Funnyman Tom Gleeson on the Logies and his Hard Quiz national tour

Ahead of kicking off his Hard Quiz national tour, comedian Tom Gleeson reveals the real tragedy of the Logies being canned twice.

If you ask comedian Tom Gleeson, the real tragedy of the Logies being cancelled twice is he cannot notch up a Gold hat-trick.

“Now I can only win it twice in five years and that’s just not fair,” the Hard quiz host said.

“I am never going to catch up to Ray Martin at this rate. I’ll have to win five across 15 years and that’s going to take me forever.”

Gleeson – chatting ahead of kicking off his Hard Quiz national tour in Canberra on Saturday – joked he also didn’t realise just how much he was channelling Nostradamus when he cheekily welcomed everyone to the “last ever Logies” ahead of his infamous Gold Logie win in 2019.

“I was taking the piss out of the media and their doomsday predictions about what would happen if I were to win,” Gleeson said.

“I just thought it was funny to start with that and then, wow. I mean I could not have predicted it would go this way.”

Tom Gleeson during his Gold Logie win. Picture: AAP

The 47-year-old shocked the industry when he picked up Aussie television’s highest honour over more commercial names, including Rodger Corser, Amanda Keller and Waleed Aly.

He also campaigned hard for Grant Denyer who was awarded the top gong in 2018.

But Gleeson’s content for the awards to just play out when they return this year.

“I’m not doing a campaign – I think it would be even more annoying if I won without a campaign,” Gleeson said, with a laugh.

“It would just be funny because everyone would be annoyed but they would only have their own vanity to be annoyed at.”

Gleeson also believes the Logies should be awarded retrospectively given the industry has continued producing TV under some of the hardest conditions.

“Especially in light entertainment – with no crowds and zoom and people not able to travel,” he said.

Tom Gleeson with his wife Ellie Parker. Picture: Jonathan Ng

It’s been two years without a Logies event, and while there’s been no confirmation of a date, industry chatter suggests it will return to a mid-year ceremony on the Gold Coast.

Gleeson was excited to be taking his high-rating TV quiz show on the road in the huge tour which will also take in Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney, Newcastle, Perth and Brisbane across the year.

It will follow its traditional format with audience members pulled on stage to be quizzed on a specialty subject, while enjoying a live roasting from the most brutal quizmaster since the inquisition.

“Even in the rehearsal in front of only 50 people there was just pure joy,” Gleeson said.

“The way the crowd gets into the game play as well as the banter and the humour is always amazing but to do it in front of some 2000 people will be overwhelming.

“Just being together in a room with that many people who are fans of the show and all these like-minded people who agree that being smart is fun is going to be a thrill.

“And also I don’t have to worry about defamation so we can probably be a little looser with the banter.”

Hard Quiz Live, comedy.com.au