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David Michael Smiedt (born 2 August 1968), is a South Africa-born, Sydney-based journalist, author and comedian. He has written seven books, including From Russia With Lunch: A Lithuanian Odyssey, Are We There Yet: Chasing a Childhood Through South Africa and Boom Boom: 100 Years of Australian Comedy.
David was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, and grew up in the suburbs of Parkwood and Saxonwold. David is the youngest of three children to father, Sidney Ronald "Ronnie", and mother, Renecia, with whom he emigrated from South Africa to Australia in 1986. Having completed high school in Johannesburg, David received a Bachelor of Arts (Communication) at Sydney's Macquarie University before undertaking a Diploma in Journalism at Macleay College.
He began his journalism career at Penthouse magazine and has since worked across a number of lifestyle titles, including Cleo , Cosmopolitan , Madison, Men’s Health , GQ , Sunday Life, Elle , Home Beautiful,Voyeur and The Rake. He claims to be the only journalist in history to have had concurrent articles in Ralph and Your Garden magazines.
Described by comedian Adam Hills, host of ABC TV’s Spicks and Specks as "a living breathing joke machine", David started his stand-up comedy career at the Local in St Kilda in 2006 and has since gone on to perform at the Comedy Store in Sydney, the Harold Park Hotel, the Roxbury, the Friend In Hand, the Melbourne International Comedy Festival and the Comic Strip in New York City. He MCs one of Sydney's most popular comedy nights at the Marble Bar in Sydney's Hilton Hotel every Tuesday night.
Alternative comedy is a term coined in the 1980s for a style of comedy that makes a conscious break with the mainstream comedic style of an era. The phrase has had different connotations in different contexts: in the UK, it was used to describe content that was an "alternative" to the mainstream stand-up of the day which took place in working men's clubs, and was characterised by unoriginal gags often containing elements of sexism and racism. In other contexts, it is the nature of the form that is "alternative", avoiding reliance on a standardised structure of a sequence of jokes with punch lines. Patton Oswalt has defined it as "comedy where the audience has no pre-set expectations about the crowd, and vice versa. In comedy clubs, there tends to be a certain vibe—alternative comedy explores different types of material."
The Melbourne International Comedy Festival (MICF) is the largest stand-alone comedy festival and the second-largest international comedy festival in the world. First held in 1987, it takes place annually in Melbourne over four weeks, typically starting in March and running through to April. The Melbourne Town Hall has served as the festival hub, but performances are held in many venues throughout the city.
John Michael Safran is an Australian radio personality, satirist, documentary maker and author, known for combining humour with religious, political and ethnic issues. First gaining fame appearing in Race Around the World in 1997, Safran went on to produce a series of documentaries, television shows and host radio programs.
The Doug Anthony All Stars were an Australian musical comedy group who initially performed together between 1984 and 1994. The group were an acoustic trio, originally comprising Paul McDermott and Tim Ferguson on main vocals and Richard Fidler on guitar and backing vocals. The group reformed in 2014, with Paul Livingston replacing Fidler on guitar.
Mark Trevorrow is an Australian comedian, television host and media personality. In the early 1980s he had two Top 20 hits as part of Globos with Wendy De Waal, and in 1984, he debuted "Bob Downe", who went on to become his best-known character. After being very successful at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 1987, Trevorrow split his time touring between England and Australia. He has appeared extensively on television, released four albums, and written a book.
A roast is a form of comedy, originating in American humor, in which a specific individual, a guest of honor, is subjected to jokes at their expense, intended to amuse the event's wider audience. Such events are intended to honor a specific individual in a unique way. In addition to jokes and insult comedy, such events may also involve genuine praise and tributes. The assumption is that the roastee can take the jokes in good humor and not as serious criticism or insult. The individual is surrounded by friends, fans, and well-wishers, who can receive some of the same treatment during the evening. The party and presentation itself are both referred to as a roast. The host of the event is called the roastmaster, since it rhymes with and plays on toastmaster. Anyone mocked in such a way is said to have been roasted.
Olga Masters née Lawler was an Australian writer, journalist, novelist and short story writer. Masters' children went on to be notable figures in journalism, media and film making.
Anthony Lander Horwitz was an American journalist and author who wrote articles and several books. He won the 1995 Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting. He wrote about subjects including American history and society.
Timothy Dorcen Langbene Ferguson is an Australian comedian, film director, screenwriter, author and screenwriting teacher.
Indira Naidoo is an Australian author, journalist, and television and radio presenter, of Indian South African descent who hosts the Compass show on ABC TV
Leslie Allan Murray was an Australian poet, anthologist and critic. His career spanned over 40 years and he published nearly 30 volumes of poetry as well as two verse novels and collections of his prose writings.
Rose Zwi was a Mexican-born South African–Australian writer and anti-apartheid activist best known for her work about the immigrants in South Africa.
James "Jim" Moloney is an Australian children's author. A prolific writer whose books span an age range from seven- to seventeen-year-olds, he is best known for his young adult novels. He has been nominated and won awards for his books in the Children's Book Council of Australia Awards. His books have been translated into French, Korean, Lithuanian and Flemish/Dutch.
Lunch of Blood is Antonella Gambotto-Burke's first book and first anthology. The title was inspired by a Saul Bellow poem:
The Anne Elder Trust Fund Award for poetry was administered by the Victorian branch of the Fellowship of Australian Writers from its establishment in 1976 until 2017. From 2018 the award has been administered by Australian Poetry. It is awarded annually, as the Anne Elder Award, for the best first book of poetry published in Australia. It was established in 1976 and currently has a prize of A$1000 for the winner. The award is named after Australian poet Anne Elder (1918–1976).
Garth Meade was a South African and later Australian actor and comedian, best known for his roles on television series and mini-series. He also worked numerously in cabaret and the club circuit.
Thomas Colin Ballard is an Australian comedian, broadcaster, actor, and writer. Starting out in radio, he became known as a Triple J host, along with his friend Alex Dyson, over seven years with the station. He his known for his stand-up comedy, as a host of podcasts, and as television presenter, such as the 2017 ABC Television comedy show Tonightly with Tom Ballard. He is author of the 2022 book I, Millennial: One Snowflake's Screed Against Boomers, Billionaires and Everything Else.
Larry Philip Buttrose is an Australian writer, journalist and academic. He is the ghostwriter of the Saroo Brierley memoir A Long Way Home.
David Barry Hilton is a South African stand-up comedian. Referred to by his middle name, Barry, he is also an actor, television personality and motivational speaker. After 6 years of initially working as an electrician he tried his hand at comedy – turning Professional in 1983 at the age of 26. Inspired by comedians Richard Pryor and Billy Connolly, Hilton's personal style can best be described as a combination of observational, satirical and physical comedy.
Established in 1988, Macleay College is an Australian accredited higher education provider located in Chippendale, New South Wales. It offers two-year Bachelor degrees in advertising and media, digital media, journalism and business; and one-year Diploma courses in journalism, advertising and media, digital media, marketing and business management, with specialisations available in event management, entrepreneurship, real estate, public relations, travel and tourism or sports business.
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