Rhys Nicholson is a little terrified about the future as he returns to the Brisbane Comedy Festival to get a reaction out of you. He also thinks women are funnier than men, so there.
"You guys are great," Nicholson kindly says of us Brisbanites. "You're so not the stereotype. I sometimes expect it to be like 'Mad Max'. But you've got galleries and great food. And you have a fake lagoon – you're possibly even a pioneer in fake lagoons (referring to South Bank's tacky 'beach')."
Comedy is a precarious, almost masochistic adventure. It's just you and a mic, figuratively naked (sometimes literally, as Nicholson soon explains), so you need to stand out. With his combination of acerbic, witty commentary, bow ties and occasional inflatable animals, Nicholson is doing pretty well.
The Newcastle-born-and-bred comic is returning to our fair river city with his new show 'Forward' at this year's Brisbane Comedy Festival, where he'll be among a stellar field including Wil Anderson, Hannah Gadsby, Celia Pacquola and Matt Okine. He doesn't reveal too many details about the show, but it covers his fears about what legacy he'll leave behind. "Well, it's written. It's got a name – which is often the hardest part of comedy shows," he says. "It's a little bit deep. It's my 'Eat Pray Love'. No. But I definitely feel the best I have about a show at this point."
Known to bust out the odd lip-synched version of 'Islands In The Stream' and other classics, Nicholson says he'll be sticking mostly to the conventional form this time around. "This one is mostly stand-up, which I think I prefer. At my last show (2014's 'Eurgh') I sang a rendition of 'Don't Cry For Me Argentina' and serenaded an inflatable llama, which was great. But I really wanted to strip it back a bit this time."
For a guy who is self-described on Twitter as a 'comedian, professional homosexual and bon vivant of all things filthy', one might not be surprised if he didn't enjoy growing up in the surfing and rugby league mecca of Newcastle. But Nicholson has a soft spot for his old Hunter stamping ground. "It's a genuinely nice city. It's a great place to grow up, leave and come back to visit, and I'm an angry, little bogan at heart.
"We're very self-aware, too. You see a lot of earnest, parochial towns trying to punch above their weight ... but we're just happy with a tower called 'The Big Penis'. No shit," he says of the city's famously phallic Queens Wharf Tower.
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Since making his start in Sydney and at the Raw Comedy 2009 finals, the 24-year-old has graced many an international room but his best memories are still close to home. "Brisbane and Melbourne are my favourite festivals, easily. The Comedy Store would have to be my favourite room. It's my home; it's where I got my start. It's a proper comedy club with red curtains and everything. And they take risks – I mean, they took a risk on me. You can never bomb there; you literally have to try hard to be bad."
And what of the weirdest – and worst – performances he's endured? It's only fair, right? “There's a show called Spank! at the Edinburgh Fringe and it's at 1am, literally down in the caves of Edinburgh. Everyone from the festival, staff and performers, go there after and the the concept is you can perform and spruik your Fringe show, as long as you get naked on stage. So that's definitely one of the oddest gigs I've done but great fun.
“My worst gig was few years ago in Bondi and it was just awful. It was to a crowd of about nine people in a 200-capacity room, and towards the end – the crowd had been completely dead until this point, they just weren't buying it – and I hear this woman quite prudishly say, 'Oh I think I've had enough' – what? Did you think I wouldn't hear that over the rapturous applause?”
Stand-up comedy scenes the world over always have their generation gaps with occasionally frosty relationships between salt-of-the-earth veterans and the new generation of alternative, socially-minded comedians.
“I think women are funnier – how political! No I honestly do.”
Nicholson is frank but self-deprecating in his assessment of his experiences. “Every city has a layer of bogan comedy. You see it on every gig poster – there's always a guy with a mullet who was big in the '80s or '90s and I can't help thinking, 'Oh my god, is ... is that going to be us? Is that my future? That and a tight 40 with some magicians on a cruise?”
Nicholson has compiled an impressive TV resumé in his short career, including 'Gaycrashers' with Joel Creasey and 'Dirty Laundry'. What does the future hold? Hollywood can wait, for now. “I don't know. I think I just want to slow-burn it. I tried to rush my career in the beginning but I'm happy to see what happens. I'd definitely like to do some more acting and writing. “I like panel shows. I'd love to do 'Dirty Laundry' again – that was loads fun. If the ABC still has any money?” he says, referring to one of our prime minister's cuts to the public broadcaster last year.
So what does he make of some of the Mad Monk's more recent gaffes, such as knighting Prince Philip, he of the “Do you still throw spears at each other [in 2002, no less]” fame? “Ugh, it's just embarrassing. And he [Philip] truly is the whitest knight – he's just so unbelievably racist. Do he and the Queen, like, get along at all, still? She seems nice. I mean, she killed Diana but she's fine."
While carving out an original shtick, Nicholson counts satire empress Sarah Silverman among his inspirations. “I love Sarah Silverman. From when I was really young I was just obsessed with watching stand-up videos from the Melbourne Comedy Festival and Montreal and she was always my favourite.”
He also cites US comedians Paul F. Tompkins (“He's just so proper. I love his bizarre tangents and references ... he dresses well, too.") and Maria Bamford (“I love her. She just does the most hilarious voices.”) among his favourites. “I think women are funnier – how political! No I honestly do.”
Nicholson much prefers a few, big shocks to having his audiences rolling in the aisles. “I much prefer getting a reaction out of the audience, like a gasp here or there, compared to a sea of laughter.
“Some of the best jokes just write themselves. Like a polite mugging I had once. I was literally mugged – like, not violently or anything – and the guy said, 'oh don't worry it's not because you're gay, it's not a hate crime,' and that's just a true story and yet it's funny.”
Whether it's Nicholson comparing the “warm feeling inside” that his friend claims to get from religion to when his boyfriend comes in his mouth, or a seemingly heartwarming pregnancy story about his sister that darkly takes a turn for the abortion, Nicholson loves nothing more than to test his audience's social compass.
Rhys Nicholson Tour Dates
12-14 Feb - Comedy Store, Entertainment Quarter (Sydney)17 Feb - Papa Gedes (Sydney)
19-21 - Comedy Store, Entertainment Quarter (Sydney)
26 Feb - Rocklily @ The Star (Sydney)
28 Feb - Comedy Store, Entertainment Quarter (Sydney)
3-5 Mar - Brisbane Powerhouse (Brisbane Comedy Festival)
12-14 Mar - Comedy Store, Entertainment Quarter (Sydney)
26 Mar until 19 Apr - Melbourne Town Hall (Melbourne International Comedy Festival)
