THIS week we chat with local rising comedic star Dane Knowles, whose self-described \u201cweird, often fairly anecdotal and pretty performative\u201d breakout style, as seen at this year\u2019s Bendigo Comedy Festival, has certainly set tongues wagging.<\/p>\n
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What initially motivated you to become a comedian?<\/strong><\/p>\n I grew up with a family who really valued being funny and silly and I also grew up alongside really funny friends. Most of what we watched at home as a family was comedy. We\u2019d go and see live comedy in Melbourne and family events or dinners were almost always about just making each other laugh. I think aside from those being the most fun memories, seeing those shows on TV or on the stage always made me think, \u201cOh cool, that looks fun and makes people happy. I want to do that!\u201d<\/p>\n But I came to stand-up just a year or two ago from really wanting a creative outlet. I was writing down lots of ideas for funny short films or videos and eventually got sick of not making anything. Stand-up was a kind of instant creative fix because you can just write down the idea and then go perform it right away.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n How would you describe your style and how did you develop it?<\/strong><\/p>\n It\u2019s a little weird, often fairly anecdotal and I\u2019m pretty performative with it. I did quite a bit of drama and performing at school, so I guess I approach it like a different character when I\u2019m on stage. I\u2019m still relatively new to stand-up comedy, I only started in early 2022, so it\u2019s developing, it\u2019s changing and I\u2019m still finding my style. I\u2019m not sure if it\u2019s something I\u2019m massively attached to, to be honest, and I\u2019ve always been interested in character and sketch or being a bit more experimental, so that might be something I\u2019ll try in the near future.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Which other comedians inspire you?<\/strong><\/p>\n The kind of comedy that I like is generally a bit weird or silly. I do watch a fair bit of stand-up and I think you always get more out of seeing it live. Some of the best acts I\u2019ve seen over the last couple of years and ones that inspire me are people like Sam Campbell, Stu Daulman, Emma Holland, Spencer Jones and Zoe Coombes Marr. Then there\u2019s TV comedy I grew up watching like Lano and Woodley,<\/p>\n Shaun Micallef, Dylan Moran, Garth Marenghi\u2019s Darkplace, (A bit of) Fry and Laurie and Flight of the Conchords. This is just to name a few!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n