Funnyman Tom Gleeson is returning to Sydney this week for a reprise ofQuality, his comedy festival show from this year that focuses on the trials and tribulations of fatherhood, booze, and last but not least, the shitful state of the Federal Government.
“Yeah, there’s a fair portion of the show that’s quite critical of Tony Abbott,” he says. “But I feel like I got on the ground floor with that. At first, it was pretty lonely. The first gig I did this year was in Mandurah, which is on the outskirts of Perth, and I suspect that the majority of the audience had voted for Tony Abbott and they were not as open to my views as people have become as time has worn on. I feel like a bit of consensus has been built now.”
Rallying against Abbott onstage we understand, and we know that Gleeson’s the dad of a two-year-old, which is no walk in the park, but where does the booze fit into his set? “A lot of new parents seem to drink a lot, although people don’t talk about it,” he says. “I’ve noticed it from talking to my friends who are new parents – once the child’s in bed, there’s about a two-hour party before the adults go to bed too. I feel like I spent a lot of that last year doing that: putting my two-year-old to bed, cracking open a bottle of wine, drinking a little bit too much and yelling at the TV because Tony Abbott was on it.”
Gleeson says that as a comedian, he flies the flag for angry guys. Has fatherhood knocked off any of his edge? “It has taught me a lot more empathy,” he reflects. “It’s easy when you see people to think straight out, ‘Oh, they’re an idiot,’ but when you become a father you realise that people have come from somewhere and have been shaped. There are reasons they are the way that they are. Even Tony Abbott. So I’ve either got a little more empathy, or I’m more critical in far more detail.”
Although we disagree on his next point, Gleeson also claims to be unlikeable. “A lot of stand-up comedians tap dance around onstage, wanting people to like them, and it’s really quite overt,” he says. “Even if they’re going to talk about politics, it’s like, ‘I’m not very happy with Tony Abbott, I know some of you voted for him, but I’m just saying that I’m not quite happy,’ and they feel like they need to start backtracking and get everyone on board, whereas I prefer to throw out opinions and let the audience cope.
“Also, there’s a desperation in trying to be liked, and I realise that I’m a bit of a prickly person anyway. I’m better off just being and letting people who are interested in that form of deep, deep cynicism gravitate towards me, and the people who don’t like it will just move on. I just know that I’m not everyone’s cup of tea. Not everyone’s as cynical as me. I’m hard-wired that way – I just can’t pretend that everything’s OK.”
Catch Quality atThe Comedy StoreonSaturday November 15 and Sunday November 16, tickets online.
