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Jon Doust

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Jon Doust in Albany Western Australia, May 2021

Jon Doust is a comedian, writer, novelist and professional speaker, born in Bridgetown, Western Australia, who lives in Albany, Western Australia. He gained a BA majoring in English from the Western Australian Institute of Technology (now Curtin University) and worked in farming, retailing and journalism before pursuing a career in comedy and writing.[1][2]

Comedy

He has performed at a number of comedy venues and festivals, including the Amnesty International Comedy Festival in Sydney and the Palandri International Comedy Festival in Margaret River. He has supported local and international comedy acts including Alexei Sayle, Hale and Pace, Richard Stubbs, Rachel Berger and illusionist Robert Gallop.

Doust was the driving force behind the formation of Laugh Resort Inc,[3] an association of stand-up comedians, who continue to run Laugh Resort at the Brass Monkey in Perth, now one of the longest running comedy rooms in Australia. It has been the breeding ground for a number of Australia's current crop of leading comedians, including Rove McManus, Dave Hughes and Dave Callen.

He has been a regular voice on local ABC radio stations, including at one stage a regular inhabitant of the Sunday radio programmes of Peter Holland among others. He was a regular guest on ABC Radio's Ted Bull programme.[4]

Doust was a guest lecturer at the Curtin University Business School's Centre for Entrepreneurship[5] and for many years ran a University of Western Australia Extension Program course entitled How to Laugh Your Way out of a Paper bag, in collaboration with others including Steve Wells and Don Smith.

As well as comedy interests, Doust has studied and based much of his writing on the work of Carl Jung and is an accredited Myers Briggs Practitioner.

Politics

In the 1993 Australian federal election, he unsuccessfully stood for the seat of Curtin against incumbent Allan Rocher gaining only 428 votes (0.59%). His campaign slogan was "Put me last!". In the 1998 Australian federal election he stood against sitting member Geoff Prosser in the seat of Forrest, this time gaining 424 votes (0.56%).

Writing

Doust has co-authored with Ken Spillman two children's books, Magpie Mischief (2002)[6] and Magwheel Madness (2005) - both published by Fremantle Arts Centre Press, as well as short stories published in anthologies and The West Australian newspaper. He has also self-published two small books titled How to lose an election and Letters to the police and other species.

Early in his career he was a writer for Perth's Sunday Times newspaper as a reviewer of computer technology. He was later a columnist on the weekend edition of The West Australian newspaper, with clearly autobiographical references in his work.

He was shortlisted for the Western Australian Writer's Fellowship at the 2020 Western Australian Premier's Book Awards.[7]

Novels

Doust's novels Boy on a Wire,[8][9] To the Highlands[10][11] and Return Ticket[12] were all published by Fremantle Press.

  • Boy on a Wire is based on boarding school experiences in Perth, Western Australia.[13][14][15]
  • To the Highlands was based on experiences on a South Pacific island.[16][17]
  • Return Ticket has included experiences between Australia, South Africa and Kibbutz living in Israel.[18]

Works

  • (1992) Letters to the police — and other species with George Gosh. Lesmurdie, W.A: Wordplay.
  • (1993) Better than a poke in the eye: a few notes, tips and things to do to help you increase the laughage in your life Lesmurdie W.A.: Wordplay.
  • (1993) How to — lose an election Lesmurdie, W.A: Wordplay.
  • (2002) with Ken Spillman Magpie mischief (illustrations by Marion Duke). Fremantle, W.A. Fremantle Arts Centre Press. ISBN 1-86368-355-0
  • (2005) with Ken Spillman Magwheel madness (illustrations by Marion Duke). Fremantle, W.A. Fremantle Arts Centre Press. ISBN 1-920731-76-8
  • (2009) Boy on a Wire, Fremantle Press, ISBN 978-1-921361-45-6
  • (2012) To the Highlands, Fremantle Press, ISBN 978-1-921888-77-9
  • (2020) Return Ticket, Fremantle Press, ISBN 978-1-925816-39-6

Anthologies

  • (1997) Great Australian Bites, ed. Dave Warner, Fremantle Arts Centre Press.
  • (1997) Fathers in Writing, ed. Ross Fitzgerald and Ken Spillman, Tuart House.

Notes

  1. ^ "Book Jon Doust - WA Speakers - Speakers & MC's - BBC Entertainment". Archived from the original on 10 May 2013. Retrieved 11 May 2013.
  2. ^ "Jon Doust". Fantastic Fiction. Retrieved 3 November 2020.
  3. ^ "The Laugh Resort... Live comedy every Wednesday night!". Archived from the original on 9 March 2008. Retrieved 9 February 2008.
  4. ^ Edwards, Rachel. "ABC Radio PERTH". www.abc.net.au.
  5. ^ "Bio from Curtin Business School".
  6. ^ "Book Review - Magpie Mischief". Archived from the original on 9 April 2007.
  7. ^ "WA Premier's Book Awards shortlists announced". Books+Publishing. 18 June 2021. Retrieved 26 July 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  8. ^ "Doust has done with his material what so many autobiographical novelists fail to do: he has turned it into a shapely story, with no extraneous material or diversions and with an absolutely consistent and convincing narrative voice."— Sydney Morning Herald
  9. ^ The boarding school memoir or novel is an enduring literary subgenre, from 1950s classics such as The Catcher in the Rye to Curtis Sittenfeld’s Prep. Doust’s recognisably Australian contribution to the genre draws on his own experiences in Christ Church Grammar School, a Western Australian boarding school, in this clever, polished, detail-rich debut novel. Bookseller+Publisher
  10. ^ "Fremantle Press : Books : Boy on a Wire". Archived from the original on 23 February 2009. Retrieved 3 June 2009.
  11. ^ "Fremantle Press : Books : To the Highlands by Jon Doust". Archived from the original on 5 May 2013. Retrieved 20 September 2012.
  12. ^ Doust, Jon (2020), Return ticket, Fremantle Press, ISBN 978-1-925816-39-6
  13. ^ Knight, Fran (1 May 2009), "Boy on a Wire.(Young adult review)(Brief article)(Book review)", Magpies, 24 (2), Magpies Magazine Pty. Ltd: 39(2), ISSN 0817-0088
  14. ^ Saxby, Maurice (1 August 2009), "Doust, Jon: Boy on a Wire.(Brief article)(Book review)", Reading Time, 53 (3), Children's Book Council of Australia: 35(1), ISSN 0155-218X
  15. ^ "Boy on a Wire.(A2)", The Age (Melbourne, Australia), Fairfax Media Publications Pty Limited: 26, 4 July 2009, ISSN 0312-6307
  16. ^ Grunseit, Paula (2012), "To the highlands [Book Review]", Bookseller + Publisher Magazine, 91 (9): 24, ISSN 1833-5403
  17. ^ "In short.(Spectrum)(Book review)", The Sydney Morning Herald (Sydney, Australia), Fairfax Media Publications Pty Limited: 32, 11 August 2012, ISSN 0312-6315
  18. ^ "Return Ticket". www.goodreads.com.
  • Media related to Jon Doust at Wikimedia Commons
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