Beloved Wagga comedian Dane Simpson will be headlining the region’s biggest ever comedy event. Photo: Chris Roe.
Wagga’s comedy scene has grown dramatically in the past 10 years, and a large part of that is due to the work of local comic Dane Simpson and his wife, Elanor.
The formation of the Riverina Comedy Club and the success of the Wagga Comedy Fest have brought in thousands of people to hundreds of shows. While those events have been largely successful, something even bigger is coming to Wagga very soon – The Wagga Comedy Gala.
Featuring a stacked line-up including legendary names such as Wil Anderson, Celia Paquola, Damien Power, Anisa Nandula, The Umbilical Brothers, Rhys Nicholson, Geraldine Hickey, Paul McDermott and Wagga’s very own comedic genius, Dane Simpson, the show is set to be the biggest comedic event ever held in Wagga Wagga.
“People can expect a show with the quality of the Melbourne comedy gala but in a more personal setting for just $93.50,” Dane said.
“In Melbourne, it is still $300 to come to the Melbourne Comedy Festival Gala. And that’s why we’ve literally got a show that’s rivalling that.
“It’s going to be such a monstrous event for local comedy down at the Range. We’re hoping to sell it out and give 800 people an awesome night filled with laughs.”
Despite the huge line-up of Australian talent, the show has been fully organised by Dane and his wife in an attempt to keep the Riverina Comedy Club fully operational.
“We want it to be accessible to everybody, and in order to do that, I really needed funding and all that type of stuff. Unfortunately, we’ve missed out on local streams.
“I’ve been really hoping for funding through the Wagga Wagga City Council to help with the Riverina Comedy Club to continue on, but it’s just been a difficult thing to get.
“The Riverina Comedy Club has unfortunately had to pull back a lot of its shows, just because we can’t afford to host them.
“I ended up just going to see local community businesses and said, ‘This is what I’m trying to do with the Wagga gala’. A lot of different groups have jumped on board to really push this event, and I can’t help but feel emotional for the support and excited for the event they’ll get to see.”
Dane said all the money raised from the event would go back into supporting the Riverina Comedy Club, with hopes that Wagga and its comedians could build a solid reputation.
“We did the Melbourne International Comedy Festival this year,” he said.
“I took over a bunch of Wagga Wagga / Albury comedians. We did a show called The Best of the Bush, and I really wanted to showcase how good our local acts are, because they can rival any comedians at their level in those major cities.
“I just feel like, particularly regional people have good stories, good jokes, something silly to show. It’s something fresh and new.
“We’ve just got the stupidest of stories coming from Wagga, and we’ve got characters here. People like Larry, who has passed away and even DJ Turbo Tech now; they don’t have those characters in Melbourne or Sydney.
“They’re things that regional people can laugh about, and that’s what I want the comedy club and this event to show.”
The Wagga Comedy Gala will be held at the Range Function Centre on Saturday 29 November at 8 pm. Tickets for the event can be purchased at the Wagga Wagga Civic Theatre Box Office or online here.
