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.   Socials Twitter - Adam Zwar Facebook - Adam Zwar   More from Out of the Question on Nearly.com.au

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 yourself to keep going.

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 and Frank how their fellow workers would describe them.

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.   Socials Twitter - Adam Zwar Facebook - Adam Zwar   More from Out of the Question on Nearly.com.au

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/   Socials Twitter - Adam Zwar Facebook - Adam Zwar   More from Out of the Question on Nearly.com.au

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?   Socials Twitter - Adam Zwar Facebook - Adam Zwar   More from Out of the Question on Nearly.com.au

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.   Socials Twitter - Adam Zwar Facebook - Adam Zwar   10 Questions with Adam Zwar is produced in part by Nearly Media.

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   Socials Twitter - Adam Zwar Facebook - Adam Zwar   10 Questions with Adam Zwar is produced in part by Nearly Media.

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.   Socials Twitter - Adam Zwar Facebook - Adam Zwar   10 Questions with Adam Zwar is produced in part by Nearly Media.

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   Socials Twitter - Adam Zwar Facebook - Adam Zwar   10 Questions with Adam Zwar is produced in part by Nearly Media.

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.   Socials Twitter - Adam Zwar Facebook - Adam Zwar   10 Questions with Adam Zwar is produced in part by Nearly Media.

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.   Socials Twitter - Adam Zwar Facebook - Adam Zwar   10 Questions with Adam Zwar is produced in part by Nearly Media.

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.   Socials Twitter - Adam Zwar Facebook - Adam Zwar   10 Questions with Adam Zwar is produced in part by Nearly Media.

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.   Writer, director and producer, Trent O’Donnell, is one of Australia’s most prolific comedy creators – co-creating such shows as Review With Miles Barlow, Moody Christmas, No Activity and Squinters. He moved to the US in 2012 where he directed and executive produced New Girl. His other directing credits include Brooklyn Nine-Nine, The Good Place, and the new series of Saved By the Bell. Alongside Patrick Brammall, Trent reimagined No Activity for an American audience on CBS and is now the set up director and executive producer of the US’s number one comedy, Ghosts.   Socials Twitter - Adam Zwar Facebook - Adam Zwar   10 Questions with Adam Zwar is produced in part by Nearly Media.

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.   Those who only know today’s guest Ed Kavalee from television are getting just a fraction of his personality. His close friend, Josh Lawson, used to call him the unofficial mayor of Melbourne. If you needed to get into a popular club or restaurant – you’d talk to Ed. I’d go further than that, if you needed a kidney, you’d talk to Ed. Certainly, if you need someone to give you a rousing speech that will make you feel like you can lift a mountain, Ed’s the guy to go to. Ed came up through theatre sports and worked in radio promotions before becoming Tony Martin’s co-host on Get This. Then, when Get This was inexplicably pulled off the air despite bumper ratings, Ed became the co-host on Nova’s Hughesy and Kate. Many radio gigs followed, as well as a stint in LA and now he’s hosting Hughesy, Ed and Erin on 2dayFM. His TV credits include being a series regular on Thank God You’re Here, TV Burp, Santo, Sam and Ed’s Cup Fever, and now Have You Being Paying Attention.   Socials Twitter - Adam Zwar Facebook - Adam Zwar   10 Questions with Adam Zwar is produced in part by Nearly Media.

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.   The first politician I ever interviewed – way back in 1993 – was the former leader of the Australian Democrats, Cheryl Kernot. And I’m delighted she could join us here. Cheryl was the Democrats’ Senator for Queensland from 1990 to 1997. She then left The Democrats to join the ALP, where she ran for and won the seat of Dickson in the house of representatives. It was a seat she held until 2001. I always liked Cheryl’s easy-going manner and it was during her time as leader of the Democrats that you always felt - given the right conditions, they might just challenge one of the major parties. In this interview, Cheryl discusses the highs and lows of being the third party option, the pressure politics puts on a marriage, suddenly realising you’re famous and how her nine year old grandson requested to go to question time in Canberra for his birthday.    Socials Twitter - Adam Zwar Facebook - Adam Zwar   10 Questions with Adam Zwar is produced in part by Nearly Media.

