Sunday Life, Sun Herald, Sunday 15th February 2004
Where there's a Wil
Politics and journalism can be low on laughs so Wil Anderson moved onto another stage
In early 1993, Wil Anderson was full-time student at the Universiy of Canberra and a part-time copy boy at The Australian Financial Review when all hell broke loose - Paul Keating, then prime minister, called a Federal election. "That's like starting to play football two weeks before the grand final," recalls the comic of his seismic introduction to newspapers. Suddenly he went from journalistic tyro to a fully fledged member of the Canberra press gallery. "I learnt more about politics in three months than I could have in five years of uni," says the 30-year-old broadcaster.
But two-and-a-half years, a commerce/journalism degree and another election campaign later, politics and newspapers had lost their allure. Despite top-scoring in his year and ganering a couple of offers of full-time newspaper work, he opted out of the industry in the mid-90s. Admits Anderson, "I didn't like writing other people's stories."
Besides, by then, comedy was calling. armed with enormous self-belief and his dairy farmer father's advice to pursue something he really liked, Anderson sold his car, borrowed money and went anywhere and everywhere for stand-up gigs.
He found inspiration in some unlikely places. "I saw Roseanne Barr on Oprah and she said if you have something to fall back on, when it gets hard, you'll fall back on it," remembers Anderson.
So he didn't take a day job. "If I didn't work, I didn't eat." Anderson says he never got "the big break" but instead built his career on a series of small ones, including appearances on Good News Week. Most know him now as the popular co-host of Triple J's breakfast show and ABC TV's The Glass House.
Would he ever seek political office? "I make more of a difference doing what I do than I could being the member for Bondi," says Anderson, who lives in the Sydney beach suburb with girlfriend Amy and their adopted cat. "I speak to half-a-million 15-to 20-year-olds every morning."
The oldest of three kids who grew up in Victoria's Gippsland, Anderson says his Dad's advice was spot on. "If you find something you like doing, you will be happy more often than not," he says. The other ingredient of success is diligence. "Every single successful person I have met ... works harder than everyone else in their industry."
Comedy is more inscrutable. "It's a real mystery," says Anderson. "I asked Billy Connolly, 'Do you know if something will be funny?' and he said he had no idea until he said it in front of people."
Wil Anderson's Licence to Wil plays at Lower Town Hall, Melbourne, on April 6-18.
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