Dave Eastgate
Dave Eastgate
Dave Eastgate is the hottest young musical stand-up comedian in the country, described by Time Off Magazine as “the lovechild of Simple Plan and Tenacious D…” but it’s been a long way to the shop for the elusive sausage roll…
Dave Eastgate has gone from stunt shows to television shows, theatre to feature film and New York Comedy Clubs to the Sydney Opera House via the Tokyo Punk Scene; from Kids shows to corporate clients. He has received rave reviews and has supported international comedy stars including Arj Barker, Ed Burn, Stephen K Amos, Ross Noble and Emmy Award Winner Kathy Griffin, not to mention Australian comedy greats like Carl Barron, Jimeoin and The Umbilical Brothers. Dave has become an overnight sensation, 14 years in the making…
From the age of 16, Dave cut his teeth performing characters and playing music in Queensland’s famous comedy clubs, theatre restaurants and theme parks. During this time, Dave experimented with his performance style both during the day at theme parks with characters as diverse as Kenny Koala to Austin Powers and even a bushranger stunt show and at night in the burgeoning Brisbane comedy scene. With a routine known as the Scottish Rap, Dave won Channel 9’s Red Faces after an unusually high score of 7 from judge Red Symonds, and then flashed Darryl Somers with the haggis under his kilt!
At the age of 21, after being fired from every major theme park on the Gold Coast Dave found himself in Osaka Japan performing at Universal Studios Japan, and holding cue cards for Arnold Schwarzenegger. Immersed in the language and the culture of Japan, Dave spent 4 years performing his own characters and routines 6 shows a day to crowds of between 3 and 3,000 people… in fluent Japanese…
In that 4 years Dave notched up over 35 characters in 4 Stunt Shows (including John Connor in the Terminator 2 3D Live Action Stunt Show and Rick in the Mummy Returns Live Action Stunt Show), 5 street bands, 10 street shows and as the host of 8 major special events including a huge campaign that saw a massive picture of Dave’s face planted on every train in Osaka. During this time Dave also toured with local bands, performed Japanese stand-up comedy and made several television and radio appearances. Footage of these performances can be seen on http://www.youtube.com/user/daveeastgate
A six-month tour performing in New York, Los Angeles, Toronto, London, Glasgow and Edinburgh followed before Dave would return to Australia and to Aussie stand-up comedy in 2006. After only 8 months back in the country David was runner up in the prestigious Green Faces Comedy Competition National Final, was featured at The Melbourne International Comedy Festival Showcase and represented Queensland at the National Theatresports Championships in Sydney’s famous Enmore Theatre.
Since then Dave has taken the Australian comedy scene by storm, rocking out audiences from Perth to Townsville and even Singapore, with his hilariously unique brand of high energy, socially conscious stand-up comedy, characters and music. A spot on Stand Up Australia, airplay on JJJ and several live radio appearances have added to the buzz. Not satisfied with just comedy clubs, Dave has lent his talents to the biggest live shows on Australian television as a scriptwriter and audience warm-up including the reality TV tri-fecta that is Big Brother, Australian Idol and So You Think You Can Dance.
Corporate clients such as Microsoft Australia, Virgin Mobile (UK), Irun Bru (UK), Santos Oil and Gas, New Holland Tractors, CSR Cement, Office Works, Westerns Suburbs Magpies Rugby League Club and The Gold Coast Titans Rugby League Club have all experienced and enjoyed Dave’s hilarious routines and uplifting musical opus’.
Children are especially difficult audiences but Dave’s experience as a children’s entertainer in theme parks and touring educational shows to schools around Queensland have made Dave extremely apt at performing for kids from toddlers to teenagers. Dave also enjoys his mentoring role with Theatresports Queensland conducting comedy and improvisation workshops with students at various schools around the state. One of Dave’s pet projects is a comedy television pilot for kids currently in development.
Dave is also accomplished as a ‘serious’ musician having toured nationally and internationally with his own bands, including a stint as lead singer of Japanese punk heavy weights, ‘AKAINU’. He has also recorded and played with members of ARIA winning Brisbane band, ‘george’.
In 2007, inspired by his time overseas (including his childhood in Papua New Guinea), Dave wrote and performed a dramatic one-man show. The show titled, ‘GAIJIN’ (meaning foreigner’ in Japanese) was directed by Ben Knapton and required Dave to switch between 5 characters of different nationalities. It debuted at the Brisbane Powerhouse in August of 2008 and was lauded for its characterisations and innovative use of multi-media.