I’ve known Dil, as he is often called, from around the comedy traps for quite a few years and watched him graduate from open mics to headlining, and from bit parts in TV shows to main roles. I last spoke to him in 2015 before I moved to LA and while I was gone he released two hour-long comedy specials, won a Logie and lost more than a third of his body weight.  During this interview we talk about growing up in Sri Lanka, Melbourne University, being an account at KPMG and then moving into stand up. 

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.   More thrills and spills from my chat with Kate Langbroek.   Socials Twitter - Adam Zwar Facebook - Adam Zwar   10 Questions with Adam Zwar is produced in part by Nearly Media.

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.   Our returning guest is my old friend Kate Langbroek, whose bold and hilarious banter is one of my favourite things about Australian broadcasting. And she’s a great writer too. She started out on Neighbours, then had a column in The City Weekly and then in News Corp’s Stellar Magazine. Now she’s written a book called Ciao Bella where she charts the highs and lows of her and her family’s relocation to Italy for two years, which took in a pandemic. Most of us know Kate from her radio partnership with Dave Hughes, which went from Nova to Kiis, to the Hit network and then eventually ended in Italy. Because Kate and I had been living overseas for a period – we had a lot of catching up to do.   Socials Twitter - Adam Zwar Facebook - Adam Zwar   10 Questions with Adam Zwar is produced in part by Nearly Media.

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.   Legendary Australian batter and captain, Gregory Stephen Chappell. When I was growing up, I used to wear a t-shirt with his face emblazoned on it. I also had a Greg Chappell towel and a Greg Chappell hat. Chappell has just written the book called Greg Chappell Not Out, which takes-in his career post-cricket, including coaching, selecting and commentating as well as reflections from his playing days. Here, we talk about all that PLUS rooming with Rod Marsh. More - https://www.nearly.com.au/10-questions-with-greg-chappell/   Socials Twitter - Adam Zwar Facebook - Adam Zwar   10 Questions with Adam Zwar is produced in part by Nearly Media.

This time we revisit one of our most popular guests, my friend, the comedian, broadcaster, architecture enthusiast and design aficionado, Tim Ross.  Most of Australia knows Tim from his stage, radio and TV partnership with Merrick Watts. But more recently, he’s travelled the world performing live shows with a focus on architecture and design. I was lucky enough to see Tim’s longest running show - Man About the House - at Robin Boyd’s Walsh Street house in South Yarra, Melbourne, and it was one of the great, heart-warming, soul cleansing nights of theatre I’ve seen.  As well as the live shows, Tim has also hosted and produced the acclaimed ABC documentaries Streets of Your Town and Designing a Legacy, which profiles the Australian psyche via the houses we choose to build and live in. 

Arguably Australia’s most popular comedian over the past 25 years. He’s played to packed houses all over the country and hosted radio shows on Nova, KIIS and now on 2Day FM. TV shows he’s either hosted or been a regular on include Hughesy We Have A Problem, The Project, Before The Game and of course ABC’s, The Glass House.  During our chat, he talks about living in the moment, the occasional regret of not giving America a proper shot, sobriety and I also pick out some of my favourite moments from his comedy canon. 

I’ve known Meshel Laurie for more than 30 years. She was easily the funniest and most talented person in the first year of her acting course at the University of Southern Queensland in Toowoomba. I distinctly remember her doing a monologue for her end of year assessment and having the whole auditorium in hysterics but for some reason the lecturers didn’t let her graduate into second year acting. So she was shunted into the drama course where she learned to be a drama teacher. It was one of those early moments in my life where I realised that there’s rarely any such thing as justice. From Toowoomba, Meshel moved to Melbourne and started doing stand-up comedy. Her one-woman show The Whore Whisperer, which charted her time as a receptionist in a brothel,  was a huge critical and commercial success playing at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, the Adelaide Fringe and the Sydney Opera House. From there, she started doing radio on Triple R and then on Nova and Kiis. And TV stints included This Week Live and The Project as well as her stand up piece on ABC’s The Smallest Room in the House, where she talked about her time at University. Now she hosts the hugely popular Australian True Crime Podcast, which is an international hit with 1 million downloads per month. I feel like this episode is sometimes less of a podcast and more just two old friends catching up.

