Sports satirist and best-selling author Titus O'Reily is headed around the country for 'The Bye Round 2018 Tour: Manifestly Inadequate'.
Titus has had a pretty great year so far including sold-out shows and encore performances. He's bringing his unique wit to the stage with his second annual 'The Bye Round Tour', which promises to be a hilarious recount and review of the 2018 AFL season.
Here, Titus gives us a little more insight as to what to expect from the show.
You've had to add shows to your tour due to demand! First of all, how does that feel?
Worrying. Once my inane rantings could only be heard at the local pub and people would move away for me. I worry about the future that people actually want to come hear them.
You've kicked the tour off already… What can audiences expect on the rest of the dates of 'The Bye Round Tour'?
It’s a lot of new stuff about the AFL season. It’s been hard this year, the AFL seems to be doing their own line of satire at the moment that is hard to match. Luckily, I’ve had Barry Hall helping me write jokes.
You bring a fresh, unique take to Australian Rules football among other sport in general. What made you want to focus your comedy on this?
When you think about it, political satire in this country is huge but sport is seen as less of a target, even though more people follow it and care about it. Plus, sportspeople doing stupid things is a resource that is never going to run out.
Image © Matt Hofmann
Have you considered exploring other realms/categories of comedy and if so, where do you think you might go if you did?
I have. Politics is an obvious one as is business. The only problem is, doing comedy about sport means I can watch sport all the time and pretend it’s my job. Doing political comedy would mean watching politicians.
You're a best-selling author, too! Which do you prefer out of presenting your comedy in written form and presenting it in a live setting?
They are both so different that I like having both. Touring is tiring so it’s nice to go back to writing a book all alone but then you get bored and you become desperate to get back out on the road, then the cycle repeats.
What kinds of things from the 2018 season will you be touching on in your show?
There’s so much, like Mark Thompson’s unfortunate Bikie infestation, the dangerous spate of umpire touching incidents and who can forget the wonder that was AFLX?
In an ideal world, what are the audiences who have just seen your show thinking and feeling?
I’d like them leaving thinking, 'that was not the complete waste of money others said it would be'. I hope they leave feeling like they’re not the only football fan in the world who wonders why they follow this heartbreaking game.
Titus O'Reily Tour Dates
27 August – The Street Theatre (Canberra)29 August – Octagon Theatre (Perth)
31 August – The Comedy Store (Sydney)
1 September – Athenaeum Theatre (Melbourne)
2 September – Arkaba Hotel (Adelaide)
5 September – Sit Down Comedy Club (Brisbane)
