Laughs on the road

Comedian Justin Hamilton will take to the Burrinja stage this Sunday. 121778 Picture: CONTRIBUTED

By REBECCA BILLS

BURRINJA will be full of laughs next Sunday when the 2014 Melbourne International Comedy Festival Roadshow takes to the stage.
After 15 years of travelling the many roads that make up the big land called Australia, the Comedy Roadshow is back for its 16th year of jam-packed laughs.
The hilarious Dave Callan will be the MC for the evening with the roll call for the 2014 Burrinja Festival including Justin Hamilton, Tiffany Stevenson, Rhys Nicholson and Neel Kolhatkar.
Mr Hamilton said he was keen to take to the stage in Upwey again.
“Last time I was up this way I was doing a fund-raiser for the CFA,” he said.
“It’s just a beautiful place in the world and I find the people that come to the shows really understand comedy – they are a little more sophisticated in their comedy tastes.
“I don’t mean to be patronising to people from other towns but you can play with the audience and they get it.”
Mr Hamilton said despite originally being from Adelaide he had spent the last 12 years calling Melbourne home with an illustrious and successful career as a stand-up comedian and writer.
In 2010 Mr Hamilton tried his hand at acting, playing the recurring character Biscuit in the 2010 ABC series The Librarians.
“I would say I prefer the stand-up side of things, I wouldn’t say I’m a great actor – I’m not trained and naturally I do things instinctively,” he said.
“Acting is fun but when I’m on stage it’s just great and I enjoy that I can mix and match when I go on and I never go out with a definite idea of what I’m going to do.”
Mr Hamilton has been part of the Melbourne Comedy Festival Roadshow from 2002 to 2010 and supported good friend Wil Anderson on his national tours from 2006 to 2010.
The Comedy Roadshow enjoyed enormous success in 2013, performing a staggering 109 shows in over 60 regional towns and cities across Australia, before concluding the tour with a sell-out international leg visiting Singapore, Hong Kong, and India.
Burrinja is hosting the Melbourne International Comedy Festival Roadshow on Sunday 15 June from 7pm in the Burrinja Theatre.
To book your tickets or more information visit www.burrinja.org.au or call 9754 8723.