How Matt Okine Goes From Silly To Serious In Under Four Minutes

Matt Okine isn't scared to talk about some heavy content in his new live show, We Made You. But while he's taking on the big issues, that doesn't mean he's not still all fun and games.

"It's fun being able to talk about some serious issues, you know? Talking about Australia Day, racism, all that kind of stuff, but also talking about potatoes for 15 minutes," he laughs. "I think my stance on Australia Day is pretty unique and I'm looking forward to talking about that on stage in the tour, because at least if people don't agree with you they might go and talk about it in the car on the way home. That's kind of all you can really hope for when you're doing something political in a stand-up show, that it might open up a discussion like that. But that's only one aspect of the show; I will also be talking about my favourite types of potato and trying to use VR to watch porn. There're always moments of idiocy."

"I will also be talking about my favourite types of potato and trying to use VR to watch porn."

Finding the balance between the serious and the silly comes naturally for Okine, who eschews the formalities of a traditional stage persona for a more informal gathering with his fans. "I think, for me, my shows are always trying to mimic the type of conversations you're going to have at a party. Like, if you're sitting around a table, no one wants to hear a one hour lecture on the political climate." He continues, "I think, like in any party, you hear some dumb stories, you hear people's opinions on which is the best cheese, you hear people arguing about Trump and Australia Day and then you go home happy and a bit drunk. That's basically my show: talking about rubbish, talking about cheese, eating chips, arguing about one political issue and then going home drunk and happy. Six hours of party conversation condensed into a one-hour monologue."

Having recently departed Triple J's breakfast radio show with his co-host, Alex Dyson, Okine reflects on the significance of his time on air and its influence on his stand-up. "Alex and I were always willing to go from the absolutely dumbest thing you could think of, doing talkback like 'What happens in cupboards?' to talking about depression and when you need to reach out to people. And we'd do that in the space of a single show, you know? Talking about the world's most embarrassing love songs that you played for a crush in high school, to talking about anorexia and the mental health issues plaguing teenagers. And that could happen within a single radio break, in the space of about four minutes.

"So I guess it was just really about not being scared, because even after ten years you still get nervous about what you're going to say on stage and all that sort of stuff. So having done the radio, that taught me that not everything has to be a hilarious punch line and you can have moments where it's important to sit back and really let people absorb what you're saying and appreciate the more serious moments in life."

With We Made You ready to hit MICF, Okine only really has one hesitation. "I'm a bit nervous about my dad being in the crowd, to be honest," he chuckles. "I have to talk about how I got really drunk and ended up waking up at a train station, and I had to peel my face off the train station seat because I had somehow acquired this massive facial graze. And I've always told him it was a skateboarding accident. So I just have no idea what that conversation after the show is going to be like. Little things like that are always interesting."