Author Archives: Tom
99 – Senator James Paterson
James Paterson has been a Victorian senator for the Liberal Party for just over a year now. He’s been making a name for himself as a passionate advocate for freedom of speech in regards to the reforming of Section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act and by proposing that Australia help deal with its debt problem by selling off Jackson Pollock’s Blue Poles.
Here the Senator and I talk about our first meeting years ago, his position as something of a political anomaly within his own family, why he’s so strident on 18C, racism, offshore detention and corporate tax cuts.
Stand Up For Mehdi at MICF 2017 – only a handful of tickets left!
Problematic begins at MICF 2017 this week
Boundless Plains To Share is at MICF for one show only on Saturday April 22nd
My piece for The Guardian: Politically incorrect comedy can work – if the audience gets it
My piece for The Saturday Paper: Satire, free speech and Mehdi Savari
Article: The Senate blocks the government’s changes to Section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act
Article: Even among Australians worried about political correctness 18C is not a big issue
Article: A history of Section 18C and the Racial Discrimination Act
Article: 18C Debate is not over say both Liberal Senator and Labor MP
Senator Paterson’s first speech
Senator Paterson’s speech on 18C
Article: What is Section 18C and why do some politicians want it changed
Article: An inconvenient truth gets in the way of the company tax cut chants
Joint Human Rights Committee report into Freedom of Speech in Australia
Article: Doctors freed to speak about Australia’s detention regime after U-Turn
Article: ‘Voodoo economics’ lie at the heart of Scott Morrison’s budget
Article: There is no such thing as trickle-down economics
Article: 10 reasons why the company tax cut is a really bad idea
Article: Australia doesn’t need to chase Donald Trump on corporate tax cuts
Article: Company profits surge as wages fall
Cause of the Week: Soldier On (soldieron.org.au)
My piece for the Guardian on PC & Comedy
“Tom Ballard looks like an enormous baby: we should use him to ween paedophiles off children.”
When Jimmy Carr delivered that line at the Just For Laughs Festival in Montreal in July 2015, the drunken crowd erupted in gasping laughter. Jimmy and I were facing off in the Roast Battle, a one-on-one competition in which two comics go head-to-head, inflicting brutal jibes upon one another for entertainment. The line made me double over. It’s horrific, yes – but it’s also a bit true. I do look like a giant baby. That’s why it was funny.
I tried to give as good as I got: “Jimmy Carr’s mother died in 2001. She died of pancreatic cancer and yet Jimmy’s still not considered ‘side-splitting’.”
The crowd groaned and looked at me like I was a reprehensible human being. But they also laughed. Hard.
My One Night Stan special is out THIS FRIDAY
The 3rd #OneNightStan original comedy special is the brilliant @TomCBallard The World Keeps Happening – Friday 7th April. Only on Stan. pic.twitter.com/6hmHAkqIsD
— Stan. (@StanAustralia) April 3, 2017
J Files on The Funniest Songs Ever
I’ll be guest hosting The J Files on Double J as they explore the best comedy songs ever, from Tenacious D to Monty Python to Tripod to Sarah Silverman.
It’ll be a great listen. Check it out on Thursday March 30th from 8pm.
Problematic 2017
My 2017 stand up show is called Problematic.
It’s a funny show about whether anything can be funny anymore.
I’d bloody love you to come along to it. Please? Thanks.
===
PERTH (WORK IN PROGRESS): TUESDAY JAN 31st – SUNDAY FEB 5th @ LAKSA LOUNGE, NOODLE PALACE
All tickets $26, available here. Please note this is a WORK IN PROGRESS; there will be notes, pauses and mistakes. But also the thrill of seeing something piping hot and fresh and emerge from a cocoon as a beautiful butterfly.
===
ADELAIDE: FRIDAY FEB 17th – SUNDAY 26th (9 SHOWS) @ THE CORONA THEATRE, THE GARDEN OF UNEARTHLY DELIGHTS
8:15pm. Tickets from $27 – $35, available here.
AUSLAN interpreted Wednesday 22nd.
===
HOBART: WEDNESDAY MARCH 15th @ THE SPIEGELTENT (ONE SHOW ONLY)
For Hobart’s Ten Days On The Island. 7pm.
Full $38, Concession $30. Tickets available here.
===
BRISBANE: TUESDAY MARCH 21st – SUNDAY 26th (6 SHOWS) @ THE VISY THEATRE
8:15pm (7pm Sunday). Tickets from $25 – $35, available here.
AUSLAN interpreted Wednesday 22nd.
===
MELBOURNE: THURSDAY MARCH 30th – SUNDAY APRIL 23rd @ THE SUPPER ROOM, MELBOURNE TOWN HALL
7pm (6pm Sundays). Tickets from $24 – $34, available here.
AUSLAN interpreted Wednesday 12th April.
===
SYDNEY: THURSDAY MAY 4th – SUNDAY MAY 7th @ GIANT DWARF THEATRE
9:30pm (8:30pm Sunday). Tickets $27, available here.
AUSLAN interpreted Sunday May 7th.
98 – Daniel Webb
Daniel Webb is the Director of Legal Advocacy at the Human Rights Law Centre. He is a passionate voice for human rights and for treating people seeking asylum with dignity and humanity.
In this chat Daniel is so crystal clear about why he does what he does, why what we’re doing to refugees is wrong, the alternatives that are out there for us and why it’s vital that we as a country need to rethink our entire approach here. He also describes what it’s actually like for the men being held on Manus Island at the moment and in particular tells me about Mehdi Savari, an Iranian refugee comedian who has been detained on that hellhole for more than three years.
Stand Up For Mehdi at MICF 2017 – this will sell out, book your tickets now!
Problematic begins at MICF 2017 this week
Boundless Plains To Share is at MICF for one show only on Saturday April 22nd
The US refugee deal grows shakier by the day. Turnbull must find a humane way forward by Daniel Webb
Schoolgirl pleads with government to reunite her with refugee dad on Manus
Mehdi’s story on New Matilda, in The Saturday Paper
Cause of the Week: The Human Rights Law Centre (hrlc.org.au)
The Big Issue: Comedy Edition
I wrote a piece for this sweet comedy edition of the always-brilliant Big Issue.
You can find out more here. Buy it from your local vendors when you see them around please!
97 – Eva Cox AO
Writer, feminist, sociologist, social commentator, activist and postage stamp honouree Eva Cox AO is a remarkable person. A Jewish refugee child, Eva has always been something of an outsider, agitating for change and asking tough questions her entire life.
In this wide-ranging, educational discussion, Eva sums up the philosophy of neoliberalism and argues the case for social capital. We discuss feminism, Islam, the shortcomings of the same-sex marriage movement, identity politics and the Universal Basic Income. I was inspired and educated by this chat; I hope you like it as much as I did.
Problematic is on at the Brisbane Comedy Festival this week
It’s also heading to Melbourne & Sydney
Boundless Plains To Share is on this weekend in Brisbane
It’s coming to Melbourne for 1 show only
Stand Up For Mehdi at MICF 2017
My piece on the abolition of QLD’s “gay panic” law
Bring on the feminist revolution! by Eva on medium.com
Eva’s Wisdom of the Ages piece for The Guardian: Dare To Be Difficult
Article: It’s time to harness angry feminist energy and inject it into welfare policy
A profile on Eva in The Saturday Paper
Cause of the Week: FIND CAUSES AND IDEAS THAT ARE OPTIMISTIC OR THINK THEM UP YOURSELF
Gay Panic law abolished!
Great news! I wrote a little piece about QLD (finally) abolishing the “gay panic” defence, thanks to the tireless work of Father Paul Kelly. Please read it here.