A lawyer walks into a bar. The joke’s not on him because lawyer Patrick Hornby and his four comedian buddies run a comedy festival that sells 21,000+ tickets and has gone from a four-day event to a two-week, 70-show extravaganza.
Comedian Patrick is one of five directors of the Canberra Comedy Festival – along with David Graham, twins James and Benjamin Stevenson, and Tim Duck – and his role seems to be the token lawyer, of which there are plenty in comedy.
Think Shaun Micallef, Rebel Wilson, Craig Reucassel, Anh Do, etcetera.
“I think it’s just that ability to work with words and I think they’re probably pretty bored with their day job and keen to get a laugh,” Patrick said.
“It’s the structure of words that goes into a law degree and people being confident on their feet, always looking for an audience anywhere they can get it.”
Patrick makes sure he fits in a bit of stand-up before he goes into court “just to get edgy again”.
As a fair-skinned redhead from Townsville, Patrick can appreciate the funny side of life.
The 48-year-old migrated south to Canberra “as a form of self-preservation,” and after growing up on a diet of the D Generation and Canberra’s own Doug Anthony All-Stars, he was hooked (he’s a big fan of fellow redhead funnyman Luke McGregor).
Patrick is one of about 30 comedians residing in Canberra, with backgrounds ranging from unemployed students to best-selling author to a marriage celebrant.
Canberra seems to breed great comedians (Bron Lewis, whose show has already sold out, and Emma Holland, who had to add a second show). Perhaps local comics like Kirsty Webeck have flourished here because they live in a capital city that is the brunt of jokes nationwide.
We’ve had to learn to laugh about it.
Back in 2012 B.C. (before comedy), Canberra only had the occasional open-mic session. The first Canberra Comedy Festival in 2013 sold 4,500 tickets. Today, the Canberra Comedy Festival sells more than 21,000 tickets and can lay claim to discovering big-ticket comedians before they were famous.
“We had Urzila Carlson in the early days,” Patrick recalls. “I remember being backstage with her in some poky little rooms, having a couple of drinks, talking about playing Goon of Fortune [involving cheap cask wine bags pegged to a rotating Hills Hoist].
“And then Hannah Gadsby, I sold tea towels for her one year before she had the [Emmy-award-winning show] Nanette. We’re getting known for our eye for talent. Our guys that do the producing, Benjamin and James Stevenson, have an eye for all the talent that’s about to break and we get in early.”
What Canberra Comedy Festival does better than other larger comedy festival is play to our small-town strength.
“I think it’s the nature of our festival that helps bring the comedians back,” Patrick said. “There’s just us five guys that run it and we try and add a personal touch, like we’re picking people up from airports and taking them to hotels. We’re hanging out with them after their shows.
“They’re happy to come back to our late-night festival club and just get a bit loose and get up on stage and tell a few jokes after they’ve done their main show.”
This late-night festival club, located at the Courtyard Studio, is a place where punters can see comedians riffing without a script. Every Friday and Saturday night around 10pm, the jokes and beers flow freely.
“A lot of the comedians that are performing at the festival will just drop in and do a set, so it’s pretty loose,” Patrick said. “You’ll see some of the biggest names just drop in and do something like a gala-style line-up.
“We’ve had some wild nights there and we’ve had shows that haven’t finished until 3am. They’ll be telling stories and jokes that you’re not going to hear them say in a normal stand-up set – they’re pretty happy.”
Come on, spill the tea.
“What happens at Festival Club stays at Festival Club.”
Canberra Comedy Festival runs from 11-22 March. For more: canberracomedyfestival.com.au
