Tom Gleeson
It is rare to come across a talented comedian who is truly gifted in his art, such as Tom Gleeson. During the course of his checkered career, Gleeson has proved time and time again, that sheer hard work, true grit and believing in what you do, does finally bring their just desserts.
Born on 2 June 1974 at Gunneday, New South Wales, Gleeson moved to Sydney early on in life, where he attended St Joseph’s College and graduated from the Catholic GPS School in 1991. Tom Gleeson later graduated from the University of Sydney with a B.Sc in mathematics and physics. Being musically inclined as well, Gleeson learned to play the drums, and was a drummer for an Australian band, The Fantastic Leslie, in 1999, where he also sang.
Being in the entertainment industry facilitated a smooth transition for moving to the comedy circuit for Tom Gleeson, and between 2003 and 2004, Gleeson performed in the program skitHouse, which was aired on Network ten.
Tom Gleeson then went on to become one of the most prominent television personalities in the world of comedy in Australia, where he performed regularly for ACB Television’s The Weekly.
But Gleeson’s strongest ally seems to be his capacity to tour, and perform at a different venue, literally every day. He has appeared at all the three main comedy festivals which are annually held at Melbourne, Montreal and Edinburgh, and has the honor of having performed at the Kilkenny Comedy Festival, and invite-only affair in Ireland. He also supported the renowned comedy artist, Louis C K on his tour across Australia.
Tom Gleeson has performed at pretty much every single Australian capital city as well as in London, Dublin, New York, Los Angeles, Singapore, Hong Kong, Jakarta, and he also performed for troops in Afghanistan and Iraq. He had a six-year contract to perform at the Melbourne Comedy Festival Roadshow, from 2001 to 2007.
In 2012, Gleeson met with considerable success with his show, Good One, which is solely his own production. He has been a regular at the Adelaide Fringe, Brisbane Comedy Festival, Melbourne International Comedy Festival, Perth International Comedy Festival and the Sydney Comedy Store.
More recently, Tom Gleeson returned to television with a vengeance, with a new stage show Hello Bitches, where he brings out the lighter side of what’s going wrong today with Australia. In this respect, Tom Gleeson recently drew flak from a section of his audience recently with his dig at the Australian government’s policy of “defensive architecture”.
Tom Gleeson has been nominated twice for a Helpmann Award, and received the Piece of Wood Comedian’s Choice Award, twice.
Tom Gleeson is also a prolific writer, and published a book Playing Poker with the SAS: A Comedy Tour of Iraq and Afghanistan. He is also the author of a short story entitled The Italian Job, which was published as part of a collection of short stories by Random House.
As a true, blue stand-up Comedian, Tom Gleeson has really made his mark in comedian circles, and he has emerged as an international artist who has mastered to art of entertainment to perfection.
”His wit is lethal.”- Sydney Morning Herald
“Gleeson’s show is a winner.”- The Age
”Quick-witted and charismatic.”- Daily Telegraph
”He effortlessly converts energy into comedy”- Herald Sun
”He kept a full house roaring for nearly an hour”- Time Out
”Tom Gleeson will definitely satisfy.”- Adelaide Advertiser
”People were literally holding their stomachs and rocking with laughter during Gleeson’s show. The audience was hooked and honking with laughter.”- Adelaide Advertiser.