Tom Gleeson

Thomas Francis Gleeson (born 2 June 1974) is an Australian stand-up comedian, writer, television and radio presenter. Gleeson formerly co-hosted The Weekly with Charlie Pickering alongside Judith Lucy and currently hosts Hard Quiz, both on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).

For the rugby players, see Tom Gleeson (rugby union) and Tom Gleeson (rugby league).

Tom Gleeson
Born
Thomas Francis Gleeson

(1974-06-02) 2 June 1974
Gunnedah, New South Wales, Australia
NationalityAustralian
EducationBachelor of Science (Mathematics and Physics)
Alma materUniversity of Sydney
OccupationComedian, writer, television and radio presenter
Years active1996–present
TelevisionHard Quiz
Spouse(s)Ellie Parker
Children2

In 2019, Gleeson won the Gold Logie Award for Most Popular Personality on Television.

Early life

Gleeson was born in Gunnedah, New South Wales, and lived at nearby Tambar Springs[1] before boarding at St. Joseph's College, Hunters Hill, in Sydney.[2] He graduated from the University of Sydney with a Bachelor of Science in mathematics and physics.[3] During his degree, Gleeson played the drums and occasionally sang vocals in an Australian band, the Fantastic Leslie, before leaving for a career in comedy.[4]

Career

Comedy

Gleeson's first stage appearance was as the character "Malcolm" (for two years) dressed in a flannelette shirt, tracksuit pants and a wig. He later went on to perform at major comedy events including the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, Sydney Comedy Festival, Adelaide Fringe, Brisbane Comedy Festival, Perth Fringe World, Edinburgh Fringe and Montreal Comedy Festival.

In December 2007, Gleeson entertained Australian troops on active duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. He wrote of this experience in his book Playing Poker with the SAS: A comedy tour of Iraq and Afghanistan, which was published in October 2008.[5]

Three of Gleeson's stand up shows have been nominated for the Helpmann Award for Best Comedy Performer: Tom On! (2007), Up Himself (2011) and Quality (2014).

His stand up show Joy (2019) won Best Comedy at Perth Fringe World. [6]

His stand up show Lighten Up (2020) also won Best Comedy at the Adelaide Fringe. [7]

Radio

From 2004 to 2005, Gleeson presented the Sydney and Melbourne evening radio program Tom & Subby with Subby Valentine on Triple M.

During 2009, Gleeson presented the Melbourne radio breakfast program Mix Mornings with Brigitte Duclos on Mix 101.1.

Television

In 2003 and 2004, Gleeson appeared in Network Ten's comedy sketch program skitHOUSE, playing various characters including the "Australian Fast Bowler", a parody of Dennis Lillee. In 2006, Gleeson won Australia's Brainiest Radio Star. In 2008, he was a panelist on the short-lived Big Brother's Big Mouth. In 2009, Gleeson was in the "They don't get it in Australia" advertising campaign, where he asks people in the United States about Red Rooster.[8][9] Gleeson also made several appearances on Good News Week between 2008 and 2011.

In 2013, Gleeson co-hosted Australian comedy chat show This Week Live with Tommy Little, Dave Thornton and Meshel Laurie. In 2015, Gleeson appeared on the ABC satirical television news program The Weekly with Charlie Pickering, hosting the segments "This Is What You Think", "Go Away" and "Hard Chat".[10][11] In 2016, he began presenting Hard Quiz, a spin-off of his "Hard Chat" segment from The Weekly. In 2017, Gleeson was credited for the decision to cast Sophie Monk as the lead in The Bachelorette Australia.[12]

Awards

Gleeson won the Gold Logie Award for Most Popular Personality on Australian Television at the 2019 Logie Awards.[13]

References
  1. "Gunnedah born Tom Gleeson takes a swipe at Tamworth on the ABC". The Northern Daily Leader. 25 May 2017. Retrieved 26 March 2018.
  2. "Stand and deliver". The Sydney Morning Herald. 1 October 2011. Retrieved 26 March 2018.
  3. "Tom Gleeson from Hard Quiz". ABC News. 21 January 2017. Retrieved 26 March 2018.
  4. "The Fantastic Leslie". Last.fm. Retrieved 12 November 2008.
  5. Turner, Tonya (25 February 2009). "Tom Gleeson rediscovers comedy on mission for Diggers". The Courier-Mail. Archived from the original on 27 November 2009. Retrieved 28 November 2009.
  6. https://fringeworld.com.au/award-nominated-events
  7. https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/entertainment/adelaide-fringe/reviews/adelaide-fringe-2020-awards-hans-tom-gleeson-and-joanne-hartstone-among-the-winners/news-story/dece7dab5e67baaf7a7080ab22fc4e39
  8. Ife, Holly (17 September 2009). "Ginger ninjas invade our TV screens". News.com.au. Retrieved 25 May 2017.
  9. "Red Rooster: They don't get it". Bestadsontv.com. 6 January 2009. Retrieved 25 May 2017.
  10. Kalina, Paul (29 May 2015). "Tom Gleeson on the science of being funny, why he's got a good face for TV and his love of a rant". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 1 October 2015.
  11. "Mia, do you sometimes feel like you're running out of things to be outraged about?". mUmBRELLA. Retrieved 1 October 2015.
  12. Andrews, Michelle. "We all have Tom Gleeson to thank for our new Bachelorette". Mamamia.
  13. Idato, Melissa Singer, Andrew Hornery, Karl Quinn, Michael Lallo, Michael (30 June 2019). "Logies 2019 LIVE: Tom Gleeson wins Gold". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 30 June 2019.
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