"There's no ugly models," quips Pete Helliar when asked about what makes a successful comedian. He, of course, is one of them. He made his name as Rove McManus' funny man sidekick on The Loft Live in the late '90s and then again on Rove. More recently he has appeared on The Project, and as the first man in a Fernwood Fitness commercial, and he is just as active as a stand-up comedian as well as behind the scenes. So if anyone knows what elements go into a comedian's success, it's him. "First of all you need to be funny, there's no comedians who aren't funny. That's why it's ridiculous when I hear somebody saying, 'Oh, so and so's not funny'. You may not find them funny but I've seen their house. They're making a living as a comedian: they're funny." There's a stereotype of comedians that they don't work hard, Helliar says, but in actual fact, comedy is hard work. "If you think of how we start gathering material for a show, we start out with a page and there's nothing on it. Zero seconds. And you have to work hard to get to 60 minutes."
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Helliar has decided to take the year off this year's Australian comedy festival circuit, but he's still writing furiously as if he would be appearing in Adelaide and Melbourne. "It is kind of funny because usually I would be writing. In some way it's muscle memory, like my mind has gone 'you should be writing stand-up comedy, you have a show starting soon', forgetting, of course, that I haven't booked myself in this year!'
Instead, he will be concentrating on other projects, including a new comedy with the producers of his last successful series, It's A Date, as well as a documentary about disability inclusion.
Canberra will reap the benefits of Helliar's time away from the circuit, as the only place he will be performing new material this season. "It is running with the same name and the same poster as last year's show (Totes Grouseballs) but it's going to be a bit of a hybrid between last year's stuff and some new stuff which I started trialling last night. So I imagine it will be kind of the beginning of the next show really, with the best bits of the last show. I'm really excited to be doing new stuff."
Helliar has decided to take the festival season off to backpack around the United States with his family. He and his wife have three young sons, who they've already taken on two epic backpacking trips – the first time was when the youngest was just two. "I think it's a bit like – and pardon me for being so arrogant as a male to make the comparison, but the impression I get is that it was a bit like childbirth in that it was amazing but I think I've forgotten a lot of the times it was really hard!"
Pete Helliar is performing as part of the Canberra Comedy Festival
Peter Helliar, Totes Grouseballs
When: March 21, 7pm
Where: ANU Arts Centre, Acton
Tickets: $38 available from canberracomedyfestival.com.au