By KATHRYN BERMINGHAM
In the words of Dave Hughes, “to be alive is ridiculous.”
The veteran comic has spent 20 years doing stand-up and performed to crowds around the world, but he never finds himself short of material.
“Life is always funny,” he told the Gazette this week.
“No-one has any idea what the hell we’re doing on this planet, so the more you keep your eyes open to it, the more you’ll notice stuff going on around you.”
It would seem that if anyone had an idea, it would be Hughesy.
One of the biggest names in Australian comedy, Hughesy spent much of last year on the road, performing 200 full-length shows around Australia and the world.
This year has seen his return to daily radio, a regular television segment and, of course, a new stand-up show.
The timing couldn’t be better.
“Obviously, I’m in a good headspace for comedy at the moment,” he said.
“I’m doing a lot of stand-up comedy, so the more you do it the more sort of things that pop up, I’m looking forward to being onstage wherever I am these days.”
Next month, he will bring his highly acclaimed show ‘Pumped’ to the Cardinia Cultural Centre. He says he’s looking forward to his return to Pakenham.
“It’s a great venue,” he said.
“They asked me, ‘do you want to come back’ and I’m like, of course I do!”
‘Pumped’ has received praise from critics around the country and was a highlight at this year’s Melbourne International Comedy Festival.
There’s no doubt the dad of three maintains a gruelling schedule, but says there’s a certain kind of release that stand-up comedy brings.
“As soon as you walk out on stage, you look out and you forget all your troubles. You sort of have to, which is great.
“In my 20 years of comedy, I’ve never been on stage and been thinking about anything other than where I’m at at the moment. You can’t afford to let your mind wander.”
Dave Hughes will perform ‘Pumped’ at the Cardinia Cultural Centre on 6 November at 8pm. Tickets are $44.90 and may be purchased from cardinia.vic.gov.au.
