The internet may have killed his teaching career in the cot, but it’s helped make Alex ‘‘Shooter’’ Williamson a comedy king.
The straight talkin’ online comic collossus (26 million views on You Tube at last count) is slaying them right now with his f and c bomb littered shows; a world away from his more straight laced performances teaching teenagers.
‘‘I was a high school teacher believe it or not. Until they found my videos one day,’’ Shooter says. ‘‘The principal didn’t really appreciate my hardcore sex references on the internet. Fair play.’’
It goes without saying Shooter (‘‘I used to jag wickets whilst bowling in cricket, I’d bring out the pistols with my hands. I also prematurely ejaculate regularly’’) is nothing but blunt on stage, especially with himself, describing his work as ‘‘filth’’.
But at least its honest filth, and telling it straight has been the secret to Shooter’s success.
‘‘Just be honest,’’ he says of his comic MO. ‘‘When I’ve done something horrible in life that seems to be haunting me, I don’t let it eat me up inside.
‘‘I just drink massive amounts of alcohol and get on a stage and tell strangers about it. No worries, mate.’’
Growing up in a rural community, Shooter wasn’t your typical class clown.
‘‘I grew up in a small town called Willunga in South Australia. It had a pretty nice public toilet,’’ he says.
‘‘And I was just a pretty sh*t little quiet fat kid with a bowl cut. Believe it or not.’’
But the shy kid would grow up to be a comedy sensation after taking the plunge in 2007, becoming a state finalist in the 2009 RAW Comedy competition just two years into his comedy apprenticeship. Before long he was based in Los Angeles, ambushing celebrities on the red carpet for the Hot Hits on commercial radio.
‘‘Every carpet was bitter sweet,’’ he says. ‘‘I got to see and speak to some incredible people, like James Franco, Jen Aniston and Brad Pitt, but I was also really high all the time, and there were shouting paparazzi constantly, and everyone was so terribly irritating. I’m glad to be back in Australia.’’
While radio gave him his initial leg up, Shooter says comics can make their mark online just as quickly.
‘‘I enjoy introducing established comedians to the world of online. You don’t have to do some bullshit radio or TV show now to pay the bills. Just speak your mind on youtube and grow an audience.
‘‘I’ve seen some changes in my comedy lately (too). I’ve discovered the funniest things I know are right under my nose, like family, friends, some of the crackheads I see at the train station.’’
Showing his rarely seen serious side, Shooter says his education (he holds a degree in Film from Flinders University) has been just as important as his honesty, while building a career.
‘‘Education is key. In school and uni I learnt to speak to people from all different backgrounds,’’ he says. That’s really the only thing you ever need to know in life.’’

Alex Williamson plays the Capital on May 18. To win a double pass including a meet and greet with Alex go to www.facebook.com/Beejmedia

The future of some key Australian music venues might be in jeopardy, but there will always be a place for live music according to one the greats, Diesel.
Speaking to Bendigo Magazine at the start of his 14 date regional tour, which takes in a variety of performance centres not exclusively reserved for music, Diesel aka Mark Lizotte says there will always be new music locales popping up in place of the fallen ones.
‘‘It’s a bit harder (for venues to play live music) with OHS and licensing, stricter (regulations), nobody wants noise around where they live anymore,’’ he says.
‘‘People are getting really intolerant. But music is not going to go away, you can’t just stamp it out, it has to exist somewhere.
‘‘There’s new venues opening up, that’s a good sign. I tour quite a lot and a lot of times I’m the first person to play (at a new venue). It’s always an encouraging thing.’’
A glut of TV talent contests have created a new path to recognition for the next generation of musicians, so would a young Diesel in today’s climate be tempted to go down the same road?
‘‘The platform for me to evolve was the local pub, so I guess whatever the platform would be now I’d be on it, so it’s hard to say.’’
‘‘Any way I can play in front of people is the way I’d be doing it. Maybe I would have been an artist that busks everywhere.’’
Diesel’s 18-year-old daughter Lily is making her way as a singer. Would he support her appearing on X Factor?
‘‘If she really felt strongly and wanted to do it, I’d have to give her an endorsement, but it’s each to their own,’’ he says.
‘‘You have to find your own way (as an artist), and find your own place. You can only spell out so much (for your children), a certain amount has to be found by the person on their own discovery. ‘‘I try not to be (pushy), but I know the whole business side of thing, getting a lawyer, that’s solid, that will never change (laughs).’’
Diesel admits he’s a much more chilled character compared to the bloke who rode the extreme highs of the late 80s to early 90s.
‘‘I’m not as quick to fly off the handle, maybe,’’ he says. ‘‘Things happen, but you get better at handling it as you get older.
‘‘It’s a volatile combination, being young and having a lot of ambition and energy. You learn to use it and it’s a bit like a power tool, you can cut down trees with it, you can destroy things with it or you can do really skilful things with it as well.’’
He’s happy to admit he can still lose it on stage however.
‘‘It’s the adrenaline factor, I have no control over it (during a gig). I get excited before playing, my body just does it… it’s an involuntary acton.’’

Diesel plays The Capital on April 27.

Writer: Sarah Harris – Photographer: David Field

Kate Blackwood, Tony Kean Jewellery
“Most jewellers have really, really small workspaces, so we are lucky to have such a large workshop,” Kate Blackwood, proprietor of Tony Kean Jewellery, says.
“It is pretty much my ideal workshop. I like the fact you have all these different tools and each one is unique and special and has a different job. You sit at your workbench every day and there is always something different to do. We normally have the radio going and when we are getting really busy and trying to get a lot of work done we always have opera on. That’s how you can tell when we are really busy.
“Every aspect of the trade is interesting. You have to know a little bit about chemistry and a little bit about maths and, obviously, design and art. It’s a nice mix and for me it works well.
“Because everything we work with is so small, everything needs a specific place so you don’t lose track of anything. It is quite important to have quite a clean workspace as we work with things that are so tiny and valuable. I never, ever want to experience having to tell someone something of theirs has gone missing.
“I do like working with pure gold and 18 carat gold because the metal tends to do exactly what you tell it to do, but when we’re working with silver there is a little bit more flexibility because it’s not as expensive. I got an email yesterday telling me gold is $1632 an ounce. When I first started it was a quarter of that price. It has changed how we work with gold and how much we work in gold.
“Often I get inspiration from people who come into the shop and want things made. They have an idea and I work it up. Sometimes I will spring an idea from someone else’s and just get straight into it. Other times I sit down and do sketches. You sort of have to construct things inside your head and make sure it is going to work. You have to have your mind set on what you are working on to begin with to be able to accommodate it. Each metal is so different you have to appreciate each one.
“We do a lot of recycling of old jewellery into new jewellery. We have had some interesting pieces come through the shop. A lady brought in a piece of fossilised shell that had actually turned into an opal. It was a perfectly formed shell about the size of a 50-cent piece and it was solid opal. I have never seen anything like it before. We polished that up for her and put it into a pure gold mount and put some diamonds around it, so that was pretty special.
“I am very lucky in what I do. Jewellery usually has to do with love and there is a nice feeling about that.”
www.tonykeanjewellery.com or phone (03) 5441 8870

Photographer: Terri Basten

Emily wears Jozette ‘Joni’ leotard $69.95 from Block (Melbourne) and Cameo ‘Revolution’ knit $189.95 from The Styling Bird (Bath Lane).