Matt is one of the most recognisable faces in Australia due to his role as a judge on Masterchef. But his story started in England, going to boarding school, then the University of Kent before following his father into journalism. Matt wrote about television in Britain before the company he worked for sent him out to Australia to write about TV here. He then segued into writing about food for The Age, News Corp and the magazine, Inside Melbourne. In this interview, Matt tells us about the random way he won the gig on MasterChef - a juggernaut of a show which played in 110 countries to an audience of 180 million people. He starred on MasterChef for 11 seasons and now he has written his eighth book – Matt Preston’s World of Flavour where, among other things, he has uncovered the genesis of spaghetti Bolognese. Spoiler: It’s actually an Australian invention. Or more accurately - a South Australian invention.

Welcome to a special episode of 10 Questions – called “Another 10 Questions” -  which gives me a chance to have guests return to the podcast. On the first episode is Dave O’Neil, who was the first guest on the show back in 2015 – 64 episodes ago. Dave O’Neil’s a veteran comic, radio host, screenwriter and definitely the person who gets name-checked the most on this podcast. You’ll know him from everything – and by “everything” I mean Spicks and Specks, Agony, Randling, The Nuggett and more recently, great cameos in Utopia and Fisk. He was also the head writer on Totally Full Frontal, and with the screenwriter, Mark O’Toole, he wrote the feature films Take Away and You and Your Stupid Mate.   We start Another 10 Questions with – How do you think your fellow workers would describe you?   Socials Twitter - Adam Zwar Facebook - Adam Zwar   ANOTHER 10 QUESTIONS: 1: How do you think your fellow workers would describe you?  2: What the most unhelpful feedback you’ve received?  3: What is the failure you most cherish?  4: if you could go back five years, what advice would you give yourself?  5: What about your job keeps you awake at night?  6: What’s an obstacle you had to overcome?  7: Which word or phrase do you most overuse? 8: How do you remain calm under pressure?  9: Career high and career low?  10: Do you have a motto?   10 Questions with Adam Zwar is distributed by and part of the Nearly Media Network.

Dave grew up in Geelong, took his first steps into stand-up comedy in his early 20s, and his gift of the gab was quickly recognised by Nova and then Fox FM – where he hosted various shows including the top rating Fifi, Dave and Fev. On television, he hosted This Week Live and appeared on such shows as Talkin’ About My Generation and Hughesy We Have a Problem. Personally, I was always grateful to be able to cut to yet another hilarious piece of Dave Thornton wisdom on the Agony series. These days he’s bringing up two girls and doing some of the best stand up of his life.

Welcome to the 63rd episode of Ten Questions where Adam talks to Shaun Grant - the multi-AACTA Award winning screenwriter of Nitram. Shaun’s debut film, Snowtown, about the infamous Snowtown murders in South Australia in the 1990s – won multiple awards and screened at Critics’ Week at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival. And that’s when Shaun’s career took off – writing the feature films Jasper Jones, Berlin Syndrome, Penguin Bloom, The True Story of the Kelly Gang and Nitram. He also wrote for David Fincher’s Mindhunter on Netflix and the mini-series, Deadline Gallipoli. He’s possibly Australia’s most in demand screenwriter, known for his willingness to tackle the weighty emotional subjects that others might see as too dangerous or too difficult to make. Nitram premiered at Cannes a few months ago where the response to the film was unaminously positive. And that’s where my conversation with Shaun started. When asked about the time he was most happy, he said “now”. And he wasn’t just referring to his professional success, which he credits as being partly due to his continuing working relationship with the director Justin Kurzel,  but also the fact that he’d recently got married. "The violence isn’t on the screen. It’s not that what interests me. It’s what leads to it."

