Matthew
Hardy
Matthew
was born in Glen Waverley, Victoria, Australia. It's like The Wonder Years there!
Before moving from Melbourne to London in 1993, he was a freelance writer for
The Age and was named Best New Comic 1992 at the Hilton Hotel.
In
2004 Matthew can be heard on Melbourne's hottest new sports/talk back radio network
SEN (Sports Entertainment Network) as the co-host of the Drive program with former
champion tough-man Dermott Brereton and commentator Anthony Hudson.
”The
biggest rise this ratings period has been on new station SEN's Drive Show, with
Dermie, Huddo & Hardy” (Herald-Sun)
LONDON:
Based
in London until February 2000, Matthew became a regular performer at Jongleurs'
UK clubs, The Comedy Store and also featured on BBC TV's top-rating Saturday Night
Stand-Up Show. Matthew wrote for the UK edition of FHM magazine and also co-created
a TV sketch series, titled The Jim Tavare Show - which was nominated at Montreaux's
International Golden Rose Awards in 1999.
AUTHOR
In
2002, Matthew wrote his debut novel, Saturday Afternoon Fever published by HarperCollins.
The rites of passage story quickly became a bestseller. The book has just been
reprinted for the third time, having been poached by publishers Random House in
2004.
“The funniest book I have ever read in my entire life” (Garry
Lyons: Channel Nine)
FESTIVALS:
At
the 2003 Melbourne International Comedy Festival, Matthew performed an adaptation
of his book, directed by Tes Lyssiotis, which received rave reviews.
"Hardy
is a rare character who is both endearing and painfully unsentimental... a wonderful,
extremely funny show" (The Age)
He
returned to the 2004 Melbourne International Comedy Festival with 'Sex and the
Suburbs'
"Matthew Hardy is charming and amiable, delighting both the men
and women in the audience as he treads the fraught topic of sexual politics in
- believe it or not - a new and interesting way" (The Sunday Age).
In
2005, Matthew wrote, performed and co-produced the surprise smash-hit of the Melbourne
International Comedy Festival with his show ‘Willy Wonka Explained: The Veruca
Salt Sessions', co-starring, direct from the UK, Julie Dawn Cole - the actual
actress who played spoilt-brat Veruca Salt in the cult kids film set in a Chocolate
Factory'. Now a grown-up, Julie agreed to work with Matthew based on his pitch
over the phone, and fortunately for them both, this unique, if not seriously strange
story had audiences lining around the block.
“As refreshingly original
as it's source material, this show is almost as good as it's concept, and believe
me, that is high praise indeed. A razor sharp performance by Hardy, exploiting
his own extremely skilful script” (The Chaser)
“Brilliant” (Herald-Sun)
TELEVISION
Matthew
is the rapid-fire host of the tonight show, 'The Big Schmooze', with Kate Langbroek
and Dave O'Neil, on thecomedychannel. So far, two series of 60 episodes have aired,
including interviews with the likes of John Travolta, Chris Rock and Sinead O'Connor.
"Melbourne
always gives us some of the best comedy, and this is no exception. Hosted by the
ultra-likeable Matthew Hardy" (TV Week)
He regularly appeared as a panelist
and comedic sports reporter on ABC TV's 'The Fat', as well as being the show's
resident writer.
BAFTA
AWARD WINNING TV WRITER
Matthew is currently writing for the third
series of the UK TV hit 'The Sketch Show', produced by Steve Coogan's Baby Cow,
this time it's presented by Kelsey Grammer and will be aired on FOX, in the US.
'The Sketch Show' has seen Matthew become a BAFTA Award-Winning comedy writer,
on a team featuring the cast themselves and Ricky Gervais from The Office.
“The
Sketch Show is fast-paced, traditional and genuinely funny” - Radio Times
