Mike Van Acker

True talent will always rise to glory, whatever the circumstances and this could not be truer for Australian standup comedian, singer and MC, Mike Van Acker.  He is not new to the world of comedy – Mike has been involved with comedy for almost 25 years now, and exudes confidence as he delivers hilarious one-liners with the suavity of one who really knows his way around his own territory, and of course, he does.

Mike Van Acker loves his job, he says that “no two gigs are the same, I get a chance to get out there  and  have  my  say”  and  then  jokes,  “it  gets  me  out of  the  house  away  from  the  kids!” (laughs).

Mike’s career did not start with comedy. He played the guitar in bands, but he observed that his witty interludes with the audiences in between the songs were better received than the actual songs. On The Late Nite Show with Lindsay Webb, he admits that he did singing telegrams for several years in Brisbane as he needed the money. This actually helped him in interacting with unknown, sometimes aggressive people (and he even got things thrown at him!)

So, with all this background experience, and having run his own cleaning business, he was well-prepared for dealing with people and situations, when he got invited to the “Sit Down Comedy Club at Brisbane in 1992. Although Mike didn’t meet with instant success, within a few years he became good at it, sold his cleaning business and went into fulltime comedy.

Over the years, Mike Van Acker has performed at various locations all over Australia and New Zealand, at all the major comedy clubs and event as well as in countries like the UK, Indonesia, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Singapore.

Being a rather good guitarist (he has a nice and easy style of strumming), Mike often appears on stage guitar  in hand, and  belts out a funny  song which really engages the audience. He also throws a bit of  magic  into his acts, and all this  makes  his shows  interesting, enjoyable, and memorable.

Mike Van Acker has a long list of awards and recognitions. He was named Queensland Comic of the Year in 2002 a nd 2003, and in 2005, he appeared on Home Grown Humour on Chanel 7, and on Oi! Oi Oi! on the Triple M Network in the same year. He appeared on Gabby, Mike and Stav on the B105 Radio Station breakfast show in 2006. His list of corporate clients includes Coca Cola, The Sunflower Growers Association and the Australian Taxation Office.

Apart  from  being  an  accomplished  comedian  and  musician,  Mike  Van  Acker  is  also  a professional photographer, and has been active, shooting at weddings since 2006.

“Mike was absolutely fantastic.  He was professional, friendly, energetic, dynamic, flexible in delivery, and we feel he really did go above and beyond the ‘call of duty’. He had exceptional time management skills and was able to assist us in dealing with a couple of stressful situations that occurred during our Conference.  He met with us beforehand to discuss our needs and he exceeded all of our expectations. Funny, friendly, fabulous and highly recommended to all”

-Melissa Upson, Conference Manager, Voc Ed Learning Group