'Born Ready' Is Pure Boast

Blake Everett may seem a little on the young side for a Melbourne International Comedy Festival performer. But then, he's been good to go for some time now, it says so right there in the title of his MICF debut — Ready Since I Was Five.

"I've grown up with comedy, loving it ... me and my friend, Jordan, started doing comedy sketches in school competitions and we loved it," says Everett. When probed for the exact meaning of his show however, Everett reveals it isn't quite what you'd first think. "The inspiration for the title of the show stemmed from my hatred of people telling me they were 'born ready'. To me, that's absolute nonsense. How can you be born ready? You don't even recognise your parents until you're eight months old. That doesn't sound 'born ready' to me. I decided that five was the age when I started to become ready. Not for all things... but some things."

Whether or not he could have been a stand-up toddler, he's definitely focused now. "I just finished year 12 last year and decided to take a gap year to focus on comedy," says Everett, "If it goes well, it becomes a gap life. It's an hour-long show filled with an 18-year-old boy (that's me) doing stand-up, musical comedy and a little bit of sketch.

"This is more than stand-up," he continues, "This is more than musical comedy. This is an experience. I'm not saying it's a life changing experience. I'm not narcissistic enough to do so, but it definitely is an experience."