This week’s guest is the actress Georgina Haig. Selected credits from Georgina’s fabulous career include the first season of Underbelly, Queen Elsa in Once Upon a Time, The Crossing and Snowpiercer. And now she’s back in Australia playing Rachel Rafter in Packed to the Rafters for Amazon Prime. In our chat we get into the weeds of what it’s like to be a working actor and to have a father who wrote the Australian classic BMX Bandits. I’ve known Georgina, her husband, Josh, and daughter, Greta for quite some time and we talk about all of them here. As usual I started our conversation by asking George when she was most happy.   Back To The Rafters is available exclusively on Amazon Prime Video.   Socials Twitter - Adam Zwar Facebook - Adam Zwar   10 Questions with Adam Zwar is produced in part by Nearly Me

Four-time Logie Award winning actor, singer, and dancer, Hugh Sheridan. Hugh grew up in Adelaide with six brothers and sisters, studied ballet with the Australian Ballet, sang with the State Opera of South of Australia and went to acting school at the National Institute of Dramatic Art. Hugh’s major break was playing Ben Rafter on the Channel Seven hit, Packed to the Rafters. What followed was the limited series INXS: Never Tear Us Apart, House Husbands and Five Bedrooms. Right now Hugh’s  in Brisbane launching his new stage show, HughMan, which is a mixture of disco and old school cabaret, while a new series of Packed to the Rafters returns to Amazon Prime. In our chat, we talk about religion, spirituality and the importance in coming from a tough Irish Catholic family.   Socials Twitter - Adam Zwar Facebook - Adam Zwar   10 Questions with Adam Zwar is produced in part by Nearly Media.

Dr Chris graduated from the University of Sydney in 2001 with First Class Honours in vet science. After practicing in Sydney’s North Shore as well as remote communities in the Northern Territory, a chance meeting in a pub with a media manager helped him land a presenting role on Harry’s Practice in 2003. After that, he went on to win a Logie for Most Popular New Talent and write the best-selling book, The Family Guide to Pets. Then, in 2008, came the all-conquering reality show Bondi Vet, which chronicled Chris’s life at a Bondi Junction clinic. Along the way, there were shows for CBS and Animal Planet in the US before broadening his hosting palette to include The Living Room and I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here. During our chat, Dr Chris tells some glorious animal stories and recounts a botched meeting with Nelson Mandela. As usual I started by asking Dr Chris, when he was most happy.

Back in 2018, Christian was the most popular breakfast host in the UK – with three million people listening to his show each morning. Then, a combination of panic attacks and wanderlust made him decide to leave his top rating show, uproot his family and move to Australia to become the breakfast host on Melbourne’s Gold FM. In his book, No One Listens to Your Dad’s Show, he charts his experiences with mental health, his decision to move to Australia and then the battle to take his show to number one. I loved the book, and here we dig even deeper into his hilarious struggle to make friends in his adopted country, how he cries nearly as much as I do and the sessions he had with an unconventional therapist. Right at the end, I asked what I thought was a professional question about how he acquired such a resonant voice – and the answer was surprisingly personal.\   Socials Twitter - Adam Zwar Facebook - Adam Zwar   10 Questions with Adam Zwar is produced in part by Nearly Media.

We talk about her broadcasting beginnings from newsreading on Channel 10 to co-hosting The Today Show opposite Karl Stefanovic, the controversy surrounding her departure from The Today Show, her battle with post-natal depression and her mother’s battle with bi-polar disorder. Jess and her mother, Penelope, would go on to write the book, The Best of Times, The Worst of Times, which charted her mother’s struggle .    Socials Twitter - Adam Zwar Facebook - Adam Zwar   10 Questions with Adam Zwar is produced in part by Nearly Media.

