But that’s where Walker finds himself this season, next to fellow comedian and co-host Natalie Tran, trying to find the best home baker in the country.<\/p>\n
Trained in clowning at the prestigious \u00c9cole Philippe Gaulier in Paris (more on that later), Walker has been putting his eclectic mark on the Australian comedy scene for almost a decade.<\/p>\n
Since winning Best Newcomer with his debut show Beep Boop at the 2016 Melbourne International Comedy Festival, Walker has continued to pull off magnificent feats, from creating a mime-based show that doesn’t suck (even Prime Video<\/a> agrees) to parlaying the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns into a loyal Twitch audience.<\/p>\n But his next transformation, into a cardie-clad baking fan, might just be his most surprising yet.<\/p>\n What was the thing you were most worried about the Bake Off team finding in your vetting?<\/p>\n I literally host a podcast called Bigsofttitty.png<\/a> so I think I’m pretty clearly the freak that I am. If you just search any of my social media feeds for the term poop, you’ll find out that I have many opinions on the topic.<\/p>\n I was always trying to be up-front with that right from the start. Like in the audition, they ask you to come in with jokes, and one of the gags I came in with was: “All right, your 12 cupcakes must be identical and look delicious, like dog nipples.”<\/p>\n Afterwards, I walked out like: “I wouldn’t have done that in front of the network but that’s the creative people in there.”<\/p>\n I was then told it was the network people in there.<\/p>\n And you still got the gig! What was your friends and family’s reaction to you being cast on Bake Off?<\/p>\n When I told my parents that I’d gotten a text from my manager that said “Bake Off audition seemed like it went well. Everyone was pleasantly surprised.” They laughed harder than I’ve ever seen them laugh before, and they’ve been to a lot of my shows, so that was disheartening.<\/p>\n I think shocked and happy disbelief covers it. It’s clearly a swing from them. They’re putting faith in the format of the show and my ability to be warm and genuine.<\/p>\n This checkered charmer is just one of the woollen delights Tom dons in the Bake Off tent. (Supplied: Binge)<\/p>\n Did you have any say in the Bake Off wardrobe or did they just look at you and think ‘fun cardies’?<\/p>\n I had no say in the wardrobe!<\/p>\n One of the most pathetic emails I’ve ever sent was to wardrobe where I was like, “Hey, just thinking: do you think I could wear some band shirts on the show?” They sent back a very quick email saying, “No, you can’t wear a Jeff Rosenstock shirt on the show.”<\/p>\n I’m looking at it again and realising that it depicts Garfield smoking a joint, so that was probably for the best.<\/p>\n From the Smurf stream to shaving just the crown of your head, you’ve displayed some incredible dedication to jokes, but how far is too far for a bit?<\/p>\n I don’t know. I don’t think there is. Like, that’s something that sometimes scares me about myself. I don’t know where I would stop.<\/p>\n Loading Instagram content<\/p>\n I mean, in 2017 when I was nominated for the Barry Award [now the Melbourne International Comedy Festival Award] I got a tattoo that said “Barry winner” because I was nominated against Hannah Gadsby’s Nanette and I thought it would be a funny bit of hubris. Then when they won, I got “winner” crossed out and replaced with “nominee”.<\/p>\n The thing I wouldn’t want to do is inconvenience someone or cause harm to another. But in terms of harm to me, or like detriment to my personal life I don’t think there’s too far. I don’t think of dignity. I’m happy to give it up.<\/p>\n Follow-up question: How long did it take you to get all of the Smurf paint off?<\/p>\n Loading Instagram content<\/p>\n It was around for a solid week. I was tinged blue pretty much the whole time.<\/p>\n What’s the most unexpected way your clown training has helped you in real life?<\/p>\n Oh man, I think sometimes people optimistically hear the words clown training and think, “Oh, cool. This guy must be able to do a back flip.”<\/p>\n My clown training is like the type where an old man tells you to get up on stage and be funny. You do that and he says, “That wasn’t funny. Next.” Then he does that for the other 20 people in the room and you all go home miserable.<\/p>\n So, I think the most valuable thing to come out of that is a complete lack of ego and also the knowledge that it’s normal to fail.<\/p>\n What’s the last internet rabbit hole you went down in?<\/p>\n Oh, there is always something going on in my history that would get me called into the office if I had a regular job.<\/p>\n One thing I do is I’ll try and think of a type of person and see where that type of person hangs out, just finding artisanal cigarette forums or something. Or even better than that, like the subreddit r\/soup<\/a> is solid to me because it’s just a bunch of miscellaneous soup fans hanging out.<\/p>\n That is very wholesome. Hey, how would you die in a horror film?<\/p>\n First, straight up, I think I would like to be impaled upon something and then in my last moments I’ve got to be coughing up blood.<\/p>\n Comedian Sez on why she needs to take her ADHD meds around millennials<\/a><\/p>\n You may not know her name, but with more than 7 million likes on TikTok, you have almost definitely seen Sez’s face on your phone.<\/p>\n Or I’ve got a big forehead. Maybe there would be like a flash of steel across the screen and then my whole forehead slides off, roughly 60 per cent of my head just removed. That would be so cool.<\/p>\n What was something you thought was cool in high school but makes you cringe now?<\/p>\n Hmm, this pause is not me trying to think of something. What I’m trying to do is whittle it down to just one thing.<\/p>\n I was an embarrassingly big fan of this metal cello cover band, Apocalyptica. It was like the metal-head version of a rap song has been covered by a ukulele. It’s so humiliating, I would put on, like, a Hall of the Mountain King Apocalyptica<\/a> cover in the car with my friends.<\/p>\n What is the most delicious baked good you’ve ever eaten?<\/p>\n I think the one that immediately jumps out to me is there is an episode in the show. So, I’m giving away one item here. There is a pistachio shortbread technical bake and with the technical bakes the judges present like the ideal version of the bake for the contestants to recreate. But those judge-made examples, they’re just like around.<\/p>\n So, Demi [Lardner, comedian and Tom’s wife] came to set the day of the pistachio shortbread. We walked past the kitchen like, “Oh, you don’t mind \u2026”<\/p>\n It was so good. That’s truly like a moment that I’ll remember, me and Demi walking around like we’re on mushrooms, just from pistachio shortbread flavour. It was crazy.<\/p>\n The Great Australian Bake Off season eight is currently airing weekly on Foxtel and Binge.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n