WA Fringe gets Funny

Wil Anderson is a man of many talents, all of them funny. I recently had a chat with the man who was once described as a "media slut". He can be found daily on JJJ breakfast with Adam Spencer, weekly on ABC's The Glasshouse and frequently on the stand up scene. He has all of the bases covered.

Anderson is bringing his new stand up show entitled Jagged Little Wil to Perth as part of the Western Australian Fringe Festival. When I asked Anderson how he felt about coming back to Perth with a new show so soon (he was here four times last year) he spoke of Perth audiences with a fond enthusiasm. He was relishing the idea of getting up on stage and "talking about stuff he finds funny". He also enjoys the opportunity to write his own scripts. He said of Perth audiences that their laid-back attitude makes it easy to keep coming back.

On writing Anderson said that he has no "grand plan" he simply asks himself "what's funny about this?" He claimed that comedians have "a broken piece in their brains" which makes them say things that often get them into trouble. Jagged Little Wil is full of these moments. Anderson includes his audience throughout the show with hilarious results. Onstage he was all fired up and it was obvious that the statement he had made to me earlier about comedy being his true love, television and radio being his mistresses was true. He was much more comfortable onstage than he comes across on television and even radio. I asked about this and he said that he finds television a huge challenge. He attributed this to the structured nature of television and that with television if he stuffs it up many people may lose their jobs. Stand up and radio do not have the same pressure.

We discussed the current explosion of comedic talent in Australia. Anderson said it is no surprise. He feels that comedy, like everything, comes in waves. Many of the "new names" have been working together on the comedy scene for years, through this they have developed relationships and learnt from each other. Anderson says that working with artists such as Tripod, Corinne Grant and Dave Hughes (among others) was a great way find out what was going to work on stage and what was not.

Anderson is a rising star in the world of Australian comedy; Jagged Little Wil will cement his place. Anderson did two shows in Perth on the one night, to sell out crowds; he did not lose his pace even slightly throughout the night. His audiences loved it from start to finish. With three years of breakfast radio on JJJ under his belt; ABC's The Glasshouse coming into its third season and live shows selling out, Anderson seems to be settling into life in the limelight (or at least near it).

Nicole Scanes