RACHEL BERGER

Howard, Whores and Hunchbacks: Satire & Advocacy.

Rachel Berger examines the relationship of comedians to political process. If Comedy reflects and at times seeks to challenge a particular set of political circumstances, what difference if any, can we make? Plenty!

"If your enemy is laughing how can he bludgeon you to death?" Mel Brooks

DR. YOSSI BERGER

Dribbles, Scribbles & Twitches: The Science of Occupational Stress

For five years Dr Yossi Berger was the ACTU's national occupational health and safety officer, and for the last 10 years the national OHS director for the Australian Workers' Union. He holds a science degree from Monash university and a PhD in psychology from La Trobe. That degree was based on research of occupational stressors/shiftwork/hours of work and work organization is marine pilots. His breakthrough finding was that they needed more sleep.

His present work takes him to many workplaces in Australia for OHS inspections and as a result he holds most-favoured-person status with employers.

His sister, Rachel Berger, has helped him maintain a fresh outlook on research of occupational stress with regular updates on the calming effects of Stand-Up Comedy, Agents with voluntary lobotomy, and Producers seeking fulfillment in life.

Berger has published extensively in his area, a book on occupational stress and a book of short stories, none of which are really worth reading because the best is just around the corner.

KEVIN WHYTE

Managing Director - Token

"The First Two Minutes Free"

Token is two companies for the price of one.

Token Artists manages some of Australia's most talented comedians and creative artists as well as providing programming advice and agency services to venues and campuses. Token Artists represents artists in TV, Radio, Print, New Media, Touring and Corporate arrangements.

Token Events produces live Australian comedy in venues across the country. Token Events is the biggest independent producer in the Melbourne Comedy Festival and Adelaide Fringe Festivals. 10yrs.

Token represents Rove, Judith Lucy, Dave Hughes, Wil Anderson, Adam Hills, Corinne Grant, Greg Fleet, Kaz Cooke, Merrick and Rosso, Peter Hellier, Tripod, Rod Quantock, Sue Ann Post and Anthony Morgan.

Kevin Whyte is an enormous bank of high-interest information. He will tell us what he does and who he does it for, for those 'two free minutes' and then open the forum for roughly twenty eight questions of fast paced answers. Next teller please...

FIONA SCOTT-NORMAN

"A Media Perspective" (now online)

Fiona Scott-Norman has worked as a comedy critic for the past 15 years, beginning in issue no 2 of Inpress Magazine with a review of Mark Little's Big Thonk at the Prince Pat, and from there to The Herald Sun, The Bulletin, and now The Age. She has written comedy for ABC television (Back Berner), radio (Girl's Gotta Eat), and had two shows on 3RRR FM - Trash Is My Life, and The F&K Show. Fiona is currently working as a cabaret and comedy director and writer; her current show, Cliff Hanger (with Paul McCarthy, Eddie Perfect and Emily Taheny), is on at the Store Room as part of Fringe. She also worked with Wes Snelling on Man Diva at The Kitten Club, and The Butterfly Club Cabaret.

ANDREW TAYLOR

Managing Director - Access Entertainment

"A Day In The Life of a Comic's Manager"

Access Entertainment is a Sydney based company which represents many of Australia's brightest comedy stars as well as producing live comedy all over Australia and internationally.

Access Entertainment represents Paul Mc Dermott, Peter Berner, James O'Loughlin, Fiona O'Loughlin, Sarah Kendall, Tom Gleeson, Tommy Dean, Kim Hope, Lawrence Mooney, Damian Callinan, Dave Callan, Ciel, Subby Valentine, David Elvins, Adam Digby and the Rat Pack.

Some of the questions performers ask early in their careers are "how do I get a Manager?", "do I need an Agent?" and "what's the bloody difference?" Being somewhat of a grey area in this country, one of Australia's most successful Manager/Producers explains who he is, what he does and why everything's not always black & white. Ask him.

JODIE J HILL

Jodie has way too many credits for such a little girl to bear. She is currently co-host of FOX-FM's "Jodie & Jo", nine to noon weekdays having previously co-hosted FOX-FM's "Girls Behaving Badly" gaining a RAWARDS Radio Industry Nomination for "Best New-Comers" with her co-host Jo Stanley. An accomplished stand-up comedian and actor, Jodie has performed in a number of Melbourne International Comedy Festival Shows including her solo show this year, "China Doll."

