From plumbing to comedy, how a podcast changed one life and saved another

KIRB is a plumber, Gibbo is a professional punter, and between the two Murwillumbah-born and bred locals, their unique podcast, Two Flogs, is making waves across the country and the world.

From life stories of growing up in a small country town, to sport and everything in between, men’s mental health is the nexus of the riotous and blokey comedy that has quickly turned into a thriving enterprise.

One half of the duo, Andrew (Buster) Kirby, dipped into the podcast world after the comedian and former plumber was invited as a guest on the popular Alpha Blokes.

“It went really well, and their manager rang me and suggested I do one, and it kicked off from there,” he said.

“Blair Gibson and I host, but we have a team of people behind us,” Kirby said.

“On Mondays, we do a call show with people from around the world, Wednesday is ‘The world’s worst sports podcast’ day and on the Friday main show, it’s all funny news, cooking, drink reviews, mental health chats, punting and, well, basic shit talk.”

Now one of Australia’s top comedy podcasts and one of the country’s biggest independent pods, their downloads are in the millions, and the stratospheric rise from a modest launch in 2023 to two full-time jobs and a four-person staff is a quiet success story.

After a random nomination to enter a stand-up comedy night as a Cancer Council fundraiser, Kirby found a new calling away from the pipes.

“My first ever comedy stand-up comedy set was a paid one at the Ballina RSL in 2019, and my career kind of went in reverse,” he said.

“I did a lot of paid gigs early on, and then I went backwards and had to learn how to be a comedian.

“I did open mics, travelling three nights a week, still working, driving to Brisbane, the Sunshine Coast, friggin’ Newcastle, just doing five-minute spots, and I got the bug.”

“I’m a big fat dude with tattoos and a beard, but I just tell yarns, I don’t tell a judge.”

The comedian uses laughter to encourage men to talk by not shying away from his own depression and anxiety.

“At the moment, I’m good, but two months ago I fell into severe depression and it was really bad,” he said.

 

“I talk about that. I still do the podcast and talk about my end and what it does. People open up and often they realise, shit, I need to talk to my mate, or someone.”

“I’ll say how I’m not drinking because I’m going through a bit of head noise, and you’ll see I’ve lost six or seven kilos because I’m eating healthy, back at the gym, walking every day, in the sauna and cold plunging, journaling, all of it.

“And I’ve got blokes, I mean big burly men, they’re working their minds, and they will email to thank us and say they booked a shrink or they haven’t drunk for a month. It’s unreal, but it can also get pretty harsh.”

Two months ago, while working late in the office with his wife and manager, Angela, they saw an email from a listener that had arrived two hours earlier.

“It was a goodbye note from a guy who worked in the mines and it said, if you’re not reading this by 8.30 pm, I’m gone, and at that point it was 10.30,” he said.

“It was a huge email, but at the bottom of the email, thank God, he asked Gibbo to tell his boss he was the best.

“After a heap of phone calls and multiple people trying to call him, and this is how good the mines are, they shut down the f***ing coal mine.

“I can’t imagine how much that’s worth, but they shut that entire plant down to look for that guy, and he was on the edge of the pit in the car, ready to go when they found him.

“When I spoke to him later, he said he hated me, and I said, ‘Cool, I don’t care, you’re alive’.

“In the end, he quit his job, bought a set of golf clubs, now has a girlfriend, and everything’s going good for him.

“Now we refer emails like these to the men’s mental health charity Livin, who save a lot of lives.”

Angela Kirby also hosts a podcast of her own called Highly Unqualified.

Both fifth-generation Murwillumbah residents, the couple first met on September 11, 2001, and have been married for 20 years, with two teenage daughters.

“Yeah, we’re both from Tyalgum, so we had to double-check we weren’t related,” Kirby joked.

“She’s amazing and often the butt of my jokes. I put a lot of shit on her on stage, and if you come to a show, you probably think I hate her.

“But she helps me in every way, she reads everything, she’s got a very reserved sense of humour, and she’s the pub test. She’ll say, I know the premise, but change this bit, and I do, and it works.”

To visit the Two Flogs podcast, head to twoflogs.com.au

If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health or needs crisis support, call Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636, Lifeline on 13 11 14 or visit livin.org