By Lisa Clark 
Melbourne has been blessed by the influx of talented comedians from other states and a generation of the best musical comedians in the world. Tasmanian born Josh Earl fitted into Melbourne scene straightaway building a strong following and fine reputation over many years with his warm family based tales, funny songs and interesting hair. We spoke to Josh about his latest project, hosting a live quiz called Clued Up! which is being performed at Wesley Anne bar in groovy Northcote on two Sunday afternoons in August.
We also spoke to its creator and producer Ged Wood who was once a standup comedian and now produces a lot of comedy for television including the Warehouse Comedy shows, Spicks & Specks, Myf Warhurst’s Nice, and the sadly lamented Letters and Numbers.
First up, Josh Earl…
L: How long have you been doing standup?
Josh: This year marked my ten years as a comic, which makes me only forty years behind Fred Basset
L: What got you started as a performer?
Josh: I was in Launceston and part of an improvised/soap opera thing (It was better than that sounds) and each week I would come out and play a song. A guy in the audience wanted to do a stand up night, of which Launceston had none, asked me to perform and so I did. At that gig a guy was in the audience from the University, and he was bringing down Rod Quantock and Duff and wanted me to MC the event. After that gig I was pretty much hooked.
L: Do you think winning the Best Costume in the Brooklyn Primary School Fancy Dress Parade three years running from 1986 to 1988 gave you the taste of fame that got you hooked?
Josh: No, but it did get my Mum a lot of enemies at the school gates of Brooklyn Primary school around those years
L: Who has influenced you?
Josh: When I was starting out my act was entirely music and I was heavily influenced by musicians such as Jonathan Richman, Belle and Sebastian and The Lemonheads, a lot of my earlier songs share similar chord structures to Lemonheads songs (Don’t tell them). But in terms of Stand up my influences are mainly my family seeing as a lot of my act is talking about my parents and my childhood growing up in Burnie, that’s influenced me way more than any comedian has.
L: You have a young family, how does this go with being a comedian?
Josh: I try not to talk about it too much on stage as I feel that half the majority of audiences at comedy clubs don’t have their own kids, and those that do are looking at me thinking ‘he looks too young to have a kid, do you think it’s true or just a bit?’ So when I do talk about being a Dad it is in the context of something else such as Skyping my Mum, or a story about how my Dad will sit on the toilet with the door open.
L: I get the impression that your mate and sometime comedy partner Justin Heazelwood (The Bedroom Philosopher) sometimes struggles about whether he is being pigeonholed as a comedian or a musician. (Tripod too) Have you thought about being a straight musician? Or do you see yourself as an ‘All Round Entertainer”?
Josh: I know my capabilities as a musician. I am an average guitar player and singer, but I think I’m a very good songwriter and storyteller. I see myself more as a comedian who uses music. With my festival shows I think the breakdown in the last couple has been 25 minutes of songs, 35 minutes of stand up.
L: What in your career do you think has prepared you for hosting a game show?
Josh: I think I’m a good listener, and I’m very punctual. I think that means I can hear when they answer the questions and I will turn up on time to start the show. Also I am a very quick talker so if the show has a fast money round we’ll get through a bunch of questions
L: Are you performing at Melbourne Fringe this year?
Josh: I am performing one night at Asher Trelevan’s show The Experiment which sounds like it will be great [Asher describes it as a kind of ‘anti-comedy comedy club’ with Caribbean music, someone’s small dog and the best of Melbourne’s odd-ball comics.]
L: Tell us about Clued Up!
Josh: Clued Up! is basically a game show with competing teams of comedians, but as it is the brainchild of Ged Wood, I’ll get him to answer the rest of the questions
– Ged?
L: Who else is working on Clued Up?
Ged: Well creatively and conceptually it’s pretty much just me…these shows a really a test run of the format. In terms of talent I’m really really excited about the people who have taken a leap of faith and come on board. Not Least Josh Earl who agreed to host without much convincing. Then there are the players, some old comedy mates of mine and some fresh faces as well. I’ think there is a good spread of performance styles and personalities. You can check out all the line ups on the website clueduptv.com
L: Is August a bit thin on the ground for comedians – because of the Edinburgh exodus? Have you had problems finding guests for the show?
Ged: From my initial list I had to strike 10 to 15 people off straight away due to Edinburgh which was a shame. Luckily we are in Melbourne and my list of people I wanted to be part of this was quite long due to the fantastic talent we are spoilt with. I actually find it helpful in a way sometimes to have your list of available people cut short. It means you have to make less hard decisions!
L: Do some performers balk at being on a game show because they are worried about looking like dills if they get the answers wrong?
Ged: In all honesty it only came up once and that person said, “you know Ged I will probably not know any answers I hope you don’t mind if I look stupid cause I don’t”. The most popular people on Spicks and Specks weren’t the ones that knew the answers (Hamish Blake, Ross Noble, Frank Woodley).
L: Is this a long term on-going gig, or are you doing a short season of shows?
Ged: A short run of two dates. Filming the second date. Hoping some savvy TV executive will come along and decide it’s the next big thing and snap it up. Otherwise, if people like it I could foresee doing more dates. Perhaps something in the Fringe Festival.
Clued up! will be presented at Wesley Anne, 250 High Street, Northcote on August 11th and 18th at 3:00 PM – 5:00 PM.
Comedians being quized by Josh will include: Adam Richard, Adam Rozenbachs, Claire Hooper, Emily Taheny, Harley Breen, Justin Hamilton, Kate McLennan, Lawrence Mooney, Nick Maxwell, Rusty Berther, Tegan Higginbotham, and Xavier Michelides
Check The Website clueduptv.com for more information
http://www.stickytickets.com.au/12120/clued_up.aspx for tickets
$15 seated
$10 Standing