You may have seen Jodie's head pop up on television shows such as Rove, The Secret Life of Us, ABC's Recovery where she was a presenter & writer, Good News Week and The Adventures of Lano & Woodley. Her first Melbourne show "Moving to Melbourne" won the Fringe Comedy Award and her lounge room was listed as an official Fringe venue! Couldn't you just cuddle her?

JO STANLEY

Jo's comedy career began at University where writing and performing in Comedy Revues was infinitely preferable to lectures and tutorials. She has done everything from troupe performances with 'The Gorksys' to solo stand-up, to sell-out duo festival shows with Jodie J Hill.

You may have seen her on Rove (Live), countless things on the comedychannel and possibly at your local 7/11. Jo is currently co-hosting FOX-FM's "Jodie

& Jo", 9.00am - 12.00pm weekdays. Jo knows all about hanging in there and doing 'the hard yards' of enduring a comedy 'apprenticeship' until someone spots you and makes you the boss!

SUSAN PROVAN

Director - Melbourne International Comedy Festival

Susan Provan is a producer with more than fifteen years experience in the performing arts industry. She was the Manager of Melbourne's legendary Last Laugh Theatre Restaurant for five years in the mid eighties where she worked with many artists who are now among Australia's most famous comedians.

From 1985 until 1993 Susan was the General Manager of Circus Oz during which time the company grew from a rough and ready collective into the internationally recognised company that it is today. Susan set up and managed countless tours for Circus Oz. Regions visited included the U.K., U.S.A., Japan, Europe, Latin America and the length and breadth of Australia where the company played venues from tents and theatres in capital cities to footy fields in Arnhem Land.

In late 1993 Susan ran away from the Circus and spent a year as the Associate Producer of the State Theatre Company of South Australia. She returned to Melbourne in November 1994 to join the Melbourne International Comedy Festival and has since then been engaged in live, TV and radio production activities, helping turn the Festival into Australia's largest annual cultural event.

Susan is also a Board member of Neonheart Theatre, a Melbourne based contemporary theatre company, and sits on the Playing Australia Committee for the Federal Department for the Arts.

MARYANNE CARROLL

MaryAnne is a Producer Extraordinaire. Currently a Producer for Burberry Productions, she has produced everything from live comedy, television sketch comedy, drama and film. MaryAnne has been a Producer for Artist Services/Red Heart Productions, for Foxtel's thecomedychannel, Nickelodeon, the Seven Network and Disney. She has extensive experience in managing comedians and has produced a number of successful shows for inclusion in MICF (Melbourne International Comedy Festival.) She is a current member of MICF's Advisory Committee.

MaryAnne has been enlisted as a Producer by Melbourne International Comedy Festival for many of their major events and televised productions, by The Gilded Balloon for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival for Media & Artist Liaison and as an Associate Director for New Zealand International Comedy Festival's Charity Gala for TV NZ . MaryAnne wouldn't go as far as admitting she's a sweetheart, but I will. She said "don't put that" and I said "watch me."

JAN MAREE

more info available here

Yes, it's all very well being a Producer of comedy as your main gig but what if you're also a comic and you need to produce your own show to success? Let Jan show you how. Jan Maree is a self Producer and has produced a number of shows including her "It's In The Bag" for which she won the coveted TV2 Billy T Award for Comedy in 2001 which is New Zealand's equivalent to Melbourne International Comedy Festival's famous "Barry Award." Jan is also the driving force behind the NZ Comedy Trust for "Class Comedians" working with senior secondary school students.

Jan is also a five-year veteran of New Zealand's major television network TV2's Pulp Comedy and the TV2 International LAUGH! Festival. She's an accomplished comedian and one of those ones who "does it herself." Ask her about it.

CATHERINE DEVENY

"Write Funny & Get Paid For It"

Catherine Deveny is a comedy writer and stand-up comedian whose television work includes Network Seven's Tonight Live with Steve Vizard, Full Frontal, The Eric Bana Show , All Star Squares, GTV 9's The Midday Show, IMT and Super Debate Series, ABC TV's Something Hot Before Bed, Good News Week, 7.30 Report and Backberner and Network 10's Unreal TV , Unreal Stuff Ups and Unreal Ads., Rove Live, SBS's Mum's The Word and The Comedy Channel's Shock Jock. She has performed extensively in most Australian premier comedy venues and on radio. She is a regular co host of ABC 774's The Loading Zone.

