10 Questions With Adam Zwar

This week we’re talking to the playwright, author, and Guardian columnist, Van Badham. Over the course of our chat, we cover her humble beginnings to early steps as a playwright at the University of Wollongong to studying theatre in Britain and having multiple award-winning plays staged over there, to her residency at the prestigious London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, and being appointed Literary Manager at Britain’s renowned Finborough Theatre. We also discuss Van returning to Australia, and taking a job working at the Malthouse Theatre in Melbourne before The Guardian and television punditry came calling. It’s been a wild journey, but it was a journey Van always knew she’d be going on.  This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit adamzwar.substack.com

I’ve met this week’s guest many times over the years – generally at gigs or in the green rooms of TV studios, and I never waste the opportunity to tell her how great she was on the iconic late 1980s early 90s sketch show, The Big Gig, or the spoof hospital soap opera, Let The Blood Run Free. I speak of course of the legendary Jean Kittson. INnmore recent years, Jean‘s popped up as a regular on The Einstein Factor, The Glass House and 20 to One. But her main vocation has been writing. There have been regular columns in the Sunday Telegraph, and the SMH, and two successful books – her DIY guide to life, Tongue Lashing, released in 1998, and You’re Still Hot To Me – The Joys of Menopause, released in 2014. Now, in what can only be put down to as just plain excellent taste on behalf of Channel Nine, Jean is appearing as a contestant on Celebrity Apprentice Australia starting at 7pm on May 22. As usual, I started off my chat with Jean by asking her how her fellow workers w

It was quite an emotional day when I interviewed this week’s guest, the former rugby international turned best-selling author, Peter FitzSimons. Because it was the day after my father died. I’ve written about my Dad, Desmond Zwar, a lot on social media. He was the author of 20 non fiction books, including The Loneliest Man In the World about Rudolf Hess, In Search of Sir Keith Murdoch, This Wonderful World of Golf, where he went on the golf tour with Peter Thomson, and the runaway best seller, Golf: The Dictionary with illustrations by the great Jeff Hook. Dad, an avid reader, was in a nursing home towards the end of his life, so I ran his Kindle account. Whenever he wanted to read another book, I would buy it and sync it into his Kindle. And the last book I bought Dad, and the last book he read, was Peter FitzSimon’s biography of Ned Kelly. So it was strangely appropriate that the day after Dad’s passing, I was interviewing Peter. I didn’t

This week’s guest is Andy Lee - one half of Australia’s most popular comedy duo ever. He and Hamish Blake started off doing TV and radio at university, before making their commercial radio debut on Fox FM doing the 10pm-to-midnight slot on Mondays. We discuss that in this episode as well as their network TV debut on Channel 7’s The Hamish and Andy Show. As of this moment, Hamish and Andy have enjoyed nearly two decades of unparalleled radio and television success with their drive show on Fox FM often reaching 2.5 million listeners and their TV shows such as Real Stories, Hamish and Andy’s Gap Year, True Story with Hamish and Andy, and Hamish and Andy’s Perfect Holiday getting huge ratings and playing all over the world. In the past few years, Hamish and Andy have branched into more solo work, with Andy hosting The Cube on Channel 10 and The Hundred on Channel Nine. During our chat, Andy and I talk a lot of shop, deep dive into his friendship with Shane Warne, and conclude that th

This week’s guest is one of the elders of podcasting in Australia. Back in 2010, he and Wil Anderson started making the podcast TOFOP – as well a collaborating on other podcasts, including the enduring and iconic, Two Guys One Cup. He’s also a well-known actor, starring in Blue Heelers, McLeod’s Daughters and Home and Away. I speak of course of Charlie Clausen. This episode was recorded in the aftermath of the Northern Rivers floods in which Charlie was on the front line of the rescue effort while I stood in my borrowed gumboots many lines back. During our chat, Charlie details the perils of acting and podcasting and how to deal with people offering up unsolicited criticisms along the way. IT DOESN’T MATTER THAT CHARLIE DIDN’T GO TO DRAMA SCHOOL: This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit adamzwar.substack.com

