Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds will be bringing their popular, history-themed podcast 'The Dollop' to Australia for a series of live recordings.
Dave has been performing stand-up comedy for over 25 years, performing with the likes of Margaret Cho and Patton Oswalt. After the end of ‘Walking The Room’, his popular chat-based podcast co-hosted with comedian Greg Behrendt, Dave decided to go in another direction with his next podcast, 'The Dollop'. “On 'Walking The Room', I used to talk about myself all the time. I got so tired of listening to stories about me. Then I decided to start another podcast about stories from history, because I’ve always been interested in old stories about crazy shit.”
There is a lot of history that is hard to believe. The actions of some people are just too bizarre to even consider to have really happened, such as Kellog’s Corn Flakes being invented in part to discourage masturbation [true fact].
Each episode of 'The Dollop' has Dave reading a story from the weirder side of history to his friend and fellow comedian Gareth Reynolds. Gareth has no idea what the story is about. As the story progresses, the two improvise jokes and create hilarious scenarios, amusing and educating each other throughout.
The chemistry between the two hosts makes it easier to mine extra hilarity out of already bizarre stories, with Dave praising Gareth as “one of the funniest guys ever”. The pair first hit it off when they both featured on a podcast as guests alongside a group of porn stars. “I asked one which was her favourite American state to travel to, and she said 'England'. I couldn’t stop making fun of her! Gareth just kept laughing and joking along with me. I thought: 'This guy is good; he gets it.'”
Initially, the show was to feature a rotating line-up of guests. But the first episode they made together proved to be so good they couldn't keep the pairing as a once-off. “From the minute I read Gareth the first story, the audience went crazy, and I knew we were on to something,” recalls Dave. “He makes me laugh like no other person can. The way he makes up lines and characters from listening to the story is just so funny.”
The stories and rapport the two share has led to a massive following for 'The Dollop', with fans often sending in stories, making research easier for Dave. “Early on researching was terrible. I’d be googling ‘crazy’ and ‘weird’, and I’d get nothing; every story has those words to get hits. It took me anywhere between eight to twenty hours to research an episode.
"Now it’s awesome because the bigger the audience gets, the more people we get sending in stories. But people always send in serial killers. 'This guy has 80 kills! Make him funny!' I don’t think it’ll be that hilarious!”
The pair will make their way to Australia for the third time in September. The attraction to Australia makes sense, considering our dark and wild history. Dave has previously covered stories about notorious convict Alexander Pearce and famed explorers Burke and Wills, but finds Australia’s recent political blunders just as fascinating a topic to cover for this trip. “I might even cover Tony Abbott!”
The Dollop 'Down Under 3' Tour Dates
Fri 2 Sep - Enmore Theatre (Sydney)Sat 3 Sep - Athenaeum Theatre (Melbourne)
Sun 4 Sep - Her Majesty's Theatre (Adelaide)
Wed 7 Sep - Powerhouse Theatre (Brisbane)
Thu 8 Sep - CIT Music Centre (Canberra)
Sat 10 Sep - The Regal Theatre (Perth)
