Tom Ballard returns to stand-up at Melbourne Comedy Festival after TV show axing
He had a tumultuous time in television, but Tom Ballard hasn’t ruled out a return to the small screen despite his axing — provided TV bosses take a bolder leap with comedy.
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He had a tumultuous time in television, but Tom Ballard hasn’t ruled out a return to the small screen despite his axing — provided TV bosses take a bolder leap with comedy.
Ballard has taken aim at TV executives after his show, Tonightly with Tom Ballard, was cut, accusing them of being risk-averse when it comes to comedy.
“The ABC has to walk a tightrope between funding pressures and political considerations, SBS is under-resourced, Stan is still trying to establish itself, Netflix has no obligation to make local content and the commercial networks often just cling to familiar faces or commission reality shows featuring people they criminally underpay to cook, renovate and have sex,” the 29-year-old said.
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It would be easy for Ballard to be bitter about the ABC bringing an end to his show last year, but he has taken an impartial approach when assessing the current state of Australian television.
While he was quick to point out recent exceptions, such as ABC’s Fresh Blood, Network Ten’s experimental Pilot Week and SBS’s widely applauded The Family Law, Ballard said the calculated risks local networks made were far and few between.
“Overwhelmingly, it feels like executives are so risk-averse and uninterested in making smart, bold decisions and sticking by them,” he said.
“Having said that, please employ me, executives, I love you all.”
Ballard might be on to something.
Thanks to international streaming and cable services, new life and fanfare is being injected into cult Australian comedies, such as We Can be Heroes, Summer Heights High, Kath & Kim, Wilfred and Please Like Me.
When done right, there’s something truly charming and quintessential about Australian comedy that just can’t be replicated abroad.
Despite Tonightly’s end, Ballard still has his sights set on future television endeavours.
“If we actually had the proper resources required to make a show like Tonightly possible, I’d happily do that for the next 20 years,” he said.
“I’m sure there’s an audience for a properly risky, nightly comedy show that calls out the political and media classes for their nonsense, particularly among Millennials.
“But, things being as they are, I’d also love to write my own scripted comedy show or make anything that would get more stand-up on Australian TV.”
Ballard has returned to Melbourne International Comedy Festival to focus on his stand-up, the very platform that gave him his big break as a teen.
“When you start out you’re very nervous because of things largely outside of your control; you don’t have enough experience, you’re still figuring out what you’re doing or you’re getting up in front of people who don’t trust you and also you’re in the pokies room out the back of a weird pub on a Tuesday night,” he said.
“These days, I get more nervous about screwing up a gig where everything is set up for me to succeed: people who have paid to come see me in a nice theatre, knowing — and presumably liking — what I do. In that case, if the show goes badly, you can really only blame yourself.
“I still love stand-up. I love the freedom of it and I love continually trying to get better at it and doing new things with it. When it goes well it is hands down the best feeling in the world, yes even better than having a child, absolutely no question.”
OUR REVIEW OF TOM BALLARD, ENOUGH
Rating: ★★★★½
Reviewer: Michael Ward
There’s no elephant in the room. The untimely axing of Tom Ballard’s satirical tonight show from the ABC is quickly addressed in this blistering hour of motor-mouthed, slick-as-black-ice comedy.
Ballard is a whirlwind of millennial contempt: for Baby Boomers, real estate agents, Uber eats, social media and much more.
The personal (gay saunas) is deftly entwined with the political (Dolly Parton’s 9 to 5 as a scathing denouncement of capitalism).
It’s been a while since I last saw Ballard live but somewhere along the line he’s eased into the upper echelons of comic talent in this country. Brilliant, acerbic stuff.
Tom Ballard, Enough, Melbourne Town Hall; also Fridays at Max Watts, until April 21.
#KWANDA: A Play, Saturdays and Sundays until April 21, Melbourne Town Hall — Lower Town Hall.
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