This episode is the Denise Scott episode. It’s such an honour to have her on the show.   Yes, she’s hilarious and an icon, but she’s also one of the most generous and supportive performers in our industry. She started off in a clown troupe, gained national recognition on The Big Gig and Tonight Live With Steve Vizard, put in several Most Valuable Player performances in the Agony series before writing a couple of best-selling books and touring the nation with her comedy bestie, Judith Lucy. In this interview, she leaves nothing in the shed. For your reference, “John” is her husband, and her children are “Jordie” and “Bonnie”. And “Judith” is of course Judith Lucy. As usual, I started by asking Denise, when she was most happy.   Socials Twitter - Adam Zwar Facebook - Adam Zwar   10 Questions with Adam Zwar is produced in part by Nearly Media.

Nick Boshier’s entry into showbusiness was via community radio and managing the singer-songwriter, Lior. Then, in 2008 he made Youtube viral sensations “Trent From Punchy”, which is currently sitting on 9 million views, and “Beached AZ”, an animation about a Kiwi whale, that reached 10 million views, sold 80,000 T-shirts and won the hearts of The Flight of the Conchords. After those early videos, Nick went on to develop the ubiquitous Bondi Hipsters with Christiaan and Connor Van Vuuren, the ABC comedy, Soul Mates, and now the Amazon series, The Moth Effect. Here Nick talks about the pitfalls of all-boy private schools, the influence of his father and his determination to work with great people.   Socials Twitter - Adam Zwar Facebook - Adam Zwar   10 Questions with Adam Zwar is produced in part by Nearly Media.

He’s one of the few performers on Australian television who has fans from multiple generations. First, there were the Comedy Company fans who loved him as Uncle Arthur, then there were the Russell Coight fans – and then the Kath and Kim fans who were beguiled by his multiple outings as Kel Knight. I speak of course of the great and enduring, Glenn Robbins. In this episode, we chart his beginnings in performance – from turning his back on being a town planner, to taking a drama teaching degree, before appearing in commercials and then becoming one of our best known and funniest actors. There’s the public side of what Glenn does, but there’s also all the work he does behind the scenes nurturing up and coming writers and performers – most notably on The Ronny Johns Half Hour and Thank God You’re Here. His advice has been invaluable to me over the years and he’s one of those people who makes you feel better about the world after spending time in his company. It was an honour to have him on the podcast and as usual I started by asking Glenn when he was most happy.   Socials Twitter - Adam Zwar Facebook - Adam Zwar   10 Questions with Adam Zwar is produced in part by Nearly Media.

One of the people I’ve known longest and admire most in the Australian entertainment industry and that’s Dan Ilic. Dan’s had success on Australian television thanks to writing and starring in such shows as The Ronny Johns Half Hour, Hungry Beast and Can of Worms, and then taking on the grown-up jobs of executive producing and showrunning ABC shows Tonightly and At Home Alone Together, which could really do with another series right now. He’s also had stints producing satirical comedy for Al Jazeera and Fusion in the US. But because careers in entertainment don’t progress in a linear fashion, whenever there’s been a down time, Dan has always gone back to generating his own work whether it be live comedy, documentary, or satirical ads and his output is always slick and funny and creates a splash. Perhaps his most enduring work is his award winning comedy podcast A Rational Fear - with its overarching focus on Climate Change. In this episode, we talk about that plus we discuss Dan proposing to his fiancée, that time his firing from a major news organisation became major news and his extraordinary parents, how they met, and how his father’s interest in comedy and social justice gave Dan a framework for his own career. https://arationalfear.substack.com/   Socials Twitter - Adam Zwar Facebook - Adam Zwar   10 Questions with Adam Zwar is produced in part by Nearly Media.

One of my favourite actors – a performer who can do comedy and drama, stage and screen, and that’s Kat Stewart. Kat got a degree in marketing and arts before attending the National Theatre drama school at night while working as a publicist during the day. After graduating, she started making guest appearances on The Secret Life of Us, Stingers and Blue Heelers before landing her first leading role on BBC’s Supernova opposite Rob Brydon. After that, came her award-winning turn as Roberta Williams in Underbelly – followed by Newstopia, Tangle, Offspring, Mr and Mrs Murder and now Five Bedrooms. We discuss most of those shows in this interview and a few more. But before getting to the questions, we talked about our childhoods and Kat happened to mention she went to school with Portia De Rossi.   Socials Twitter - Adam Zwar Facebook - Adam Zwar   10 Questions with Adam Zwar is produced in part by Nearly Media.   Looking for another podcast between episodes of 10 Questions? The Junkees with Dave O'Neil and Kitty Flanagan Somehow Related with Glenn Robbins and Dave O'Neil