This week’s guest on Out Of The Question is Masterchef judge, Andy Allen. Andy was an elite basketball player and full-time electrician before becoming a Masterchef contestant and then winner, in season 4. After that, he became a trainee chef at Three Blue Ducks restaurants, head chef at their Rosebery establishment, and then a co-owner of the group. In 2019, he returned to Masterchef as a judge. And that’s where he is today, while also working every spare moment he can get at the Three Blue Ducks restaurants. This is a conversation with a guy who seems to make the most of every second of his life. BONUS CONTENT: ANDY TALKS ABOUT GETTING THE MASTERCHEF JUDGING GIGSOCIALS: ANDY ALLEN VS MARCO PIERRE WHITE This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit adamzwar.substack.com

Our guest this week is the brilliantly laconic comedian Dan Connell. I first saw Dan perform at Dave O’Neil’s Fun House in around 2014 and was immediately struck by his super-relaxed delivery and use of old school lexicon. Dan grew up in the rugby league heartland of Bateman’s Bay on the New South Wales South Coast, which was hit by the terrifying Currowan fire in 2019 that ended up burning for 74 days and nearly took the house that Dan grew up in. When not worrying about his parents having to fight fires, Dan is steadily growing his career. It’s kind of like his comedy, just sneaking up on everyone. He’s made multiple appearances at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, including the opening night gala. He’s toured Australia many times, as well as Asia and Edinburgh, and his TV appearances include Comedy Up Late and the Oxfam Gala on the ABC. In this interview, Dan talks about his reaction to a terrifying moment when his wife was giving

The lawyer-turned-comedian and television creator, Nazeem Hussain.If you’re anywhere near TikTok you’ll see that Nazeem’s sketch shows Legally Brown, which first screened on SBS, and Orange is the New Brown (Channel 7), have gained a whole new, obsessively loyal audience.But Nazeem’s not thinking too much about creating any television right now.He’s just become a father for a second time and his stand-up show, Hussain That? is currently playing at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival before he takes it around Australia.In this episode, we revisit a story Nazeem told me in 2015, in which he and his family narrowly escaped death.We also talk about his problem with punctuality, and how former Prime Minister, Bob Hawke, once sent him fun sized Snickers bars.As usual, I start off by asking Nazeem, how he thinks his colleagues would describe him. SocialsTwitter - Adam ZwarFacebook - Adam Zwar More from Out of the Question on Nearly.com.auMore about Out of the

Pretty excited to have the British comedian Mark Watson on the podcast this week – not only do I find him hilarious, but I also like the way he explores the formats in which comedy can be presented.He’s won Perrier awards, Time Out Critics Choice awards and been nominated for Barry Awards at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival.He’s appeared on Never Mind the Buzzcocks, Mock the Week, Would I Lie to You, and Michael Mcintyre’s Comedy Roadshow. AND, he’s also written five novels.Mark is back in Melbourne right now with his new show This Can’t Be it – where he tries to cram a year of pathological overthinking into an hour’s stand up.Mark’s plane to Melbourne, which also had Adam Hills on board, was delayed by 24 hours due to a catering issue.We talk about that here.We also talk about him using a Welsh accent when he first started in comedy, and the fact that it’s necessary in an industry where you need to create your own work to continually tell

Pretty excited to be interviewing a duo this week. Possibly, Australia’s funniest duo.They are Melbourne Comedy Festival favourites, they’re winners of the Edinburgh Fringe Perrier Award, and they made two hilarious seasons of their sitcom on the ABC.Throughout this interview with Colin Lane and Frank Woodley we talk about how they started off as a trio called The Found Objects with a writer-performer called Scott Casley.They also talk about performing comedy when you’re grieving, as well as performing comedy immediately after a partner has given birth.And they also reveal that in 30 years of working together, they’ve never told each other to get fucked. But that may or may not change during the course of this interview.On a serious note, Lano and Woodley are about to embark on their most ambitious show yet – a comic, demented (their description), version of the Herman Melville novel, Moby Dick, which is touring all over the country.  As usual, I start off by asking Colin an

