Tim Ferguson
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| Tim Ferguson | |
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| Born | Timothy Dorcen Langbene Ferguson[1] 16 November 1963 Sydney, New South Wales, Australia |
| Residence | Melbourne, Victoria, Australia |
| Occupation | Television presenter, comedian |
| Known for | Don't Forget Your Toothbrush Doug Anthony All Stars |
Timothy Dorcen Langbene "Tim" Ferguson (born 16 November 1963 in Sydney, NSW) is an Australian comedian and television presenter.
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[edit] Background
Tim Ferguson grew up in the country town of Blayney, New South Wales before moving to Canberra, where he attended the radical free-school School Without Walls and Narrabundah College.[2] He is the son of Tony Ferguson, who was a Vietnam War correspondent, the first reporter to release news of the Tet Offensive to the world media. Tony became executive producer of This Day Tonight and Four Corners at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, and an offsider of the ABC's managing director, David Hill.[3]
[edit] Early career
His first major appearance was as a member of the Doug Anthony All Stars, along with Paul McDermott and Richard Fidler, on the UK Channel 4 television show "Friday Night Live" and then the ABC television show, The Big Gig, where they quickly gained a following. This was soon followed by their own show, the sci-fi sitcom DAAS Kapital.
In the 1990 Australian federal election, Ferguson stood as an independent candidate for the seat of Kooyong, against the Leader of the Opposition, Andrew Peacock. Following a "Vote For Tim" campaign conducted by the Allstars on The Big Gig, he gained 3.7% of the vote.[4]
In 1995, Ferguson appeared in Funky Squad, again on ABC television, and hosted Don't Forget Your Toothbrush on the Nine Network.
Ferguson's novel, Left, Right and Centre: A Tale of Greed, Sex and Power (ISBN 0-14-026579-1), was published by Penguin in 1997 and became Australia's #1 Best-seller for three months.[citation needed] Politician Graham Richardson said of the book, "It scared the hell out of me".[citation needed]
During the 90s, Ferguson starred in Australian commercials advertising the video game console the Nintendo 64.[5]
Ferguson co-wrote and hosted eight series and twelve one-hour specials of his comedy clip show "Unreal TV".
He has written various opinion pieces and articles for The Age, Sydney Morning Herald and The Times. He most notedly penned an alternative to the Australian Constitution Preamble.
[edit] Recent career
In 2010, Ferguson released "The Cheeky Monkey" (Currency Press), a comedy writing manual for screenwriters and comedians. The book offers "a revolutionary approach to comedy writing" and features what Ferguson calls "primal comedy". His Cheeky Monkey Comedy Writing courses tour worldwide.
In 2001, Ferguson branched out into production when he created, produced and co-wrote the TV1 comedy series Shock Jock which ran for two series. In 2003, he hosted a talk back radio show on 3AK and was the host of Big Brother Australia 2003's Big Brother The Insider. Ferguson also appeared in Fat Pizza: The Movie as the magician "David Cockerfield."
Since then, Ferguson has continued his stand-up comedy and other television commentary and hosting, including "Good News Week", "The Glass House", "20 to 1", Forgettherules and Network Ten's Unreal TV. In November 2005, he hosted the Sky Channel National Day of Protest against the Howard Government's industrial relations changes.
He is now one of Australia's top corporate event performers, hosting events and conferences for Australasia's leading corporations. Ferguson's production company is currently developing the feature film Circle Work with Edwina Exton, assisted by Film Victoria. Circle Work is a romantic comedy based at a Bachelor & Spinster Ball.
Ferguson is a sessional lecturer in Screenwriting and Writing TV Comedy at RMIT University[6][7] He won the RMIT Best Sessional Teacher Award in 2010.
In 2010, Ferguson was executive producer, writer and host of WTF - With Tim Ferguson on C31 Melbourne.[8] WTF is directed by Marc Gracie (Full Frontal, Unreal TV).
He is currently touring his live standup comedy show "Carry a Big Stick", featuring tales and songs from his life on the 'comedy warpath'.
[edit] Personal life
Ferguson announced on an episode of Good News Week that he has Multiple Sclerosis (MS), requiring him to occasionally use a walking cane. Ferguson has experienced MS for much of his adult life.[9] He owns the largest Star Wars toy collection in the southern hemisphere.
[edit] References
- ^ Arnold, John (2005). The bibliography of Australian literature, Volume 2. Brisbane: University of Queensland Press. p. 27. ISBN 0702235008. http://books.google.com.au/books?id=yBpVHywjoVUC&pg=PA27&lpg=PA27&dq=dorcen+langbene&source=bl&ots=59O_iCcJq3&sig=OxMhntB1HHSzMd1xPST9hV-ahIw&hl=en&ei=bCR9TqzuNsOeiAe1p92wDg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=8&ved=0CE0Q6AEwBw#v=onepage&q&f=false.
- ^ BBC – h2g2 – The Doug Anthony Allstars
- ^ Lewes, Jacqueline Lee: Antenna: "Tony Ferguson ... Father of a Doug Anthony All Star", The Sydney Morning Herald, 6 March 1989.
- ^ Results for Kooyong
- ^ Plunkett, Luke (2011-08-05). "The Weird & Wonderful World of Australian Video Game Commercials". Kotaku. http://kotaku.com/5827954/the-weird--wonderful-world-of-australian-video-game-commercials/gallery/1.
- ^ RMIT Staff – Mr Tim Ferguson
- ^ Skills and thrills on offer at Expo – Openline (RMIT News), 24 November 2008
- ^ Grace, Robyn (27 September 2010). "From Allstar to Channel 31". Sydney Morning Herald. http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/from-allstar-to-channel-31-20100928-15vff.html. Retrieved 12 October 2010.
- ^ Allstar To Class Act, The Weekly Review, 10 June 2010
[edit] External links
- Tim Ferguson's Manager
- International Comedians debate "The Cheeky Monkey - Writing Narrative Comedy"
- "The Cheeky Monkey - Writing Narrative Comedy" Currency Press
- Tim Ferguson talks about his book The Cheeky Monkey on Maynard's Malaise podcast
- "With Tim Ferguson" TV show blog
- Cheeky Monkey Comedy Website
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