Dave’s talents as an actor have also lead to roles in three major national Television advertising campaigns including Subway and XXXX Gold, a cameo on the Emmy Award winning “My Life on the D-List” and a role in Chris Nyst’s 2008 feature film, “Crooked Business”.
His second one-man show and accompaning album, Hot Tokyo Nights, debuted at the Brisbane Comedy Festival in March 2009.
Testimonials.
“…a consummate actor…” Sue Gough, Courier Mail
“…multimedia media used with superb and magical simplicity to maximum effect… The illusions are achieved so seamlessly that they take your breath away…” Sue Gough, Courier Mail
“dazzlingly inventive… stunningly nuanced and unbelievably elastic… has the audience gasping for air between deep belly laughs with his signature blend of stand-up comedy, live music parodies and film… an undisputed hit… He is one of those rare talents that can succeed on delivery alone…” Time Off Magazine
”There’s nothing worse on a LIVE TV show than losing the studio audience. Every performer on stage lives for the audience’s vibe. Dave was superb at maintaining the audiences energy levels throughout the long 2 hour shows, and that gave the singers on Australian Idol the perfect platform. Dave is the man. He’s funny, and is a one man show” Greg Beness (Executive Producer, Australian Idol)
“Funny guy!” Cindy Lauper (Guest Judge on Australian Idol)
“Hilarious!” Jermaine Jackson (Guest Judge on Australian Idol)
Commercial Credits
- XXXX Gold – 2008
- Subway Sandwiches – 2008
- Acer Computers – 2007
Television Credits
- Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List – HBO
- Stand Up Australia – Comedy Channel
- So You Think You Can Dance (audience warm-up) – Channel 10
- Australian Idol (audience warm-up) – Channel 10
- Friday Night Live (Writer) – Channel 10
- Big Brother Evictions, Nominations, Friday Night Live, Big Mouth (audience warm up) – Channel 10
- Hey Hey It’s Saturday – Channel 9
- Yoshimoto M1 Comedy Competition – NHK, Japan
- MBS National News – MBS, Japan
- Good Morning Osaka – MBS, Japan
- Katsumi Sayuri – J-Com, Japan
- Getsu! Osaka – Kansai TV Japan
- 24hr TV Telethon – Yomiuri TV, Japan
Feature Film Credits
- Crooked Business – Nyst Films (2008)
- Vigalante – Outlandish Films
Name: Dave Eastgate
Age: 30
Years in Biz: 14
Club started in: Gold Coast Arts Centre
Best gig ever: State Theatre in Sydney for a Victorian Bushfire Appeal with Carl Barron, Jimeoin, Umbilical Brothers, Bob Downe, Arj Barker, Fiona O’Laughlin and Kitty Flanagan. Performing with all those legends in such an amazing and historic venue was a dream come true plus we raised $200,000 for the appeal.
Worst gig ever: Esk, Queensland for the country races 2007. I played in a dust storm with my guitar and mic plugged into the same crappy little amplifier that was sitting on the ground. There was no mic stand or stage for that matter, so I had to play with the mic gaffa taped to the corner poll of a canvass shade cloth. After the show a punter nipple crippled me so hard that I bled. The things we do for money…
First Car: A 92’ Ford Falcon that was sold to me by a mate who was later to be better known from his many appearances on A Current Affair.
Dream Car: I live life in the fast lane so I’d have to say my Dream Car would be my current one, a 2005 Toyota Rav 4 VVT-i Automatic with Danger Mouse tyre cover. It’s safe, roomy and economical… cause I’m dangerous! Bad Boys for life!
Celebrity you’d most like to get it on with: George Negus.
Fave book: George Negus – “By George. The Autobiography of George Negus”(ABC Books.)
Fave film: George Negus’ Excellent Adventure
Fave muso/cd: George Negus sings George Gershwin.
Fave holiday: Either 2004 hiking through the jungle in Borneo with the Orang-utans or 2005 snowboarding and having hot spring baths with snow monkeys in Nagano, Japan. I like monkeys.
Fantasy dinner party guests: Slash and Axl from Guns N’ Roses. I would try to broker a peace deal and get the band back together… and George Negus.
Dumbest thing you ever did: Tough question. There’s been so many… This is a good one though… Don’t ask why, but I was backstage at a concert at Richard Branson’s manor in Oxford, UK. I asked a Jamaican fellow holding a bass guitar if he was in the Bob Marley Tribute Band I’d heard might be playing… he said, “No, I’m in the Wailers…”
Smartest thing you ever did: Not becoming a school teacher, this country owes me a great debt… A whole generation of children have been saved by that one…
5 words that describe you: Freakin Rock and Freakin Roll!!!