Joel Creasey Interview

BBM’s David Hunter takes some time to catch up with a rather hungover Joel Creasey…

I am feeling fairly feeble as my interview with Perth born Melbourne based comic Joel Creasey – what with the tram on a go slow and my man-flu far from clearing – I breathe a huge sigh of relief as I notice on Creasey’s Twitter feed a simple statement, “I’m on tour and sharing an apartment with Fiona O’Loughlin. I have a massive hangover. She’s my nurse today. Hmm this is weird.” With Creasey also feeling far from perfect, I at least take consolation from the fact that he will no doubt overlook or not even notice my croaky tones.
So it is a great surprise when a bright and breezy Creasey (please ignore the awkward accidental rhyming) answers the phone. Far from sounding out of it, Creasey is remarkably chipper. When probed about his earlier tweet, he concedes “I am a little bit hungover, it is not going great. I have a bit of a sore head, but you know, it is my own fault. It was a big night on a Wednesday night. We were celebrating my best friend’s show opening, so we were out celebrating.”
While he may well have been out celebrating his good chums show opening, Creasey is a true pro when it comes to performance. With his current run in Sydney going better than he anticipated, he admits he is more than a little excited about his upcoming Melbourne Fringe experience. “I can’t wait for the Fringe festival because I have never done. Also I am now a Melbournian so I just can’t wait to do it!”
“I moved to Melbourne in about August of last year, but I didn’t really commit to it and ended up back in Perth. But this year I have really committed to it. It feels like home. It feels proper now.” While it may have taken Creasey a while to find his feet in his new setting, his constant touring and commitment to his career made the move necessary. Though he far from disses his home city, he realises that in terms of career development, the heart of Australian arts is the place to be… He states abjectly, “There is a lot more comedy work in Melbourne, surprisingly a lot less paid work. There is a lot more room for comedians and a lot more opportunity. Don’t get me wrong Perth is great, but the opportunities in Melbourne are so much broader.”
With Creasey only returning to Melbourne in the nick of time for his Fringe debut, he concedes that he simply did not have time to write a new show specifically for the event, but instead has devised a Fringe treat that allows him to share the spotlight. He explains, “It is a late night show. Every night I will sing, perform material and be on stage and playing games, just having fun. I will have a line-up of three comedians, three top comedians each night who are going to get up and do some of their own material. Then at the end of the night, I have a singer who will get up and close the show. It is the best of the fringe basically.”
“I am guaranteeing the success of the show by off-loading the work.” With Creasey promising a late night of naughtiness, his move away from hogging the limelight indirectly increases his appeal, or so he laughs, “If my comedy doesn’t appeal to some people, then one of the acts on the line-up is definitely going to make them laugh.

By David Hunter