Funny things always seem to happen to Joel Creasey. And it\u2019s a good thing, too, as it means he\u2019s never short of material to fill both his stand-up gigs and his new lunchtime radio show on Nova.<\/p>\n
\u201cI got locked in my car boot the other day for an hour. Seriously,\u201d the comedian tells Stellar with the whispered excitement a teenager might use to confess an embarrassing secret to a pal. \u201cI\u2019m in an ice bath phase, and fell in trying to get the ice bags out of the car. I was screaming for help but Jack [Creasey\u2019s fianc\u00e9] didn\u2019t hear me because he had his headphones on playing Fortnight. I was like a whole piece of salmon being delivered somewhere.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thanks to the advice of famed US comedian Joan Rivers \u2013 who asked Creasey to open for her 2013 Broadway show, a year before she passed away at the age of 81 \u2013 he now treats any misadventure or challenge in life as humorous fodder.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe said to me, \u2018Joel, my darling, just laugh. Laugh through it and eventually that laugh will become natural,\u2019\u201d the 35-year-old recalls. \u201cAnd she\u2019s right. Because life is funny. I know it\u2019s so dumb, but I hear that voice in my head whenever something crappy is going on.\u201d<\/p>\n
Even in these uncertain times, Creasey doesn\u2019t have much need to reach for Rivers\u2019 mantra. As well as having a wedding to plan, he and his partner of nine years, actor and model Jack Stratton-Smith, are embarking on a home renovation.<\/p>\n
\u201cBoth my sisters are engaged, and they\u2019ve got babies; we\u2019ve got a renovation,\u201d he says of discussions of who will make it to the altar first. \u201cSo it\u2019s a little bit of a game of chess at the moment as to who goes first.\u201d<\/p>\n
While he\u2019s quick to downplay any suggestion of a triple wedding, he is happy to share the spotlight with one Creasey woman: his mother Jenny.<\/p>\n
The former actor and singer \u2013 who met Creasey\u2019s father, Terry, when they were extras in the 1980 Star Wars film The Empire Strikes Back \u2013 will perform alongside her \u201cson in their hometown of Perth in July, and has requested that he play Jennifer Lopez\u2019s hit single \u2018Jenny From The Block\u2019 to introduce her.<\/p>\n
Rather than feeling like he should rein in his often salacious set with his mum present, Creasey points out that his parents have heard it all, anyway.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy parents drove me to my first two years\u2019 worth of gigs, because they were all in licensed venues,\u201d says the Melbourne-based comic, who first hit the stage at 16. They\u2019d then stand at the door thanking patrons for coming.<\/p>\n
Now celebrating two decades on the stand-up circuit, Creasey says, \u201cI love dipping my toe in everything. I\u2019ve done theatre, I\u2019ve done TV. I just love performing and entertaining people.\u201d So he jumped at the chance to do season 5 of 10\u2019s comedy game show Taskmaster Australia (which premieres May 7) with Celia Pacquola, Rove McManus, Anisa Nandaula and Brett Blake, which he filmed before a recent glow-up that resulted in darker hair and a manicured beard.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid I accidentally have spew-green hair at the Logies one year? Yes, I did. And I just embraced it. It was funny then and it still makes me laugh now,\u201d he reflects on his past looks. \u201cThe professionals at Stellar styled me for this [photo shoot] so no doubt I\u2019ll look back on this with a smile as opposed to a laugh.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thanks to a unique set of skills, Creasey felt confident he\u2019d knock it out of the park on Taskmaster.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome of the comics found being sequestered away in a bedroom [in between the challenges] hard because comics are control freaks. We perform solo, we control the crowd, we control the sound, we control everything. But because I\u2019d done I\u2019m A Celebrity\u2026 Get Me Out Of Here!, I was able to be quite submissive,\u201d he adds of being on the reality show\u2019s first Australian season, which aired on Network 10 in 2015 and saw him finish fifth.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s with the same mischievously laid-back approach that he\u2019s launching his solo radio hour, The Joel Creasey Show, when all eyes and ears are on the airwaves. The networks have seen big changes since Creasey recorded his last drive show in January with co-hosts Ricki-Lee Coulter and Tim Blackwell, with that duo moving to the breakfast slot, and Kate Ritchie, Ryan \u201cFitzy\u201d Fitzgerald and Michael \u201cWippa\u201d Wipfli taking over drive.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the on-air bust-up of their network rivals Kyle Sandilands and Jackie \u201cO\u201d Henderson has led to their show\u2019s axing and a bitter legal battle with their bosses at KIIS.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt kind of feels like the charming, handsome, charismatic, wonderful bosses at Nova have realised that it\u2019s a weird time in radio, and in the world\u2026 and they\u2019ve gone: \u2018YOLO. Let\u2019s just see how much damage you can really do. Let\u2019s just pour some more fuel on the fire,\u2019\u201d Creasey jokes.<\/p>\n
Asked if he\u2019s glad to be pioneering a new lunchtime show rather than setting a pre-sunrise alarm like his former co-hosts, Creasey replies, \u201cWhen this timeslot came up, I thought: it\u2019s time to put on my big boy pants and tackle it solo. Plus, I\u2019m time-fluid. I don\u2019t think anybody on planet Earth would be trusting me with a breakfast radio slot.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now master of his own show, Creasey enjoys keeping his bosses on their toes about what\u2019s in store for his listeners. \u201cI\u2019ll be like: \u2018Let\u2019s be the first show to give away a billion dollars\u2019 and then I\u2019ll just keep walking,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd I keep going up to the music director and saying, \u2018So how many times can I play Barbra Streisand?\u2019 I can\u2019t name a Barbra Streisand song to save my life. I just want to freak him out.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ultimately, though, it\u2019s Creasey\u2019s name in the title, and he understands the show\u2019s success or failure rests solely on his shoulders. Sort of. <\/p>\n
\u201cI no longer have anyone to blame, but I can assure you, I will find somebody,\u201d he says, laughing.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome of the best advice I ever got came from Gretel Killeen,\u201d he says, referencing the comedian, author and TV host, who is a self-confessed fan of \u201cexaggerations of the truth\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe said to me, \u2018If something goes wrong, just blame anyone. No-one knows if you\u2019re lying.\u2019 So that\u2019s what I will do.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Joel Creasey Show will air nationally from 1pm to 2pm weekdays from April 20 on the Nova Network and Nova Player.<\/p>\n