You’d know Mark from his brilliantly observed sketches for The Roast on ABC 2, The Feed on SBS and most recently for 7.30 on ABC. He’s also hosted the channel 10 quiz show, Pointless and, along with his co-writer Evan Williams, has written the book On Politics and Stuff. Which is bloody funny. I don’t want to generalise, but in comedy, people are generally scoundrels, but Mark’s one of the decent ones. And sorry to completely embarrass him, but that decency shines through here.   Socials Twitter - Adam Zwar Facebook - Adam Zwar   10 Questions with Adam Zwar is produced in part by Nearly Media.

Jan Fran was born in Lebanon, came to Australia when she was a kid, grew up in Bankstown, went to the University of Technology in Sydney, then started working for SBS current affairs shows Dateline and Insight before becoming a foreign correspondent and filing from Bangladesh and then Uganda. When she returned Australia she became a presenter on SBS’s the Feed. And it was her work on a Feed segment called The Frant, which won her a 2019 Walkley Award. Since then, Jan Fran has appeared on Q and A, The Today Show, Studio 10, and is a regular on The Project. We talked about her superman husband, her father’s dislike of television even though even though that would end up being his daughter’s career, and her burgeoning squash game.   Socials Twitter - Adam Zwar Facebook - Adam Zwar   10 Questions with Adam Zwar is produced in part by Nearly Media.

Scott rose to prominence in 2005 with the release of his micro-budget independent feature The Magician – a mockumentary about a hitman called Ray Shoesmith. We’ll talk about how that came into being as the show unfolds. Then more than a decade went by before Scott and Nash Edgerton, one of the producers on The Magician, turned Ray Shoesmith’s life into a TV series called Mr InBetween, with Scott writing and starring and Nash directing. The show was picked up by FX and since then Scott has won plaudits all over the world for his acting and writing, including winning AACTA and Logie awards.   Where to watch Mr Inbetween - justwatch.com   Socials Twitter - Adam Zwar Facebook - Adam Zwar   10 Questions with Adam Zwar is produced in part by Nearly Media.

Most people know Merrick from his long-time radio partnership with Tim Ross, who I interviewed for this show in October 2017. Merrick and Rosso started on Triple J in 1998, moved to Nova in 2001 and ended their 11-year partnership in 2009. During that time, they also made the TV shows “Planet Merrick and Rosso” and “The Merrick and Rosso Show” for the Comedy Channel, “Merrick and Rosso Unplanned” for Channel Nine, and “The B Team” for Channel 10. When their partnership ended, Merrick went on to host radio shows on Triple M and 2Day Fm including “Merrick and the Highway Patrol” and “Merrick and Australia” which turned into “Merrickville”. \As an actor, Merrick appeared as an adviser to the Prime Minister in Working Dog’s 2008 series “The Hollowmen” opposite Lachy Hulme and Rob Sitch, and Marty Johnston in 2009’s “Underbelly: The Tale of Two Cities.” Last year, Merrick was one of three celebrities to pass “SAS Australia’s” gruelling two-week challenge – with the comedian leaving many elite athletes in his wake. 

