Australian Comedian Andrew Hamilton Embarks On First New Zealand Tour
In response to growing demand, Australian online comedy star, ANDREW HAMILTON will tour New Zealand for the very first time this June with his award-nominated, critically acclaimed debut show ' Jokes About the Time I Went to Prison '.
Andrew will perform a select run of dates in Auckland, Wellington, Tauranga, Christchurch and Whatawhata (in the Waikato). The New Zealand shows will kick off Andrew's extended international tour with dates soon to be announced.
Tickets are on sale now head to ALIST.COM.AU
In 2021, Andrew spent four months in two of Sydney's maximum-security prisons for the supply of psychedelic drugs. While incarcerated, Andrew began noticing the transportive power of laughter. After all, if a joke can make you forget you're in prison, what else can it do? Upon his release from prison, Andrew took up stand-up comedy, initially under strict bail conditions where his parents had to come with him to shows, and he had to be home in time for curfew.
One year later, Andrew's debut solo show, 'Jokes About the Time I Went to Prison', garnered him critical acclaim, along with a nomination for 'Best Newcomer' at the renowned Melbourne International Comedy Festival in 2023.
Following the success of 'Jokes About the Time …' Andrew performed sold-out festival shows in 2024 with his follow-up comedy ' Shit Bloke'.
He then embarked on his first solo headline tour later that year, entertaining packed-out rooms all around Australia. The tour aligned with the widely publicised release of Andrew's autobiography, ' The Profound Benefits of a Stint in Prison' (Affirm Press).
Andrew's viral online appearances have attracted over a billion views, and earned him an international following, initially as a member of the viral YouTube channel, YeahMadTV, and now with The OG Crew.
For a unique night of comedy, don't miss Andrew Hamilton this June.
Wednesday, June 11 – WHATAWHATA – The Backyard Gastropub
Thursday, June 12 – AUCKLAND – The Tuning Fork
Friday, June 13 – TAURANGA – 16th Avenue Theatre
Saturday, June 14 – PETONE – Abandoned Taproom
Sunday, June 15 – CHRISTCHURCH – Space Academy
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Otago Daily Times
2 days ago
- Otago Daily Times
Collaboration driver in taking conducting route
Ben Bayl is on his first visit to Dunedin to conduct the Dunedin Symphony Orchestra. PHOTOS: SUPPLIED Ben Bayl has gone from pianist to organist to conductor as he discovered the joys of working in a team. He talks to Rebecca Fox from his home in Budapest about his journey. A common held cliche of conductors as dictatorial figures is becoming a thing of the past, says Australian conductor Ben Bayl. He believes it is far more rewarding to be a positive collaborator with the musicians he is leading. "I think the people skills are an essential part of the job, and it's something which I really kind of enjoy, meeting new people, working with new musicians, as it will be in Dunedin." Bayl will conduct the Dunedin Symphony Orchestra for the first time in two performances of "Sublime Schubert" this weekend on his first visit to the lower South Island. With only a week to meet the DSO's musicians and prepare for the concert, it is a tight turnaround which is normal for symphony performances. 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The travel is part of the job, especially given Bayl likes to return to Australia whenever possible, although he tries not be away from home for more than a fortnight at a time and if the job requires a longer stay, he often brings his family along with him. Last year the family came out to Brisbane with him for his season with Opera Queensland which required him to be there for eight weeks. "I guess it was like having a regular day job." It was a special project for Bayl as it included Australian acrobatic company Circa, combining acrobatics and opera, in the story of Dido and Aeneas. "It was a lot of fun. I quite enjoy these ideas of mixing different artistic worlds like opera and acrobatics. You wouldn't naturally put them together but someone had the genius idea to try it and I think it worked really well." Mixing things up is something Bayl has done a bit of in his life after starting out playing piano aged 4. "There was music in the family, we had a piano at home. My dad couldn't read music but could kind of play anything by ear and my mum had an aunt who was a piano teacher." Bayl and his three younger siblings were encouraged to give everything a go, so along with piano Bayl played cricket. "For me, it was the music that stuck, I think and I was also lucky, even at primary school there was a really good music teacher and a little concert band so I actually played the saxophone as well." Ben Bayl looks to create a positive collaboration with the musicians he leads. Then when he went to high school, he wanted to join the orchestra, so started playing the flute. "I wasn't really good at the flute. I couldn't get a decent sound out of it and I ended up being transferred to the percussion section because I could play xylophone and vibraphone and marimba because they were set up like a piano keyboard." It was then he started reading orchestral scores, having plenty of time in between the percussions calls to play. 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"I guess I loved the team nature of music. I loved the collaborative nature of opera and playing in an orchestra which I did a lot as a harpsichordists and keyboard player. I just loved the feeling of being on stage with other musicians, creating something together." So conducting offered him the opportunity to be involved in team-building and teamwork. Bayl then studied conducting at London's National Opera Studio and Royal Academy of Music. "Opera, of course, music is just one side of everything that's going on. If you think also about the dramatic action, lights, costumes, stage, it's something which you create, which music is an important part of. So I just really enjoy that process." It's not an easy path to choose. First Bayl took apprenticeship roles with experienced conductors. He was appointed Assistant Conductor to Ivan Fischer at the Budapest Festival Orchestra and the Konzerthausorchester Berlin. He also assisted Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Yannick Nezet-Seguin, Daniel Harding and Richard Hickox with ensembles such as the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Orchestre Revolutionnaire et Romantique and Mahler Chamber Orchestra. "That's also a very good way to learn what to do or indeed what not to do in some cases. So I think that vocational side of it is really important, because the thing really with conducting is that you can't just practice in front of a mirror. It's a reactive activity, and I believe you can only learn by doing and practice by doing." That is what makes conducting difficult, he says. "You need the hours in front of musicians to hone your craft." Having and developing people skills is an important part of that journey, Bayl believes but it is often one not taught in conducting courses. Working as a freelance conductor, Bayl has found the music world in Europe to be 90% recovered from the turbulence that Covid-19 wrecked on the industry. 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Bayl is also the founder of the Australian Romantic and Classical Orchestra, although he no longer works with it, and is involved with English group the Hanover Band, an orchestra that plays on historic instruments music from the classical period. "We actually did a very big project in the pandemic. We recorded all the Beethoven symphonies for digital video broadcast basically in two weeks." When not working with companies, he finds there is plenty of work to do learning new music and preparing for upcoming concerts. And while he has a manager there is still work involved as there is with any small business. "You have to be your own accountant, publicity, logistics. It's like running a small business for one which is also what they don't teach at college. I feel like conductors should have an economics degree, a psychology degree, a music degree and a lot of experience and then you can start to get somewhere." 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The Spinoff
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Scoop
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