
“You have got to test yourself to do 50 minutes by yourself. I’m getting some of my friends to open and do five minutes for me, but to do 45 minutes – it’s a long time and you have to make sure that it’s tight and it’s good.
“And again, it’s your name on the bill, so if it’s not funny, it’s your name that goes down the toilet.
“So I’m nervous but I’m excited and I just really want to make sure it’s the best of the stuff that I’ve got.”
He said he was feeling good about his show Tangent, which he described as his “love letter to the tangent”.
“The show is basically just me trying to tell one story over the 50 minutes and just getting distracted the whole time,” he said.
“Because that’s what my life is like – that’s all I do, get distracted.
“I get distracted half way through saying something and then I’m off on a tangent, going off in some other direction. I drive people nuts all the time.
“But that’s what this show is all about. It’s one particular story that goes to all these other places – to remote Northern Territory, to Ballarat – we go everywhere with all these different distractions.
“So hopefully it’s a good time.”
Tim’s debut comedy festival show comes almost 20 years after he got his first taste of performing at an open mic night.
“I was always a bit of joker as a kid. My parents sent me to a very expensive private school and to be honest I probably wasted my time and their money there,” he said.
“I was never concentrating and if there was a chance to either drop a mate in it for a laugh or say something to get a laugh in class, I did it.
“[Getting into stand-up comedy] always starts with being the loudest person in the room and then someone says, ‘why don’t you try it?’
“So for me it was in about 2002 when I lived in Brisbane, I had a mate, James Galloway, who actually signed me up for an open mic night and said, ‘righto, you’re doing it right here and right now’.
“And it was good because it was the push I needed – if you leave it to yourself, you’ll never do it.
“So I did it, and it’s been a bit like what I’m told drugs are like. You get your first hit, the first laugh, and then you just want it again and again and again.
“Not long after that I moved to remote Northern Territory and worked there as a teacher for a while and I didn’t do a lot of comedy.
“I really only got back into it about four or five years ago. But I found you never really lose that instinct to think that no matter how bad a situation is, one day this is going to be good material.
“Gradually it’s got to the point where I want to try and do different things and challenge myself by doing an hour-long show.
“I love it but it can be a tough mistress at times. When it doesn’t go well, it’s really bad.
“I did a gig once in front of two people at the Gold Coast years ago. They were two people in their 60s or 70s and that was really, really hard.
“I was literally up there just addressing them like, ‘Beryl and Des, have you ever s*** yourself at a party?’ or something like that and it just wasn’t working with them.
“But then when it does go well, it’s fantastic. There’s no better feeling than being up on a stage and people are laughing at everything you’re saying.”
Along with performing, Tim’s passion for comedy has seen him organise shows in Geelong and Ballarat and promote stand-up comedy in regional Victoria.
With fellow comedian, Luke Massey, he runs LGF Comedy, which has brought many big names, including Dave Thornton, Harley Breen and Greg Fleet, to Geelong and given local comics a chance to perform locally.
“We run nights at the Geelong West Town Hall and we’re doing about eight this year and we’re looking at hopefully doing 10 next year,” he said.
“So there’s that and another guy, Blaise White, has started a weekly room at a bar in town and that’s great too. He’s getting local and Melbourne comedians come down and perform every weekend.
“So the local comedy scene is really starting to flourish and it’s great because it means comedians can do good gigs without having to go up the road to Melbourne.
“For years and years when I was in Ballarat, it was the case that if you wanted to do a decent gig you had to go to Melbourne, whereas now you can do them in Geelong or Ballarat or Warrnambool.
“I think regional Victoria is starting to kick some goals on the comedy scene and that’s good because you get different voices, you hear different things, and we’re all about that.”
He said he had seen a growing appetite from comedians to visit Geelong and other regional areas.
“Obviously it’s all a business but people do want to get out of Melbourne,” he said.
“I think there’s an element that comedians like to come out here and test their material in front of crowds that aren’t North Melbourne, Brunswick or Fitzroy and get away from the man buns and beards, not that there’s anything wrong with that.
“And we always have good crowds here in Geelong, so it’s great.”
Tim’s show Tangent runs every day, except Wednesday, between March 31 and April 10, starting at 6pm, with the Sunday shows starting at 5pm.
“It’s a really good timeslot, because you can come and see my show and then stay and catch another one afterwards,” Tim said.
Details: comedyfestival.com.au
