You can take the man out of America, but you can’t take the America out of the man.
That premise may be well-worn, but Tommy Dean doesn’t necessarily fit the bill as just another U.S. comedian who still takes issue with how we eat too many meat pies.
The Sydney-based comedian has now lived in the Wide Brown Land for more than 17 years, and over that time has more or less embraced every facet of Australian culture. He’s even known as a die-hard Swans supporter – or “ambassador”, as it were.
“It’s an official title, so make sure you put that in,” Dean said from home, relaxing on the first day of school holidays.
“If they give it to me, I may as well use it.”
His honorary ambassadorship is nothing to sneeze at either – through a thick American accent, Dean recounts being at the grand final in 2012 – his first trip to the MCG – to watch his Swans win.
“That was my first trip to the ‘G, and man, my timing was good,” he said.
“But then they lost the next year to the Eagles, and again I was really exposed to the tragedy that comes along with being a football fan.”
It’s one facet that makes Dean so unique – his love of Australian culture, coupled with his Arizona drawl and arguably American penchant for critically analysing things from many angles, is a constant source of interest.
Dean’s initial love affair with Australia started, as it does regularly– at least in movies – with him falling in love with an Australian girl.
“My first wife was backpacking when I met her. And then I had that crazy love thing that happens sometimes, and that’s when I moved over here.”
The story of Dean’s discovery of the country, fittingly, is tied to football – for better and worse.
“I like to joke that my first marriage actually ended because of football,” Dean said.
"We got to a point where I would be like, ‘Yeah honey, just after this game’. And then at some point, she said to me, ‘I thought because you were American you wouldn’t love football. But you’re just liker every other man in this country!’ So it’s got it’s bad side, I guess.”
As much as he has embraced Australia, Dean obviously still has close connections to the United States – his family mostly still lives there – but the way the country has changed in recent years has left him feeling more attached to his country of adoption, rather than birth.
“I grew up in Arizona, so there wasn’t much going on, it was quiet. But it was nice,” he said.
“But it’s like it’s a completely different place now.
“I left in ‘93, and when I went back in ‘99, it was pretty much the same, everything was still in the same place.
“But I went back a few years ago, and yeah… my old high school had these huge razor-wire fences around it. The mall was about to close down… everything that meant something to me was either going or gone.”
Rather than being a loss, though, Dean said he felt the transition America has been going through has lead him gradually to identify more as an Australian than anything else.
“I love the people here, I always have,” Dean said.
“I have family members back home who are pretty right-wing, so when everything happened and Trump won… I don’t know, it was the same as the whole country really, people just drew lines in the sand.
“I don’t have any feeling of wanting to go back. It’s just the friends over there. I kind of want to just get them all to come over here and have a barbecue or something.”
Dean will join fellow U.S native Tony Woods, along with John Cruikshank and Matt Storer, when the Sydney Comedy Festival heads to Mandurah.
Dean, a journeyman comedian in every sense of the word, is looking forward to hitting the road once more.
“Not to bag out any small towns or anything, but because I know very little comes to these towns in terms of big national or international entertainment, I love the passion.
“Comedy gigs in cities, you know, the crowd is so spoilt for choice they can be pretty lacklustre.
"But when you get to a country town – and not saying that Mandurah is a country town, but it kinda still sticks – just the amount of effort the audience puts into actually actively being a part of the show, whether that’s laughing really hard or telling you you’re terrible, it spurs you to try harder in return.”
The Sydney Comedy Festival Roadshow rolls into Mandurah Performing Arts Centre on Thursday August 3.
Call the Box Office on 9550 3900 or go to manpac.com.au for tickets.