Melbourne International Comedy Festival Roadshow
Dane Simpson has a home- grown approach to comedy that audiences can’t get enough of.
By Anna Dowd
From sell-out shows with the Aboriginal Comedy All Stars, to his Darwin-bound third tour with the Melbourne International Comedy Festival Roadshow, no one is more surprised than Simpson that his family’s antics have whole audiences in stitches.
“I grew up in country NSW in Walgett hanging out with Dad and Nan and uncles and aunts,” he says.
“Over there you just spin yarns all day and whoever gets the most laughs kind of wins."
The Gamilaraay man says he hadn’t even considered using his now legendary didgeridoo routine until he first toured with the Roadshow in 2017.
“I grew up with my dad and the old fellas teaching us jokes and stuff on the didj,” he says.
“On my first roadshow, I started mucking around playing it between shows and the other comedians in the show were like ‘why don’t you do that in your routine?’.
“I’d never thought about it, that people hadn’t heard those kind of silly blackfella jokes, so I tried it out.”
As a comedy fan growing up in a regional area, Simpson knows what it means to be able to watch a line-up of some of the nation's best in your home town.
“As a kid, I’d come and watch the Melbourne Comedy Roadshow when it would travel to Wagga Wagga,” he says.
“It was so inspiring. It’s still crazy to me that I’m now on the bill!”
Fri 10 May | Darwin Entertainment Centre | $49 | $40 Memb | $40 Group 8+ | yourcentre.com.au