Annabel grew up on a farm, graduated from the University of Adelaide, became a journalist at the Adelaide Advertiser and moved on to The Age where she worked in the paper’s London bureau.Then, when she returned to Australia in the mid 2000s, she wrote books, won Walkley Awards and also appeared on quiz shows (Randling) and panel shows (Gruen).And from those beginnings, a stellar TV career emerged in which she wrote and starred in such shows as Kitchen Cabinet, where she  would prepare a meal with a politician while interviewing them, The House, about the inner workings of Parliament House, Back in time for Dinner – about a modern family discovering how Australians shopped, cooked and ate in the olden days, and now the returning Tomorrow Tonight, where a panel of guests work out how to survive a ground breaking hypothetical news story.Our chat was short and funny and moving and only slightly hampered by builders reattaching Annabel’s roof to her house. SocialsTwitter - Adam ZwarFace

This week has been a hell of a week for anyone living in the flood effected Northern Rivers region of NSW, so I thought it was appropriate to talk to author, comedian, and now Green’s candidate for Richmond in northern NSW, Mandy Nolan.All week she’s been helping the rescue effort in the region, so I was lucky to get her on Zoom for a chat.She’s one of the funniest comedians in Australia. She’s definitely Australia’s funniest non-celebrity comedian.Anyone in the business knows that it’s foolish to immediately follow her on stage.But becoming a household name has always eluded her.We talk about that here. We also talk about growing up under the shadow of domestic violence and how her Dad dying meant her life could officially start. And we talk about how The Greens finally convinced her to run.If you want to help out with victims of the Queensland and NSW floods, the Give List provides many options.https://www.australianphilanthropicservices.com.au/queensland-nsw-floods-2022/

Our first guest under the new Out of the Question moniker is the screenwriter and satirist, Chris Taylor.Post university, Chris started off as a cadet journalist for ABC news in Melbourne before moving back to Sydney and writing full time for the Chaser newspaper.He soon became a fully-fledged member of the Chaser and was a distinctive voice in all the group’s iterations.Other works include being a presenter on Triple J, writing shows and songs with his Chaser-pal Andrew Hansen, creating the half hour drama, Upright, starring Tim Minchin for Foxtel and now being a team captain on the Australian version of Would I Lie To You, screening on Monday night on Channel 10.I loved this chat.Smart guy, Chris Taylor.As our talk unfolds you get why the Would I Lie To You team have put him in the David Mitchell chair.I started off by asking Chris how he thinks his coworkers would describe him? SocialsTwitter - Adam ZwarFacebook - Adam Zwar More from Out of the Question on Nearly.com.auMore about Out o

The smart, talented and hilarious Chrissie Swan.She was an advertisting copywriter before going on Big Brother in 2003.After that came a stint on regional radio in Queensland, then Vega and Mix FM in Melbourne, and now Chrissie, Sam and Brownie on Nova.In between, there were long term TV stints on The Circle, Can of Worms and The Great Australian Spelling Bee for Channel 10.Now she’s back on the network tonight – Februaty 28 – hosting the Australian reboot of Would I Lie To You.In this interview, she talks about the psychological transformation she’s undergone over the past year and how it’s based on getting an adequate amount of sleep.We also discuss the rigours of radio performance reviews and the joys of being sacked. SocialsTwitter - Adam ZwarFacebook - Adam Zwar 10 Questions with Adam Zwar is produced in part by Nearly Media.More about Out of the Question: https://www.nearly.com.au/out-of-the-question-with-adam-zwar/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy informati

I first came across the Adelaide-raised Anthony “Lehmo” Lehmann when he teamed up with Wil Anderson for their national drive show Wil and Lehmo. I loved his work on Before the Game where he cracked football-wise alongside Dave Hughes, Peter Helliar, Andy Maher and Samantha Lane.Since then, he and Joe Stanley took Gold FM’s breakfast show to number one before being fired – he talks about that here – and he’s since moved on to hosting breakfast on SAFM.I like Lehmo’s work ethic and the fact that he’s performed to Australian troops in army bases in East Timor as well as across the Middle East.He talks about that here as well in an extremely moving way. His new show is called Be Nice and it's at the Rhino room at the Adelaide Fringe, starting on February 22.Lehmo said it was originally going to be called Don't Be A Fuckwit but he thought that might scare people off. More about Lehmo here - lehmo.com.au SocialsTwitter - Adam ZwarFacebook - Adam Zwar

