One of his trial shows ran to one hour, 54 minutes. \u201cThat\u2019s like Avatar<\/em>. Nobody wants to sit there and watch me for an hour and 54 minutes.\u201d<\/p>\n LA-based Australian comedian Josh Thomas will return to his home country for a tour from the end of January.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Nicole Reed<\/cite><\/p>\n In Dallas, where he performed earlier this month, his set ran to an hour and 45 minutes. \u201cThis is like the most autistic interview I\u2019ve ever done. It\u2019s me just listing stats at you,\u201d he says with a laugh.<\/p>\n We\u2019ll soon see exactly how long Thomas\u2019 show runs when he tours Australia for the first time in five years from the end of January, kicking off in Sydney before heading across the country, including to the Melbourne International Comedy Festival.<\/p>\n \u201cI definitely think this show is my best show,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n Thomas, the creator and star of Emmy-nominated series Please Like Me<\/em> and the critically lauded Everybody\u2019s Gonna Be Okay<\/em>, has lived in Los Angeles since 2017. The show \u2013 written with American-Australian playwright Lally Katz (Atlantis<\/em>; Minnie and Liraz<\/em>) \u2013 unpacks Thomas\u2019 experience starting again in a new country, his diagnoses with autism and ADHD, and his aversion to tidying up.<\/p>\n Thomas with Thomas Ward, Caitlin Stasey and Debra Lawrance in Please Like Me.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe most stressful part of being alive, for me, is housework,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n He is concerned he may never be able to change that about himself, linking his fear to his diagnoses: \u201cWhen you get diagnosed, that\u2019s really somebody telling you: \u2018No, this is like who you are, and there\u2019s not going to be that much self-improvement really.\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s some peace in accepting the chaos of ADHD and just knowing, \u2018of course, I\u2019m going to lose my stuff\u2019, and forgiving yourself, but there\u2019s a torture in that as well. Every time you lose your keys, you\u2019re like: \u2018Oh, wait, this is always gonna happen for the rest of my life\u2019.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve been trying to figure out how much we\u2019re meant to give up and how much we\u2019re meant to try.\u201d<\/p>\n Everything\u2019s Gonna Be Okay, starring Thomas and Kayla Cromer, ran for two seasons.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Freeform\/Tony Rivetti<\/cite><\/p>\n Thomas is touring Let\u2019s Tidy Up<\/em> around North America. One distinction between American and Australian audiences is the style of heckler, with the former shouting out words of encouragement.<\/p>\n When he mentions John the dog, who starred in Please Like Me<\/em>, they shout: \u201cWoo, yeah, John!\u201d or call out \u201cYes! Good!\u201d when they approve of a joke.<\/p>\n \u201cNo one in Australia has ever just yelled out a gentle compliment,\u201d he says. \u201cSo whenever I hear somebody [do that], I\u2019m on the attack, and then I realise that they\u2019re saying something quite sweet.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s not the first time that Thomas has been heckled in an arguably positive way. He recalls teen girls at a show when he was 20 shouting \u201cI love you\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThey would scream as if I was cute or something,\u201d he says. \u201cYou have to have low self-esteem in high school for me to be your celebrity crush.\u201d<\/p>\n Thomas took a break from stand-up in 2013, off the back of the success of Please Like Me<\/em>, and returned six years later with Whoopsie Daisy<\/em>, which closed a week before LA went into COVID lockdown. It may have been a few years between gigs, but Thomas has 18 years of stand-up under his belt, having started when he was in his teens, winning emerging comic competition Raw Comedy in 2005 at the age of 17, and Best Newcomer at MICF in 2007.<\/p>\n Josh Thomas represented Millennials in Talkin\u2019 \u2019Bout Your Generation.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Rodger Cummins<\/cite><\/p>\n \u201cMy stand-up when I was a young was kind of offensive,\u201d he says. \u201cFrom when I was 17 to 21, such a big part of my career was the fact that I was a child. When I was on Talkin\u2019 \u2019Bout Your Generation<\/em>, the fact I was stupid and young was the whole thing.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think people really think I\u2019m that dumb any more,\u201d he says with a laugh.<\/p>\n Making Please Like Me<\/i> helped Thomas to feel comfortable tackling more serious subjects, including mental illness. He\u2019s also moved into more long-form storytelling on stage over the past decade. As he\u2019s grown up, his comedy has changed, but he still delivers what audiences expect from him.<\/p>\n \u201cI think you\u2019d probably feel weird if you came to my show now and we didn\u2019t talk about something sad,\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019m a comedian. I can\u2019t rebrand or change my personality like Madonna. I\u2019m always just me.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n