Tell us about what you are doing in the Comedy Festival? This year I’m doing The Mighty Little Puppet Show. It’s a totally improvised puppet show that I’ve been developing for about seven years. The puppets are blank face and eyes and noses can be attached to create unique characters for every improvised scene. I am also MC’ing one of three Stand Up Comedy Nights at the National Theatre Melbourne in St Kilda on Saturday16 April.
What’s your favourite work at this point in time? (your own or your group’s work) I’m pretty proud of The Mighty Little Puppet Show at the moment. It was a challenging experiment to blend improvisation and puppetry in a completely new and unique way. Plus it went incredibly well…so we’ll definitely be bringing it back.
Tell us a quick, on the road or studio, anecdote. I think this is kinda funny. I’ve been working a lot with the BBC on Doctor Who inspired shows for the last two years. I was hanging out last week at my venue for the comedy festival and popular Australian comedian Greg Fleet was there. Now I did a tour of the Adelaide Comedy scene with Greg over 10 years ago when I was in the musical comedy trio The Dodge. Since then I haven’t spoken a word to Greg, just because we move in different circles. On this night he spotted me, approached me and the first thing he said to me in 10 years was “Do you think Peter Capaldi is going to leave Doctor Who after the next season?” I was amused and honoured in equal measure that night.
What, or who, inspires you? Primarily Jim Henson…he inspired me as a child and taught me everything I needed to know about comedy. As I grew up The D-Generation, particularly The Late Show taught me that Australians are the smartest and funniest comedians in the world. More recently, I’m inspired by the people I work closely with.
Which comedic show do you wish you wrote? Years ago I saw Dave Gorman’s show “Are You Dave Gorman?” where he was set the challenge to meet 54 people with the same name as him. It blended comedy, mathematics and obsessive behaviour all into one show. It was a brilliantly written and performed show from an wonderfully simple concept.
How would you describe your comedy in food form and why? Oooo…interesting question! I see my comedy as kind of like a Sizzlers Buffet (remember Sizzler!?! How cool was that place), meaning you as an audience get to choose from my variety of shows. You can choose from impro, nerd-inspired comedy, puppetry work, drama and I’ve even recorded some audio-dramas. So take your pick.
What’s next for you? Next up I’m hosting this Stand Up Comedy Night at the National Theatre! Over three nights they’re turning their Mezzanine area into a performance space for a comedy/open mic evening. Anyone interested in trying their hand at comedy are invited to perform across the three nights of the 14th. 15th and 16th of April. To register simply contact the National Theatre. Hope to see you there!
About Rob Lloyd
Rob has been working professionally as an actor, comedian & improviser for over 15 years.
Most recently Rob’s career has focused upon his obsession with Doctor Who. Rob performed his solo comedy show Who, Me. to sell-out audiences across Australia and Worldwide. This led to working with the BBC on such projects as: The Science of Doctor Who LIVE (2014), The Doctor Who Symphonic Spectacular (2015) and The Doctor Who Festival. Sydney (2015).
Rob is also the star of the Clickview online educational adventure series Bertram Poppingstock: Problem Solver.
For this year’s Melbourne International Comedy Festival Rob premiered a show he has been developing for nearly seven years, the impro/puppetry show The Mighty Little Puppet Show.