Nell started her career writing for Spy Magazine and Vanity Fair. Since then, she’s written for The Simpsons, Letterman, Murphy Brown, Newhart, NCIS, she created Sabrina The Teenage Witch, she was the executive producer on Charmed. She has written jokes for Obama. She co-wrote Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg’s best-selling book, Lean In. And her autobiography, Just the Funny Parts, is an enthralling book. If you’re ever stuck, or feeling alone as a writer, dip into Just the Funny Parts, and I’m certain it’ll bring you out of your funk and inspire you to stay the course. It certainly did that for me. I interviewed Nell in Sydney in front of a live audience at the invitation of Jungle Entertainment where she is working with a bunch of Australian writers.   Socials Twitter - Adam Zwar Facebook - Adam Zwar   10 Questions with Adam Zwar is produced in party by Nearly. On the web -10questionswithadamzwar.com

In light of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival we're replaying a handful of shows. This episode was first published 9 December 2015. He's since morphed into the sitting Prime Minister on occasions.  Check out the videos.   2018 MICF Show  Lawrence Mooney: An Evening with Malcolm Turnbull Running until 22 April 2018 Athenaeum Theatre Two (map) Tickets - $30 to $42   Socials Twitter - Adam Zwar / Lawrence Mooney Facebook - Adam Zwar / Unofficial Malcolm Turnbull   10 Questions with Adam Zwar is produced in party by Nearly. On the web -10questionswithadamzwar.com

In light of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival we're replaying some comedians who've answered 10 Questions.   2018 MICF Show Fiona O'Loughlin: "Gap Year" Tickets available now. Shows available on 10th and 15th of April. Melbourne Town Hall, Lower Town Hall Price: $25 - $37   This episode was first published 13 February 2017. The interview takes place after Fiona was in a coma for a month, then a stint in rehab. Lately, Fiona won the fourth season of "I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here"   Socials Twitter - Adam Zwar / Fiona O'Loughlin Facebook - Adam Zwar / Fiona O'Loughlin   10 Questions with Adam Zwar is produced in party by Nearly. On the web -10questionswithadamzwar.com

In light of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival we're replaying a handful of shows. This episode was first published 29 Feb 2016 Sam had won the Barry Award in 2015 for his show "Spaghetti for Breakfast".   2018 MICF Show  Sam Simmons Radical Women of Latin American Art, 1960-1985 Running until 22 April 2018 Fairfax Studio, Arts Centre Melbourne. Tickets - $27 to $42   Socials Twitter - Adam Zwar / Sam Simmons Facebook - Adam Zwar / Sam Simmons   10 Questions with Adam Zwar is produced in party by Nearly. On the web -10questionswithadamzwar.com

The doyen of entertainment journalism, Angela Bishop. She’s been with Network 10 for 29 years and she’s interviewed everyone from U2 to Julia Roberts and she was one of the last journalists to interview the legendary Audrey Hepburn. Not only has she been on the news every night for nearly three decades, but she’s always on the red carpet at the Emmys, The Oscars, and the Golden Globes as well as all of the Australian award shows and premieres. She was on Hinch, Alan Jones Live, she was the resident entertainment reporter on E News and she was a permanent guest on The Panel. Basically, if you’re an international celebrity coming to Australia, I would suggest it was a wasted trip if you didn’t talk to Ange. Her mother is of course the well known and long time Liberal politician Bronwyn Bishop. Her father was a judge. She talks about her parents in the interview. And she also talks about her husband Peter, who tragically passed away in November from a rare cancer. His passing leaves Ange and their 10 year old daughter, Amelia, fighting the good fight and Angela says Amelia is the best and bravest fighter she knows.   Socials Twitter - Adam Zwar / Angela Bishop Facebook - Adam Zwar / Angela Bishop   10 Questions with Adam Zwar is produced in party by Nearly. On the web -10questionswithadamzwar.com

