Comedy is hard work, says Pete Helliar

By Kate Kingsmill
Updated April 23 2018 - 9:23pm, first published February 25 2015 - 9:05am

"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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