Life Drawing With A Comedian - Sean Michaels (5th March, 2024)

Comedian Sean Michaels is touring western New South Wales, performing a show called "Life Drawing with a Comedian." The show involves drawing a nude model while enjoying comedy. The event is family-friendly and has been well-received in other locations, with audiences having a great time. Sean has been doing this show for about four years and has learned a lot about art along the way. The event requires no artistic ability and is open to anyone who wants to give it a try. Tickets can be obtained from Outback Arts. You're on Zoo's Breakfast. Good morning Knight and Cobar. It appears people's taste for both life, art and comedy can be satisfied all at once. And it's even piqued my interest. Life Drawing with a Comedian takes place at the Pinkallah Art Studio from 6.30pm. And to give us a run through of what it's about, with me on the phone is comedian Sean Michaels. Good morning mate. Good morning. How are we? I'm alright, but I hear you've been busy. Where are you this morning and where have you been? I'm currently in Ningen, just got back from Warren and the night before I was in Kinnambul and I started in Pallamalla Wall, Mungundai, Gara, we've done Moree. So yeah, we're doing all the outback arts sort of. Wow. And I'm very excited to get to Cobar. You're literally doing a tour of practically western New South Wales. Yeah, it's a bit of a UFO tour really because no one visits these places but aliens. I mean, have you seen any sort of extraterrestrial activity while out there? Oh no, they can only be described as just Australians really. Oh right, yes of course. The great thing is, I'm from this area so this is just a walk down memory lane in going back to all these great country towns and the Singular Roadhouse and the Little Town Hall. Oh, I can just imagine. Yeah, yeah. I mean, we opened the Plaza Theatre in Kinnambul just for this show. Oh wow. A full run down theatre and there was 80 people there laughing and drawing all these great, great pictures. I can't describe on radio. Well yes, I'd imagine so. I mean, just to get started on that, on the life art, to get an understanding of what people can expect from the event and me myself, I don't have much knowledge about life drawing. However, the poster for the event has a sketch of a man, safe to say in broadcast terms, he's undressed. Am I right to presume that's sort of the theme of the evening? Well yes, the definition of life drawing is drawing a life model who is typically nude. I can say that this is somewhat family friendly. You can bring your teenagers that are interested in art. They won't be exposed to anything too shocking, I guess. I don't want to give too much away because it's sort of up to the audience what happens in this show in a lot of ways. I'm actually quite interested in how you make it family friendly. But anyway, that's to not ruin it now. It's good to know that it is. I wouldn't be too worried. Don't worry. I think councils are involved in this and there will be no complaints. How does the comedy side exactly come into the picture of the night? Telling jokes on stage while naked is probably most comedians' nightmare. I thought, you know what, it's a challenge. To be honest, the humour comes really easy. We've done this in Edinburgh. That's where it started really, the Edinburgh Comedy Festival over in Scotland. We did 30 odd shows in a month, day after day, plus multiple other shows. It was just exhausting. But this show just lightens up everyone. They come along, whether they're art students or novices. They've never drawn ever. They're dragged by their girlfriends. They all walk out having such a good time, laughing at each other's drawings, laughing at all the stuff I say, hopefully, as well. Well, yeah, that is a part of it, hopefully. So you're saying this was like an international show. It started, what, in Scotland? Yeah, it developed in Edinburgh. We really developed it in Perth. So I'm quite used to these 42-degree days. Oh, I'm not yet. I've only been in Dubbo for, what, four weeks now, and I don't know how you get used to them. Well, you strip down to nothing, and you let them destroy you. I think that's a cool job. Maybe you should be doing this radio show, Starkers. Well, you never know. Yeah, you'll adapt a bit quicker. It's the benefit of the medium. You have no idea. Exactly. But, yeah, we've done it in Perth, every Perth Fringe World Festival for the last four years, and they absolutely love it over there. And because every show is different, you know, people come back time and time again. So I'm so excited to bring this out to these little places. Hang there a sec, mate. We're going to take a quick break. We're speaking to Sean Michaels, who's doing life drawing with a comedian. He's the comedian. Tomorrow night in Cobar at the Pink Galah Art Studio from 6.30. I want to come back, ask you what the first experience was like, just getting up on a podium and not being dressed while people drew you. What's going on, mate? Quick break. Quick break. Back in a sec. You're on Sirius Breakfast. It's 2FM, your home of Dubbo's best music from the 80s to now. For your Tuesday morning, we're talking to Sean Michaels, who's the comedian at Life Drawing with a Comedian, taking place in Cobar tomorrow night at 6.30. It's in the Pink Galah Art Studio. I wanted to know, how long have you been doing this sort of getting up on the podium and not being clothed and people drawing you? Well, I've personally been doing this show about four years. Oh, right. So you are quite well experienced in the different festivals. I can't say I'm an artist. I've got to say that's why I'm up on stage modeling and you guys are drawing. I am exposed to a lot of art, and I guess my art is exposing. So I feel like I've learned a few things along the way. People do learn at the end of the class, you know, something, I hope. On that note, what's the level of artistic ability required for the event? As I imagine if the features of the so-called model were sketched in a bad way, it'd almost be insulting. No. I do have my self-esteem attacked regularly with some people drawing me the way they want me instead of the way I am. But most people, they just give it a good old enthusiastic crack because I find there's usually two types of people that come to life drawing with a comedian. There's, like, girls that are adventurous and keen, interested in culture. They want to give something new a go, and those people's boyfriends. But the boyfriends seem to have more fun than the girls sometimes. Right. Okay. Yeah. I don't want to presume, but when you first did this, sort of, you step up onto, I don't know if it's called a podium, and without any clothes on for people to draw you, while also doing jokes, what was the experience like for the very first time? Oh, man, it was quite nerve-wracking. I remember we just got off the plane from, you know, Sydney to Scotland. We were jet-lagged, and, you know, we had to run on stage and do this show that, you know, we kind of only really practiced in our garage. Now that's quite an image. Isn't it? Isn't it? Yeah. It took a couple of us comedians to kind of, like, bring it all together and add certain elements to it, and now I'm touring it on my own. It is quite daunting, but the first time we did it, it was just exciting, I think. Is there any cost involved to the event? I do believe... No, I think some of these ones are... There is tickets, I think, yeah. No, possibly. You're just there to not wear any clothes and make jokes. You're not there to collect the tickets at the door. I'd charge for it, shouldn't I? I mean, if I was in your position, I probably would be, considering the experience. Driving around the outback just taking my kit off and have a go at drawing me. I think, yeah, maybe that's valuable. So, yeah, I think you can get the tickets from, I think, Outback Arts? Yeah, Outback Arts will come to you. That's the one. Brilliant. Thank you so much, Sean, for coming on, and I hope tomorrow night your show in Cobar goes just as to plan. Oh, I can't wait to see you in the front row, really. You don't need binoculars, OK? Oh, good. I was going to bring, like, a magnifying glass, but all right. You're on Zoo's Breakfast.