She is has been a regular columnist for The Age newspaper for the last five years and her work appears frequently in Australian and overseas publications. Deveny is the author of 'Rank and Smelly' published Addison Wesley Longman and 'Babies, Bellies and Blundstones' published by Lothian.

She is currently working on her own projects, ABC 774, Rove Live and several television opportunities with the independent production companies. She has 2 children, is pregnant with her third and lives in Coburg with her photographer boyfriend.

LINDA CATALANO

Linda Catalano juggles performing, writing, acting, directing and producing, being the current 'Jaffas down the Aisle 'Film Festival

Director and Co-founder. She's written and performed 2 solo comedy shows entitled SHOPPER (that displayed her amazing diversity and talent to play a variety of characters) and CLAWS OUT that were devised for the Melbourne International Comedy Festival and have gone onto extended seasons. She is currently in cahoots with the corporate devil working in advertising but is looking for a way out.

More recently (little) Linda has been slogging her guts out helping (big) Linda with the Jeez Louise forum and she's done it brilliantly!

BEV KILLICK

Probably one of the hardest working comics touring the country, Bev's voice is scraped hoarse by years of hard living which brings character and depth to classic Broadway tunes, as well as a wonderful sense of fragility and vulnerability to her aggressive and very funny bad girl raves.

She has appeared with other top names in comedy including David Strassman, Elliot Goblet, Richard Stubbs Jimeoin and she is a regular on radio.

Bev has done gigs all over Australia with barely a day off in 2002. A 'dead-set' gutsy, strong entertainer with an amazing knack for mimicry, KIllick can manipulate her voice to sound like just about any female singer and her accents and characterizations are spot on. She has also been an actor for television dramas and commercials and has run a number of youth programs. Bev's generous and an absolute darling.

MESHEL LAURIE

Meshel Laurie is the ultimate comic. Hilarious, vivacious, mesmerizing and that's just to her little, white dog-baby, Bobby. Meshel has (more recently) had enormous success with her brilliant show 'The Whore Whisperer - Confessions of a Madam' debuted at Melbourne Fringe Festival, based on her true 'other life' as a comic by night and a brothel receptionist by day. She then stormed with the show at Melbourne International Comedy Festival and sold out night after night in Adelaide. Again a huge success at The Edinburgh Fringe, she was asked to perform The Whore Whisperer at The Sydney Opera House, again selling out during the season. Her current 'overnight sensational success' started 9 years ago in Brisbane

Meshel's most recent television appearance on Rove Live saw her absolutely slay the audience and she has appeared as a guest on ABC-TV's The Glasshouse. Meshel co-hosts her own comedy radio program 'Enough Rope' on 3RRR. Meshel is on the launch pad to become one of the biggest names in Australian comedy... 10, 9, 8... (I said that, she wouldn't.)

CHRISTINE BASIL

There just aren't enough fantabulisitic words to describe Basil. Much in demand as a stand-up all over the country from the Sunshine Coast to Silvan, Christine stuns audiences with her jam packed joke-per-minute ratio. It's no wonder she's affectionately known amongst her peers as the Joke Doctor. She's incredibly diverse and thrills us all with some of her "dark stuff" yet can simultaneously thrill a "comedy virgin audience." There's no topic too volatile; no current affair too fresh that she can't make us see the light side of. And that's part of the game. She's simply hilarious, a devoted Mum and faithful friend.

As with most of the wonderful people generously offering their time and expertise for Jeez Louise, Basil's credits are too numerous to mention here. She has headlined everywhere, is a writer for television sketch comedy, co-hosted an ABC-TV comedy series, co-hosted on major radio stations, supported household-name international comedy stars and every booking agent or venue manager can't fault her professionalism and dedication to her work.

TERRI PSIAKIS

After becoming a finalist in the National Raw Comedy Contest, Terri was hand picked by Melbourne International Comedy Festival for the 2001 "Comedy Zone" showcase presenting the latest batch of hot young comics and the following year was invited to tour Australia with MICF's Roadshow.

Terri's rapid rise in stand-up has hardly given her time to catch her own breath yet Terri, herself is a breath of fresh air. Her many talents include writing for Rove Live, radio and more. She is also a regular guest on Triple J's breakfast program and now travels the country performing her endearing stand-up. Terri is a comic with a huge future ahead of her. Terri has been gracious enough to be a member of the debate team for the Jeez Louise forum.

