LUKE KIDGELL
Comedy sensation Luke Kidgell is much admired for his viral crowd work that turns live shows into unpredictable, wildly hilarious experiences. Rita Horanyi caught up with the talented improviser for a quick chat about his latest show, Good Intentions, the pitfalls of crowd work, and why trying to be good doesn’t always pan out.
Tell us a bit about your new show. It’s called Good Intentions. Do you usually have good intentions?
I try to! For sure. The new show is about, essentially, that I’m trying to become a better person and it’s not going very well, you know. I’m just trying to do things each day that make me better, and I tell stories where I mean well but it doesn’t always go to plan.
If you had to describe your new show in three words, what would they be?
Really, really funny.
As a comedian, you're well-known for your fast-paced crowd work that keeps everyone on their toes. What draws you to that aspect of comedy?
It's just fun. It keeps it fresh every night. I think it's fun to do stuff that's spontaneous and it's just for that crowd, you know, like it's just something in the room that night. And, yeah, I don’t know, there’s just something fun about it. It just keeps it interesting ... I think!
It certainly does! Do you find there are times when crowd work doesn’t go so well?
It doesn't go well very regularly [laughs]. Even when it doesn't go well though, it's still funny, because it doesn't go well, you know what I mean?
But there are times that are weird ... sometimes I have people I know personally call out stuff, and then halfway through the interaction I realise who I'm talking to and that I know them. And then it’s always weird, because I'm like, what are you doing? That's happened before, where family members from interstate have called out during my show and I’m like, who am I ... oh my God, like, stop.
What are some of your favourite crowd work moments?
I had a guy once on the Sunny Coast convince me he was a bindi farmer, like he farmed those little spiky things that are on the grass and the beach. And he convinced me that he and his dad farmed them, and the council pays them. And I'm an idiot. I'm very gullible and I believed him for about three minutes.
That’s hilarious. Maybe that guy needs to become a comedian.
He should. He was funnier than me that night, that’s for sure!
What's your favourite thing about being a comedian?
Probably travelling around and seeing new places. Waking up and not going to a traditional job. I know it sounds bad, but that's probably what appeals to me the most.
Sounds great! Speaking of travelling, you've been touring quite a lot lately. What's the best and worst thing about being on tour?
The best thing is seeing new places and avoiding Melbourne's winter in July, and the worst thing is probably living out of a suitcase and ... also trying to figure out how all the showers work around the world. Like each nob is slightly different in Europe, they do some wild stuff over there. Like knobs and buttons are the same. It's pretty wild. I'd say that's the worst thing – trying to figure out how the shower works. [laughs].
Have you had a favourite place to perform in so far?
I really do love performing in Australia, to be honest, but I mean, internationally, Canada was great. They're pretty much just Australians, but they talk funny. And I guess they think we talk funny. But yeah, I would say Canada was great. Scotland. I always love Scotland, and Barcelona was a surprise, but a really fun place to do shows in.
As part of this tour, you're doing shows in Alice Springs and Darwin. What are you looking forward to most about being in the NT?
The weather. The crowds. Genuinely the crowds are so, I don’t know if appreciative is the right word, but very warm and they're pretty stoked you're there, and it always is good. Also, Darwin every year, I make it a tradition now … I have to wear shorts on stage. It's the only show every tour that I wear shorts on stage, because it's just practical. You can't be doing jeans. I don't know, like, why do you guys even sell them? ... We don't even bring hoodies to sell at the merch table because no one would buy them.
After your Australian tour of Good Intentions wraps up, are you heading overseas?
Yes, going to New Zealand later in the year and then I’ll be taking it to a few other countries as well, which is very exciting.
Very! Any other exciting projects you’re working on?
I wish I had something cool to say. Not really. I do a podcast with my friends ... The podcast is called BLT, and I do it with my friends, another comedian Blake Pavey and our friend who’s a musician Tyler Cahill, and we just talk a lot of rubbish. We're doing a live show in Brisbane in August. That's gonna be fun. I learn how to play a song on guitar, because me and Tyler used to be in a high school band together, and he actually does music seriously now, but occasionally I get up on stage and bust out the guitar at our live shows, so that's gonna be interesting.
Something to look forward to! So, if people want some more Luke Kidgell hilarity after your show, they can check out your podcast.
Exactly. Please do!
Luke Kidgell - Good Intentions
WHEN THU 17 JUL | 7.30PM
AT ARALUEN ARTS CENTRE
COST $54.90-$59.90
INFO araluenartscentre.nt.gov.au
WHEN SAT 19 JUL | 7.30PM
AT DARWIN ENTERTAINMENT CENTRE
COST $54.90-$69.90
INFO yourcentre.com.au