Adam's book Twelve Summers is out now.Twelve Summers is the story of those big memories and the big matches that accompanied them, told by one of the funniest writers in Australia. Australian audiences know her best for her work as “Patricia Saunders” on Love Child, “April” on No Activity and the showstopping “Stevie” on The Other Guy. But since moving to the US, Harriet’s career has reached even greater heights – first she starred in The Inbetween, a supernatural drama for NBC, then came the box office hit, The Invisible Man, and she’s currently appearing on the new NCB sitcom, American Auto.Harriet and her husband, Patrick Brammall, are back in Australia filming a sitcom they wrote and created for Binge. SocialsTwitter - Adam ZwarFacebook - Adam Zwar 10 Questions with Adam Zwar is produced in part by Nearly Media.More about Out of the Question: https://www.nearly.com.au/out-of-the-question-with-adam-zwar/See omnystudio.com/listener for pri

Welcome to our short 10 Questions spin off, The Top Three.I choose a topic and ask guests to list their three favourite things about it.On this episode, comedian Lawrence Mooney details his top three beverages. Get the full series here - https://www.patreon.com/10QuestionsWithAdamZwar SocialsTwitter - Adam ZwarFacebook - Adam Zwar 10 Questions with Adam Zwar is produced in part by Nearly Media.More about Out of the Question: https://www.nearly.com.au/out-of-the-question-with-adam-zwar/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Subscribe at adamzwar.substack.com

Adam's book Twelve Summers is out now.Twelve Summers is the story of those big memories and the big matches that accompanied them, told by one of the funniest writers in Australia. This episode’s guest is one of my favourite comedians, Lawrence Mooney.I love Lawrence because he says the things I dare not think.He’s an actor, a writer, a stand up and of course a radio host.I’ve known him since we made the pilot for the Agony series back in 2010 and it was about 30 seconds into interviewing him that I knew we had a show.So I’m  extremely grateful to him.Other career highlights for Lawrence include hosting the tonight show, Dirty Laundry Live, the Paralympics for ABC2, and Moonman in the Morning for Triple M. SocialsTwitter - Adam ZwarFacebook - Adam Zwar 10 Questions with Adam Zwar is produced in part by Nearly Media.More about Out of the Question: https://www.nearly.com.au/out-of-the-question-with-adam-zwar/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Subscri

Adam's book Twelve Summers is out now.Twelve Summers is the story of those big memories and the big matches that accompanied them, told by one of the funniest writers in Australia. After starring on such Australian TV shows as Moody Christmas, Strange Calls and Offspring, Patrick Brammall co-created the Stan hit No Activity with Trent O’Donnell.They took it to the US where it played on CBS All Access for four seasons.Brammall, who also starred in the US remake, appeared alongside such luminaries as Will Ferrell, Amy Sedaris, Amy Schumer, Jesse Plemons, JK Simmons, Bob Odenkirk, Kevin Bacon, Jessica Alba, Will Forte, and Matt Walsh.Now Patrick’s appearing the CBS hit, Evil, before returning home to film a new sitcom which he writes and stars alongside his wife, Harriet Dyer. SocialsTwitter - Adam ZwarFacebook - Adam Zwar 10 Questions with Adam Zwar is produced in part by Nearly Media.More about Out of the Question: https://www.nearly.com.au/out-of-the-question-with-adam-zwar/See omny

Adam's book Twelve Summers is out now.Twelve Summers is the story of those big memories and the big matches that accompanied them, told by one of the funniest writers in Australia. Today we’re joined by former advertising copywriter turned social commentator turned novelist Jane Caro. \It’s impossible not to feel wiser after a conversation with Jane If you suffer anxiety or insecurity and want to turn your life around – then listen in.I first came across Jane on what used to be The Gruen Transfer, then invited her to be on Agony, and was immediately engaged by her clear thinking and the effortless way she gets her message across.Here she talks about the days when being a feminist wasn’t cool, how to freak out someone who is shouting at you, and the wisdom she was taught the morning after her daughter nearly died. SocialsTwitter - Adam ZwarFacebook - Adam Zwar 10 Questions with Adam Zwar is produced in part by Nearly Media.More about Out of the Question: https://www.nearl