JUSTIN HAMILTON

After leaving the 'bright lights' of Adelaide comedy behind it didn't take Justin long to firmly plant his feet in Melbourne's comedy scene. Immediately targeted by venue bookers and managers alike, Hamilton burst onto Melbourne's stages and has been wowing audiences ever since.

His sharp observation and dynamic stage presence is highly engaging, he rides that stage like it's a bucking bronco. A regular on ABC-TV's The Glasshouse and radio's Triple J, Justin's a fast-talking comic machine and joins us for the debate. Melbourne loves Justin and church city can't have him back. Besides, we need him for our debate.

PENNY TANGEY

One of the new rising talents, Penny is presenting her dry, clever stand-up style around town, is a fine writer and has been a guest columnist for BEAT Magazine. A frequent flyer of The Weekly Wrap at The Comic's Lounge where it's a new show on topical events with new material every week, Penny is one of The Wrap's favourite and most productive members of the rotating team.

Penny joins our other fine talents in the debate.

JOANNE BROOKFIELD

Another talented writer, Joanne is a journalist for InPress and former reviewer/journo for BEAT. She runs one of the newer comedy nights, The Comedy Lair at Collingwood's Prince Patrick Hotel and has started in stand-up comedy herself. Joanne is also one of the rotating members of The Weekly Wrap team and her production of material is prolific.

It's a truly great thing that both Penny and Joanne, registered for JL to take part as students in the workshops (which they'll do) but that they were willing to step up to the plate for the debate and I, for one, will be giving them all the encouragement in the world. Hint. ~ Haggar

MICHAEL CHAMBERLIN

There needs to be a sitcom titled "Everybody Loves Michael Chamberlin" because it couldn't be more true. A much-loved Melbourne comic, Michael was this year's 'Piece of Wood' comic's choice award winner for not only his partnership with Charlie Pickering in their Barry Award nominated show, Boiling Point but for his consistent comedy performance over the past couple of years. His material is always fresh, unique and inspiring and it's only because he hasn't been doing comedy all that long that he's not a household name. Chamberlin has a big future and is a team member for the JL debate.

TOBY SULLIVAN

Toby is a highly intelligent, thought provoking comedian who also has vast experience working behind the scenes in the industry. He is a producer and has produced a play "A Room Of One's Own" which toured nationally and co-produced "The Whore Whisper" in Melbourne, Adelaide, Sydney Opera House and Ediburgh and has become a much in demand stand-up comic in his own right. Toby is part of the debate.

CHARLIE PICKERING

Another bright star that's making it big pretty quickly, Charlie is now Sydney based working on radio and is a regular on The Glasshouse. He picked up that comic's choice "Piece of Wood' award as the Apprentice (or chip off the ol' block) to his oft times partner in comedy, Chamberlin for their show Boiling Point and has rapidly become a favourite stand-up comic to audiences in Sydney and Melbourne.

Pickering has a wonderful, commanding stage persona and somewhat of a cult following. Charlie has been a Barry Award nominee, produced and starred in his "Enter The Datsun" series of comedy festival shows, ran the ever-popular Stagetime comedy nights at The Derby and Prince Pat, is a brilliant sketch writer and yes, set to hit the big time. Charlie joins the debate.

ALYCE PARKER

Is she the youngest PROFESSIONAL comic in Australia or the world? Probably, but that hardly matters. What matters is that Alyce is very, very funny and by the time she is old enough to drive a car, she'll be one of the world greats with her (already) enormous confidence and yes, fantastic material.

Alyce has played to some huge audiences, displaying her pre-teen sarcasm and slaying them for one so young. Now twelve years old, Alyce yearned to follow in her Mum's (Christine Basil's) footsteps since she was about nine or ten but at least she waited until she was eleven before storming the stage at Comedy Gold at The Espy. Her mother doesn't mind in the least if Alyce finds another interest other than comedy and tries to dissuade her sometimes, seeing as her family life and in particular, her mother being the brunt of little Miss Parker's jokes.

SOME OF OUR WONDERFUL 'ROVING' GUESTS

(who "may or may not" do something)

LYNDA GIBSON

DENISE SCOTT

MARYANNE FAHEY

ADAM RICHARD

CORINNE GRANT

LINDA HAGGAR

Yeah, won some awards - do stand-up - doing this forum and other stuff.