The month of March is upon us, and as all comedy fans know, that means Raw Comedy – Australia’s biggest comedy-based open mic competition – is well under way.
After a long series of heats, the state and national finals are now imminent. Triple j breakfast host Matt Okine was a finalist back in 2004, having only performed stand-up three times previously – all during the preliminary heats of the competition. Okine, who will host the New South Wales final this month, continues to be a massive supporter and ambassador for the competition and its importance to the world of comedy.
“It gives people a safe place,” he says. “Open mic nights can be goddamn jungles! I’ve been to pubs where the audience is literally looking at the greyhounds on the screens playing over your shoulder. Raw lets you jump onstage with a group of people who are often giving it their first crack too. The audience is mostly family or friends, or people who actually respect comedy and know how confident – read: deluded – you need to be to give it a go.”
Considering how intense and intimidating performance can be – this writer even signed up for a Raw heat in Wollongong once, but pulled out because I’m a complete chicken shit, and because I didn’t want to get glassed by a Dragons fan – one wonders how 18-year-old Okine found the Raw experience.
“Terrifying. I only told two friends. One I needed to borrow a T-shirt from and the other I wanted to drive so that I could, umm, ‘calm my nerves’. It all turned out pretty good though. I ended up winning my heat and ended up in the local paper. Thankfully I was wearing a decent shirt!”
As it turns out, Okine wasn’t the only comedy hopeful who embarked on the Raw journey from an incredibly young age. Plenty of young folk with zero experience enter the heats, which is something that Okine encourages.
“Every heat has at least four or five newbies,” he says. “And there’s absolutely zero judgment, because everyone else has been there before. You get to sit down with the organisers and MC beforehand and are given a run-through of how it all works and where the nearest bathrooms are before your nerves take over and make you wee more than a 21-year-old who is 14 schooners deep. There’s nothing to fear.”
The entertainment industry at large is so difficult to get into, and even more so when you start venturing into the realm of niche genres such as comedy. Its Australian scene, in particular, is incredibly small, and from the outside looking in seems to be quite tight-knit. I’m curious as to whether there is a lot of support for Raw comedians after the competition has been run and won.
“Of course,” Okine says. “At the end of the day, nobody cares who wins or loses – unless, of course, you win – and the whole competition is really just a way for you to meet other people in the scene who can tell you about where the best open mic rooms are, and can give you lifts to the next gig, et cetera.”
Being a comedy competition, you can expect Okine has experienced some pretty hilarious moments over the years, on and off the stage. It turns out that one of his most memorable recollections involves just a tiny bit of hubris.
“There was a 17-year-old kid in the Queensland final in 2005 and I didn’t even watch his performance because I thought I had it in the bag. Nek minnit, the 17-year-old kid wins. He turns out to be Josh Thomas. He’s since gone on to destroy at everything he does, so at least my loss was deserved.”
The Raw Comedy 2016 State Final takes placeTuesday March 15 at The Comedy Store.
