Hamish Blake (born 11 December 1981) is an Australian comedian from Melbourne, Victoria. Since 2003, he has frequently worked with Andy Lee as part of the comedy duo Hamish and Andy. The pair have performed live and on television and radio, most notably with their popular drive-time radio program Hamish & Andy. As a solo performer, Blake has also appeared on various Australian television programs, including the Melbourne International Comedy Festival's televised 2008 Great Debate. He has been a regular guest on Spicks and Specks and Thank God You're Here.

Personal background

Hamish Blake grew up in the Victorian suburb of Glen Waverley. He is a middle child; his older brother, Lachlan, is a solicitor and his sister, Sophie, has completed an arts degree. His parents, Noel and Kerry, separated when Blake was 17, with his father eventually remarrying. As a child, Blake says he was a fan of British comedy such as Monty Python, Fawlty Towers and Blackadder; as a teenager he "worshipped" comedians Tony Martin and Mick Molloy. He attended school at St Leonard's College, graduating in 1999 in the top 1.1 per cent of the state.

After a gap year, Blake enrolled at the University of Melbourne in a Science/Commerce double degree. "I'm interested in artificial intelligence and computer science. That stuff still fascinates me." He says. However, a few weeks into the semester he met Andy Lee: "That was the turning point. The wheels quickly fell off my academic career." Blake eventually dropped out of university to pursue a career in comedy alongside Lee. Blake's first experience with comedy was when he entered a competition at university. He was broke at the time, and hoped to win the $500 first prize. His stand-up performance earned him third place and qualified him for a statewide universities' final, which he did win.

Blake's girlfriend, Anna Jennings-Edquist, is an actress who formerly starred in the Australian soap opera Neighbours. As of November 2007 they had been dating almost 3 years. Hamish is an atheist.

Career

Hamish and Andy

Blake has collaborated with fellow comedian Andy Lee as the duo Hamish and Andy since 2003, when they performed their breakout show at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, a stage production about a trip they had taken to North Queensland in Blake's old car. Soon after they gained a drive-time shift on RMIT's SYN Radio and a show called Radio Karate on community-access television station Channel 31, which they created in collaboration with Ryan Shelton and several other school friends. Radio Karate won an Antenna Award for best comedy program at the inaugural National Community Television Awards in February 2004, and one month later were offered a national comedy program on Australia's Seven Network.

The Hamish and Andy Show premiered on the Seven Network in March 2005, but failed to achieve ratings success and was cancelled after two weeks. Reviewers acknowledged the duo's talent, but criticised the show as "poorly executed". Blake says that while working on the show was a fun experience, they had little control over what happened and the way it went forward. Following the cancellation of The Hamish and Andy Show, they created a short mockumentary titled The Greystone 2800 about a couple who accidentally bought an open display home after failing to read the fine print on a housing purchase. The film won the Melbourne Comedy Festival Short Film competition and attracted the attention of comedian Rove McManus. This led to some small spots on McManus' Network Ten show Rove Live.

McManus's company, Roving Enterprises, also helped the duo develop Real Stories, a mock current affairs show that aired on Network Ten in 2006. Blake says that the experience of creating Real Stories was much more enjoyable than The Hamish and Andy Show because they had greater control over the series. Blake and Lee wrote, acted, directed, filmed and produced the show with input from Ryan Shelton and Tim Bartley.

In 2006, Blake and Lee debuted a national drive-time radio show titled Hamish & Andy on the Today Network. The show quickly gained popularity, finishing 2006 with almost one million Melbourne listeners, ahead of 3AW's popular radio host Derryn Hinch. As of August 2008, Blake and Lee's show was rating number one in four out of Australia's five major capital cities.

In September 2008, it was announced that they would make a guest appearance on Ten's Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader?, which is hosted by McManus.

Solo work

Blake has appeared on various Australian television series, including Spicks and Specks, Thank God You're Here, Australia's Brainiest Comedian, The Panel, Rove Live and The Footy Show. He has also featured in the British version of Thank God You're Here. In 2008 he was a speaker for the negative team in the Melbourne International Comedy Festival's annual televised Great Debate.

He has a monthly column in the Australian women's magazine Cosmopolitan. He was also the winner of the TV Fugly Award for Spunkiest Male TV Personality in 2008.

References

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