Thank God It's On Stage - Love, Factually May 3, 2013

Thank God they’re back – following sell-out seasons at Riverside in 2010, 2011 and 2012, the team from ABC 702 Radio’s Thank God It’s Friday return in Thank God It’s On Stage – Love, Factually – the Romance Edition.

Richard Glover and his all-star comedy team including Anthony Ackroyd, Tommy Dean, Wendy Harmer, Subby Valentine and Jean Kittson are performing at the Illawarra Performing Arts Centre, Saturday 4 May, for one hilarious night of comedy.

Make a pre-commitment to laugh loud and long at this devilish night of mirth and mayhem with Richard Glover and the rest of the gang as they do battle with all things romantic. In between the laughs, be entertained by musician/comedian Phillip Scott.

Richard Glover is currently the presenter for 702 ABC Sydney’s Drive program. He has worked variously as an actor, newspaper journalist, waiter, lift driver and scriptwriter and his weekly column has appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald since the mid-'80s. Richard Glover is the author of the book Desperate Husbands, which has been a best-seller in Australia and has been translated into Italian and Polish. His other writing includes The Dag's Dictionary, In Bed with Jocasta, The P-Plate Parent, which was co-written with Angela Webber and Lonestar, a stage show about country music. He has also written two short novels for children The Dirt Experiment and The Joke Trap. Glover has been shortlisted for the Walkley Awards three times, once for his radio interviews and twice for his newspaper journalism.

Anthony Ackroyd rose to prominence as a star of the ABC’s legendary comedy series The Big Gig and has performed and written for over one hundred Australian and international TV shows, radio programs, and feature films. He was a writer-performer on Australia’s most successful comedy TV series, The Comedy Company. Ackroyd has workshopped material with writer-performers such as Billy Crystal, Rowan Atkinson and wrote material for Jim Carrey’s Ace Ventura character. Several of his articles have been published in the Sydney Morning Herald, Vogue, Life Etc, Studio, The Age, Good Taste, and Good Weekend.

Tommy Dean is an American comedian and has proved to be a huge hit with audiences across the nation, firmly establishing himself as one of Australia's most sought after comic performers and writers. In constant demand on the live circuit, Dean is a regular headline act in comedy venues around Australia. He has also performed in many of the leading comedy clubs in the USA as well as New Zealand, North America, Europe and South East Asia. Some of Tommy Deans’ TV credits include The Sideshow, Sunrise, The Glasshouse, O'Loghlin, BackBerner, The Fat, Good News Week, Thank God it's Friday, The Today Show and the Take No Prisoners Amnesty International Comedy Festival for Foxtel.

Wendy Harmer is a veteran of the Edinburgh, Montreal and Glasgow-Mayfest Festivals and has worked extensively in London, America and Ireland, appearing at the Edinburgh Festival five times. In 1990, her one-woman show Love Gone Wrong received a Pick Of The Fringe award and subsequently transferred to London. A former political journalist, Harmer is the author of It’s a Joke, Joyce, Love Gone Wrong, So Anyway and Farewell My Ovaries. She has written the plays Backstage Pass and What is the Matter with Mary Jane and she also wrote the libretto for Baz Luhrmann’s Opera Australia production of Lake Lost. Harmer began her career in radio on the ABC’s Radio National with her own drive time programme. In 1993 she joined Sydney radio station 2 Day FM to lead the Breakfast Show team. During the 11 years she co-hosted this program it was rated number one in 84 out of 88 surveys.

A multi-talented performer and writer, Jean Kittson is one of Australia's best known and most popular comedians, amusing audiences in theatre, print, on radio and television. In 2010 she completed a national tour of Calendar Girls. Kittson has amused audiences in print with regular columns in New Weekly magazine and the Sunday Telegraph Magazine. Kittson currently writes a regular column for the Sydney Morning Herald’s (Sydney) magazine.

Subby Valentine is much sought after as a Radio Personality, raconteur, stand-up comedian, TV pundit, writer and as an excellent MC who can adapt to any situation. During Subby’s time on air on Triple J, Triple M and Mix FM he has proven himself to be a skilled entertainer as well as interviewer; he has quizzed such notables as Michael Buble, Billy Bob Thornton, Owen Wilson, James Blunt and Daniel Radcliffe, just to name a few.

*Tommy Dean appears at Riverside only. Subby Valentine appears at IPAC and Seymour only.

Thank God It’s On Stage – Love, Factually
Illawarra Performing Arts Centre, Wollongong - Saturday, 4 May
Times: 4pm & 8pm.
Tickets: Adult $45, Concession $41
Bookings: IPAC Box Office on 4224 5999 or www.merrigong.com.au

Official Website: http://www.merrigong.com.au