Frontier Touring Launches Comedy Division

Frontier Touring Launces Comedy Division Michael Gudinski’s Frontier Touring Company has flirted with comedy tours with Chris Tucker and New Zealand’s Flight of the Conchords. Now it’s set up its own comedy division, Frontier Comedy, to develop new talent and productions.

Comedian

It will be run by venue owner and festival promoter James Young and comedian/scriptwriter Matthew Hardy.

The pair run a two-man company called Young & Hardy, which books comedy acts at the 500-capacity Yarraville Laugh Club in Melbourne and this year wrote and produced five international comedy shows.

They will utilise the various record labels, publishing, marketing, venue, film/TV and live music divisions of Gudinski’s Mushroom Group to develop local and international talent, through the live circuit and movie and television opportunities.

The idea is to find the next Edna Everage, the pair says.

Young, a former advertising and marketing executive, points out, “There is an enormous appetite for comedy in Australia, and Michael likes to have his fingers in many pies.

Partnering with someone like him and his massive well-connected company will grow our projects.” The new division will launch with a tour by high-profile comic Mary Coustas whose second-generation Australian-Greek character Effie had her own television shows “Effie Just Quietly” and “Greeks On The Roof,” appears on ads, cut novelty singles and published a book.

“Effie – The Virgin Bride,” billed a “music, dancing, multi-media and audience interaction extravaganza, does 11 shows nationally in 1,000-seater theatres Feb. 5 to March 20.