Tom Ballard

Tom Ballard is one of Australia’s hottest comic talents, performing to audiences across the globe. Tom hosted his own satirical late-night TV show, ‘Tonightly with Tom Ballard’, was a co-host on a Triple J breakfast show, and regularly travels the world performing his stand-up comedy.

Tom’s success in public speaking saw him becoming a three-time national finalist for ‘Class Clowns’, and ‘Raw Comedy’ national finalist by 2006. In 2009, he became the youngest ever recipient of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival’s Best Newcomer Award for his debut show, ‘Tom Ballard Is What He Is’. He was later nominated for Best Newcomer at the 2015 Edinburgh Fringe for his show ‘Taxis & Rainbows & Hatred’. In 2016, with his show ‘The World Keeps Happening’, Tom was nominated for Best Show in both Melbourne and Edinburgh, as well as being presented with the Helpmann Award for Best Comedy Performer. Tom was named as one of the ‘stars of the future’, alongside Jacques Barrett, Lila Tillman, and Jack Druce.

In 2017, Tom’s show ‘Problematic’ won the Best Australian Show Award at the Sydney Comedy Festival, and was declared one of the top three best-reviewed shows at the Edinburgh Fringe that year. He has since been invited to perform at the Montreal ‘Just For Laughs Festival’, has had sold-out seasons at the renowned Soho Theatre, and has opened for fellow comedians including, Wanda Sykes, Stephen Merchant and Danny Bhoy.

Tom has also delved into the broadcasting world, presenting for Warrnambool’s 3WAY FM community radio station, whilst also developing demos with Australian youth radio station Triple J. He co-hosted the breakfast show on Triple J with his friend Alex Dyson for four years, and was given regular mid-dawn shifts. A collection of ‘highlights’ from the show, Tom & Alex: The Bits We’re Least Ashamed Of, went on to be awarded the 2013 ARIA for Best Comedy Release. Tom later resigned from Triple J after 7 years to focus on his stand-up comedy carrier.

At the young age of 24, Tom hosted his own ABC TV panel show, Reality Check, which explored the insane world of reality television. He has also made appearances on Q&A, Celebrity Name Game, The Project, Show me the Movie!, and Hughesy, We Have a Problem. Tom has interviewed various political figures on his popular podcast, ‘Like I’m A Six-Year-Old’, and has been featured on the race-focussed social experiment series, ‘First Contact’. More recently, Tom could be seen on the comedy panel show Patriot Brains (2021), airing in New Zealand, and Australia.