‘Hilarious chaos’ is the only way to describe an interview with theWorkaholicsboys: Blake Anderson, Adam Devine, Anders Holm and Kyle Newacheck.
The off-the-wall team will be hitting town next week to host two Comedy Central comedy nights as part of the Spectrum Now festival. Having four boisterous men being patched in from LA offers just a small taste of the insanity that audiences can expect from the show.
Our interview begins with an admittedly safe question regarding their excitement about visiting Australia. As Anderson enthusiastically yells “Woooo!” in the background, Holm replies: “We’re excited to see some Australian comedy – we haven’t really seen much. Every Australian I’ve met has been really, really cool, so I’m excited to meet some of the funniest.”
Pitch Perfect’s Devine also jumps in. “We’ll grab a beer for sure, cause we know that’s the bottom line for Australian folks. There’s a nice golden hue to them, you know?”
When it comes to what audiences can expect from a night of local comedians with international celebrity hosts, Devine dives right in. “There’s going to be magic, there’s going to be mystery, there’s going to be love – Denzel Washington might make a cameo. We don’t know.”
“I think that anything can probably happen,” Holm adds, which the rest simultaneously agree is “the perfect answer”.
Anderson does have one point to add, though: “I just want people to leave and go, ‘What the fuck was that?’ We’re pretty confident we can deliver on that.”
With such a stellar lineup of comic talent, it’s hardly surprising that both nights of the show are already sold out. This does, however, come as news to the hosts. After a spirited “Heck yeah!” from Devine, Holm asks, “That’s terrifying, how many people?” Devine assures him a total of 15 people will be in attendance, and Holm issues a sigh of relief. “Alright, we can handle 15 people, but if it’s any more than that, we’re shit out of luck.”
Despite making a big name for themselves on the small screen with Workaholics, the four-man team began as a sketch group, Mail Order Comedy. They remain eager to get back to their roots on the stage.
“100 per cent,” says Newachek. “I think it’s something that we all like to do but haven’t had a chance to do it together for a long, long time. So I think it’s going to be something fun and we’re glad that we can do it and get a free trip to Australia. I’m probably going to meet my wife down there – I just don’t know what’s going to happen.”
It also doesn’t sound like this will be the last we see of the Workaholics crew when it comes to live performances and touring. “I’m the one out of the four of us that gets to do it most,” says Devine, “just because I do stand-up comedy, so I get to go up quite a bit and improvise and perform. But we haven’t done anything together as a group for a few years now. Especially with Workaholics starting to wind down – we’re going to do one more season of it – we’ll be able to have more time and freedom to do fun things like this.
“We can go out, go on the road, go to strange new cities and meet strange people, get in some kick-fighting rings and really find ourselves. I’m hoping to have some stories for the weird book I’m going to write about myself someday. Don’t psychopaths write books about themselves? I’m hoping to do that.”
Speaking of being on the road, one thing they make a point of in an episode of Workaholics is the importance of man-snacks. I wonder what their favourites are. “I like vanilla ice-cream,” says Anderson, “but then I like to cover it with beef jerky. That way I’m getting my dairy intake but I’m also getting my protein, which is important as a man.”
Holm adds, “I’d say mine is Big League Chew – it’s bubblegum that’s supposed to look like chewing tobacco, because that’s the kind of man I am.”
Snacking habits aside, it’s also incredibly enlightening to discover some of the weird things that can happen to comedians on the road. “I had a girl once outside of a show with cupcakes,” says Devine. “I ate one when I got home and I found a lock of her hair inside of the cupcakes. This psychopath wanted me to ingest her hair. I did eat the rest of them though, because they were pretty delicious. They were extra moist – I don’t know what that was.”
Anderson also has some odd stories to share. “When I first started off, I stayed in a shady-ass hotel in Baltimore where a car [was] shot up, and I was scared of that. I hope that Australia is very safe and that we don’t have any kind of problems.”
Unfortunately, Australia isn’t the safest of places for tourists – especially thanks to our deadly wildlife, which Devine has heard about before. “Oh yeah, everything out there can kill you, right? Even the butterflies can fuck you up. I’m not excited about that.”
Workaholicsappear at the Big Top, The Domain, as part of Spectrum Now Festival, Monday March 7 and Wednesday March 9. Comedy Central has also launched on Fetch TV, where you can catchWorkaholicsfrom Friday April 1.
