I’m headlining at the Comic’s Lounge in North Melbourne for four nights with the super-dooper Anne Edmonds, Demi Lardner and Bart Freebairn.
It’s happening Wednesday November 11th to Saturday 14th and you can grab tickets here.
Author Archives: Tom
36 – Out of Canberra w/ Alice Workman, Sam Dastyari & Prof. James Arvanitakis
Here’s a live panel on where the jolly hell Australian politics is heading at the moment, recorded at This Is Not Art 2015 in Newcastle, as part of Critical Animals. The panel featured myself, Labor Senator Sam Dastyari and academic Professor James Arvanitakis and was moderated by Alice Workman from triple j‘s Hack program.
We discussed political leadership, immigration, marriage equality and titles.
Critical Animals is a creative research symposium held annually as a part of tINA; find out more at criticalanimals.com.
My episode of Q&A in Toowoomba
The National Young Writers’ Festival
MyTunes
In this great new series from Giant Dwarf theatre, music nerdlings get to sit down with their musical heroes and gush their love for them and request them to play their favourite songs and gush some more, all in front of a live audience.
On Wednesday November 18th, I’ll be sitting down with the master of twee wordplay himself, Darren “Dazza Hazza” Hanlon.
I’m so excited for this and hope that if you’re a Hanlonian like me, you’ll be able to make it. Tickets are on sale here and do get in quick: the first instalment with Zan Rowe and Paul Dempsey completely sold out.
Q&A live from Toowoomba
BEGIN THE SMUGNESS #qanda pic.twitter.com/Bquo9Z2I5d
— Tom Ballard (@TomCBallard) October 26, 2015
On Monday night I hosted Q&A live from Toowoomba in Queensland. I was joined on the panel by Rural Health Minister Fiona Nash, Shadow Agriculture Minister Joel Fitzgibbon, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Southern Queensland Jan Thomas, Mayor of Toowomba Paul Antonio and singer-songwriter Katie Noonan.
Things got pretty PASSIONATE as we covered everything from CSG extraction, resettling refugees in rural areas, medical marijuana, obesity and daylight savings.
You can watch back the whole thing here if you like.
Walk Together 2015
I believe in all of those things and am happy to be saying welcome at the Melbourne Walk Together on Saturday October 31st.
There are walks happening all over the country; find out if there’s one near you here.
35 – Senator Sarah Hanson-Young
At just 33, Senator Sarah Hanson-Young already has eight years of experience serving as a Greens Senator for South Australia in the federal parliament. Once a protégé of Bob Brown’s, Sarah now holds the portfolios of Immigration & Citizenship, LGBTI rights and Youth, Early Childhood Education & Childcare for the Greens.
In this chat, recorded just before Sarah took to the stage at a Rally for Refugees in Melbourne, we discuss the future of her party, her path from student politician to youthful senate candidate, the 2009 CTRS decision, party donations and the horrible shit she’s seen in her visits to offshore detention centres.
The Sydney Just For Laughs Stand Up Series
Danny Bhoy at the State Theatre In Sydney
Article: Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young partied at Mardis Gras with taxpayer money
Sarah on The Chaser’s The Hamster Decides
Cause of the Week: Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (asrc.org.au), No Business In Abuse (nobusinessinabuse.org)
Moosehead Award 2016
Exciting news, pals! I’ve been announced as a recipient for a Moosehead Grant for 2016.
The Mooseheads help fund shows at the Melbourne Comedy Festival that are in some way different and ambitious. They’ve very kindly gone with my idea of a comedy lecture about Australia’s fucked up immigration policies, Boundless Plains To Share.
I’m stoked and terrified about taking on this challenge and hope to make it something really special. The brilliant Scott Edgar of Tripod fame will be my director and I’m hoping to collaborate with refugees, detainees and advocacy groups from far and wide to make sure it’s all legit.
I’ll be keeping folks updated on the progress of the show via my podcast and you can also follow along via the Mooseheads facebook page.
BPTS is only slated for the 2016 Melbourne Comedy Festival at this stage, but I’ll also be touring a brand new stand up show, The World Keeps Happening around the country in the first half of next year. Watch this here website for further details. DON’T WORRY EVERYONE YOU’LL ALL GET YOUR BALLARD FIX.
Chloe Escott Stands Up And Comes Out
Last night I headlined at Clubhouse Comedy in Hobart and my friend Chloe Escott was one of the support acts. Chloe has recently come out as a proud transwoman and it was pretty amazing to see her absolutely own her experience in this stand up set.
Stand up comedy is hard. Being openly trans is hard. This lady did both at the same time and made a room full of Tasmanians laugh. Enjoy.
34 – Freya Newman
It’s been almost a year since a magistrate gave whistleblower Freya Newman a two-year good behaviour bond for “unauthorized access to information” under the NSW Crimes Act. Her leaking of private information about Frances Abbott, the prime minister’s daughter, receiving a $60,000 undeclared scholarship at the Whitehouse Institute, a private design school, ignited a furious public debate about privacy, privilege and the public’s right to know.
At the National Young Writer’s Festival in Newcastle, I got to sit down with Freya and asked her to reflect on exactly how it all happened, what it’s like to be in the centre of a media shitstorm, the failings of the media’s handling of the issue, gaps in the law and whether or not she holds any regrets about the whole episode.
RJ Mitte event at the Athenaeum Theatre
My shows at the Republic Bar in Hobart, Fresh Comedy in Launceston
Rally for Refugees this Sunday October 11th
Article on Freya: The Whistleblower
Cause of the Week: Students Support The Aboriginal Communities (on FB), Dumbartung Aboriginal Corporation (dumbartungaboriginalcorporation.org), Kyol Blakeney for Cleo Bachelor of the Year
