Dave Hughes has been one of Australia’s best-loved comedians for more than two decades. In that time, Hughesy thinks he must have toured “up to 20” different shows.
“People always say to me, are you worried about running out of material? And I say no, because life will always be ridiculous,” he wheezes. “And it appears to be getting more ridiculous by the day. So there’s always things to laugh about.”
His latest show, which is coming to both the Adelaide Fringe festival and Melbourne comedy festival this year, is called Trending. It’s about getting blasted on Twitter for various pandemic-related opinions – like suggesting everyone should get vaccinated.
The inspiration is “being slandered left, right and centre and how to deal with it,” he says. “You’ve either gotta laugh or cry, and I’ve learned to laugh at people saying nasty things about me.”
But Hughesy wasn’t always a conversation-starter. He still has diaries from the days when he was unemployed, living in Perth and only just toying with the idea of getting into comedy.
Here, he tells us why he’d save that stack of old exercise books in a fire, as well as the story of two other important personal belongings.
What I’d save from my house in a fire
I would save the diaries that I kept when I was 22 years old. I was living in Perth, I had just given up alcohol, and I was thinking about trying to become a comedian.
People who read them say I should turn them into a book, which I’ve never done. But it’s all sitting there: the ambitions of a young bloke who had quit uni, was on the dole, without a girlfriend or any money. Just dreams.
I used to write positively about what I wanted to do and the philosophies on life that I had back then, which I think put me in really good stead. It’s quite cool to look back and see how it worked out for me. They document the start of a journey which is still continuing today.
My most useful object
My Kindle. I love reading, and the ability to have any book in the world at the tip of your fingers is something I’m making the most of.
It also stops my house being cluttered up with books. And, more importantly, reading in bed without a light on stops my wife from hating me, because I can read the Kindle on dark mode.
The item I most regret losing
I went to the Australian Open final a few years ago and saw Rafael Nadal play Roger Federer. It was the first time they’d played in the final for ages, and Roger Federer won his first grand slam victory in five years.
I had front row seats, which I’d paid quite a bit of money for. As part of getting the seats, I got to keep some of the balls that Roger and Rafael used during the match. But sometime later my dogs got hold of them, chewed them up and they’re gone. I lost a part of history.
I love the smell of new tennis balls, so I used to smell Roger and Rafael’s balls and think about the good times we’d had.
It’s pretty disappointing to not have Roger and Rafael’s balls any more.