The champion Australian leg spinner, Stuart MacGill. Now, I’d probably be happy to devote more of this podcast to cricket, but I’ve held off because I wanted to speak to a cricketer who thinks a little deeper about life and the world than your average test legend. In cricketing terms, Stuart was an incredibly gifted leg spin bowler who turned the ball a mile and had a brilliant test average, and who just happened to come along at the same time as the greatest of all leg spinner bowlers, Shane Warne. But MacGill never tried to compete with Warne. Warne was all bravado and glamour – whereas MacGill held his emotions in check. The facts are that MacGill is the seventh quickest in history to get 200 wickets – getting to the milestone faster than both Warne and the all time greatest wicket taker, Muttiah Muralitharan. Outside of cricket, Stuart’s a voracious reader – famously reading 42 novels on a tour of Pakistan. He is politically aware – once boycotting a tour of Zimbabwe because he wasn’t comfortable with the Mugabe regime. In 2000, he married the Australian actress Rachel Friend and the couple, who separated in 2013, have two children together. Since he retired in 2008, he’s hosted a TV show about wine and been a coach for hire. He’s had a few public ups and downs, but now he’s getting back to a good place and I encourage you all to follow his witty and polemical Twitter account @scgmacgill.   Socials Twitter - Adam Zwar / Stuart MacGill Facebook - Adam Zwar / Stuart MacGill   10 Questions with Adam Zwar is produced in party by Nearly. On the web -10questionswithadamzwar.com    

Tracey Spicer was my favourite newsreader in the 90s and 2000s – back in the days when you had a favourite newsreader because there were only about 12 of them. But I had no idea what was going on for her behind the scenes – the general harassment and discrimination. All this she talks about in her book,The Good Girl Stripped Bare, which has just joined the best seller list. Since her newsreading days for Ten and then Sky News, Tracey’s been a columnist and documentary producer.  But more recently, she’s been an advocate for women in the workplace which has led to her high profile investigation of sexual harassment in Australia media. The investigation has left Tracey physically and mentally exhausted. She talks about that in the interview. Tracey’s got broad shoulders – and over a thousand women who have been horribly treated by work colleagues are relying on her to tell their story, which in turn, will hopefully bring about a seismic change in how people interact with each other in a professional setting and, more particularly, stop men using a position of power to sexually exploit women. But we get to all that later because I had to start off by asking Tracey when she was most happy.   Socials Twitter - Adam Zwar / Tracey Spicer Facebook - Adam Zwar / Tracey Spicer   Thanks to this episode's sponsors Tim Roger's new book "Detours" "How to build a universe" by Brian Cox & Robin Ince.   10 Questions with Adam Zwar is produced by Nearly. On the web -10questionswithadamzwar.com  

One of the best things about moving to the US is that I’ve met so many great Australians. That wasn’t the plan. But that’s how it’s worked out. And one of the greatest of these Australians is the best selling author, wild-life documentarian and former Paratrooper, Bradley Trevor Greive. BTG, as we call him, has sold 30 million books in 29 languages across 115 countries. The Blue Day Book is certainly what launched him, but more recently there’s been Penguin Bloom, which is being made into a movie starring Naomi Watts. BTG’s also an animal expert. He used to be one of those rugged Australians who’d showcase animals on Chelsea Lately and The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. These days he hosts documentaries for Animal Planet about bears. But before that and the best selling author stuff, he was Platoon Commander in the Australian army. Me, BTG and one my cats sat down for this interview in my living room and I started by asking him when he was most happy. Get The Blue Day Book by BTG on Amazon. Socials Twitter - Adam Zwar / BTG Facebook - Adam Zwar / BTG   Thanks to this episode's sponsors Tim Roger's new book "Detours" "How to build a universe" by Brian Cox & Robin Ince.   10 Questions with Adam Zwar is produced by Nearly. On the web -10questionswithadamzwar.com  

My guest is former Australian Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd. For those who live outside Australia, Kevin Rudd was Prime Minister of Australia from 2007 to 2010 and then briefly again in 2013. The circumstances of his resignation in 2010 and reemergence in 2013 is a dramatic story and familiar to every Australian. And every Australian has an opinion on it. So if you like Shakespearean- style histories, then I invite you to do some research. Kevin Rudd’s first memoir Not For the Faint-Hearted: A Personal Reflection On Life, Politics and Purpose is out now thanks to Pan Macmillan. I chatted with him via Skype from Oxford, where he’d just spoken to some students and, as usual my first question was, “When were you most happy?”   Socials Twitter - Adam Zwar / Kevin Rudd Facebook - Adam Zwar / Kevin Rudd   10 Questions with Adam Zwar is produced by Nearly. On the web -10questionswithadamzwar.com