‘I’m a laugh whore,’ admits Sydney-based comedian Rhys Nicholson. And he is. He is utterly shameless in his exploits and comedy routines; a prince in the court of low-brow comedy. Where some gay comedians have shied away from the explicit details of same-sex fornication, Nicholson revels in it.
Over the phone, Nicholson told OUTinPerth why there were so many gay comedians on the comedy circuit.
‘I guess there are a lot of issues going around at the moment like gay marriage; I think we still have a lot to yell about,’ the 21-year-old said.
His comedy career kick-started two years ago when he won his way through to the National Finals of the Raw Comedy competition in 2009. This boy doesn’t mince his words, though.
Whether it is anal sex, religion or politics, Nicholson punches through topics with little reverence. Now based in Newtown, the young comedian said he found Sydney a lot more accepting than his hometown, Newcastle.
‘On Halloween last year, I walked down the street dressed as a late-term back alley abortion and no-one really batted an eyelid.’
‘When I first started a couple of years ago, I had this bitchy-kind-of persona…’ he said.
‘I’m more angry than that… A lot of people use it as therapy… you can just go out there [on-stage] and talk about whatever you want or yell about something and you get paid for it. I also like yelling swear words at large groups of people.’
In one of his routines, he declares ‘My friends say I’m really picky with men; I don’t think I’m picky it’s just anybody who comes onto me or into me, they seem to have what I call, relationship deal breakers.’
On relationships and meeting eligible bachelors, Nicholson said he tried to be ‘charming and vulgar’, an uncanny reflection of his onstage presence.
‘I kind of try and be really inappropriate so it shocks people and laugh, I suppose. But I’m not a good picker-upperer and that’s why the material keeps flowing. I’ve had so many bad situations.’
While Nicholson calls these ‘bad situations’, they translate into hand-wringing awkwardness which audiences seem to relish.
The entertainer seems prepared to take on almost anything for a laugh; last year he walked onto the stage ‘with a mangina’ at the end of a gig at the Sydney Comedy Store.
To test to this fearlessness, Nicholson has joined the cast of guest comedians for Foxtel’s new prank television show, Balls of Steel. Here the prankster will capitalise on his awkwardness as he plays the gay newbie, “Just Came Outâ€.
‘I go up to people and hit on them really, really vulgarly. There is one where I am in an Ice-cream van and I become confused about gay code. So people come and order ice-cream and I just think they want to fist me.’
Balls of Steel is on Foxtel now.
Benn Dorrington
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