Comedian Tim Ferguson: How universities are ripping off writing students

Comedian and film director Tim Ferguson on living in the fast lane with multiple sclerosis, standing for federal election and the lucrative skill unis don’t teach.

Tim Ferguson’s new show is called a 'A Fast Life on Wheels'. Picture: Supplied

You claim the arts and film industries fail to take comedy seriously. Why?

The Melbourne International Comedy Festival is one of Australia’s largest ticketed festivals, outselling the Melbourne International Arts Festival itself, and this shows how the arts industry needs to take comedy more seriously. Universities that teach screenwriting and creative writing but don’t teach the principles of ­comedy writing are ripping off students. If you think about the top Australian box office hits, many are comedies – Muriel’s Wedding, The Castle, Crocodile Dundee.

What does the title of your latest comedy show, A Fast Life on Wheels, refer to?

In a way, my life has never slowed down due to MS. When I was diagnosed at 31, I was furious for about five minutes and thought, “Whatever will I do?” Then I started putting together a tour and writing new shows with Marc Gracie, my Svengali. I haven’t really stopped.

Your show is partly about the legacy of your father, Tony Ferguson, a war correspondent in Vietnam. How did the risks he took help you as a performer?

Dad was in a precarious position – in Vietnam without any weapons, running around with a pen and pad. My brothers and I shared this perspective from a very young age: this (situation) isn’t dangerous, this isn’t risky. So the idea of doing comedy has never daunted me. Some people don’t do comedy because they’re scared. Of all the reasons not to do comedy, being scared should not be one of them.

‘In a way, my life has never slowed down due to MS’. Picture: Supplied

In 1990, for a lark, you stood in the federal election in Kooyong against Andrew Peacock before things “got out of hand”. What happened?

People started voting for me. I got like 3½ per cent of the vote in Kooyong – I’d never even been to Kooyong.

You campaign for accessible housing for young, disabled people who end up in nursing homes. Is this a big problem?

There are thousands of young people living in aged care. This is a national scourge and it must be dealt with. It’s all about ­resources. I’ve visited places where they’re doing great things, particularly in rural Australia, where they’re putting resources into homes where younger people with disabilities can live together. It doesn’t take much – an oven that’s low enough for a person in a wheelchair to operate or wider corridors. We need someone in the government to start bashing a drum.

You are a successful painter and entirely self-taught?

I won’t take advice on my art! I’ve done a couple of exhibitions and we’re planning another big one, so I’m madly painting. ­Because my stuff isn’t – what’s the word? – oh yeah, accurate – it’s much easier to come up with art works that are all impact and no depth.

You co-wrote and co-directed your first feature film, rural romance Spin Out, in 2016. Why did utes get star billing?

The film created a world Australia doesn’t really talk about much – the circle work world, people who compete in utes. The Deni Ute Muster is the biggest, and people in the inner city would find it repulsive and frightening. I partly grew up in the country, so circle work was just something you did. The film did very well in Japan and Germany – Australia’s Second World War enemies like seeing us drive in circles very fast.

A Fast Life on Wheels is on at The Forum, Melbourne, on August 17, and at the Sydney Opera House in October.