IF COMEDY was a sport, Dave ‘Hughesy’ Hughes would be ready for the grand final.
Having been completely devoted to stand-up for the past year, Hughesy is “on top of the game” and in “really good form” for his upcoming show, Pointless.
Despite what the name suggests, Hughesy's year away from broadcast has been anything but pointless for him.
“I’ve loved focusing on my stand-up and not doing gig after gig and then getting up at 4am to do a radio show,” he said.
“And it means I can travel around with my family; we’ve just come back from eight weeks travelling around while I’ve been performing in places like Los Angeles, Montreal and London.”
A year full of performing on different stages across the world has taken the Australian comedian back to where it all began – alone on stage without his reputation to fall back on.
While he’s a household name in Australia, Hughesy spent the last couple of months trying to make people who hadn’t heard of him laugh.
“I would walk on stage and it takes them a moment to work out I’m funny but that’s almost good,” he said.
“They don’t know me, but they’re still laughing.
“In a way [it’s like I’m starting over] but I have the experience which I can fall back on now.
“I did a show in LA to 15 people above a Chinese restaurant and it didn’t go so well and that night I had a show at the LA Emporium which is the top of comedy in LA.
“I thought I was going to die up there with some of America’s best comedians but it went really well.
“When a gig does go well you get a thrill like it was from the early days.”
Hughesy’s new-found commitment to the stage is one which is here to stay, according to the comedian.
While he has had offers coming in thick and fast for different projects, he’s not ready to give up stand-up yet.
“When I’ve been doing other things I’ve gone weeks without writing notes,” Hughesy said.
“Now I have new jokes I can try all the time.
“That and my three kids dominate my time and I keep getting new stuff from them.
“They don’t know they’re part of my act, but they are.”
Hughesy will be at the Mandurah Performing Arts Centre on October 9.
For more information go to manpac.com.au or call 9550 3900.
