Maybe it's time for a getaway.
For comedian Tom W Clarke, there came a time when it felt correct to pack everything up and hit the road with his wife and their son – so they acted on this feeling and never looked back.
In 'Bruce: Misadventures From A Lap Around Australia' at Adelaide Fringe, Tom takes inspiration from this whirlwind trip, where they jammed into a campervan for a year of silliness.
The show features stories and characters from their extraordinary lap.
One place Tom has yet to take to the stage is Adelaide – till now. Tom will share some of his travel anecdotes with Fringe audiences, in a show for “the wanderers, the adventurers, the closet nudists, the nature-lovers and the child inside each of us”.
We learn more about Tom's journey, and the show he'll be presenting.
This show has an interesting premise. For those unaware, what will you be covering in the show?
At the start of 2023, my wife and I packed up our life in Melbourne, threw our four-year-old son into a campervan and took off around Australia for the year. This show is inspired by our stories from that adventure – the characters we met, the things we saw, the animals we were attacked by. . . You know, classic Australia stuff.
How would you describe your comedy style?
The two funniest things in the world are taking silly things very seriously and treating serious things ridiculously. I mix and match between those, with a few high kicks in there for good measure.
Seems like you have lots of stories to tell. Why did you decide to take such a big trip?
We had this un-ignorable urge telling us that we needed to shake things up. It’s so easy to get on a path in life and wonder whether you’ll ever be able to get off it, or how you even got there at all. Life can be so serious. We just wanted to go out and find some silliness and freedom. To hike and swim and play and never check the clock.
What’s something that surprised you the most on this trip?
How much I loved the van life. I didn’t know how I’d handle only showering every few days, or sleeping in a sandy bed in the back of a van, or emptying the portaloo. I thought the van was just a means to an end, to move us around and give us a roof. But I loved it (okay, except the portaloo thing).
What’s a lesson you learned on the trip, that you’ll keep with you?
Honestly, and I know it sounds so wanky, but you are a different person after a trip like this. We are really just trying to keep from falling back into old habits – working too much, being in front of a screen all the time, forgetting to have fun.
What are you most looking forward to about sharing your story at a festival like Adelaide Fringe?
This is my most personal comedy show, and I’m really excited to share it with people. It’s funny, and silly, and reflective, and I hope it inspires people to take a look around at their life and do what they want to do, instead of what they think they’re meant to be doing.
You’ve performed everywhere EXCEPT Adelaide! Why has it taken you till now to get there?!
The stars just haven’t aligned. On the trip, we were coming through outback New South Wales, and had our eyes on getting to Esperance in southern WA while it was still warm. So Adelaide was a detour we couldn’t quite fit in – blame the stars (and the siren song of those Eyre Peninsula oysters).
Have you been to Adelaide before? What do you like most about the city?
I have, once. It was a criminally short trip. I saw the Big Rocking Horse and, oddly enough, not that many churches. Definitely looking to fix that on this trip.
One piece of advice for someone wanting to pack it all up and hit the road?
Don’t plan it too much – book the major national parks, like Cape Le Grand and Cape Range in WA, and definitely think about school holidays – but for the most part, let it come to you. Because you will find places where you just want to stay forever, and you’ll also find places where you feel like you’ll get stabbed if you don’t drive on immediately.
Describe your show in four words.
Drove far, got stories.
Tom W Clarke plays Ground Floor Space at The Lost Dice (Adelaide Fringe) 16-25 February.
