From the skies to the wings (and beyond!)

Next week - I’m off to the Australian AirShow at Avalon! (Why is this worthy of an exclamation point?)

Well, in high school, I had a very different career path in mind. I was studying maths/science and every Friday night and on weekends, serving as an Air Cadet. Those formative years were important to me - they taught me a lot about discipline, leadership and respect - not to mention the value of hard work. So for Grades 8,9 & 10 my intention was to be one of the first to graduate from @Australia defence force academy and enter (what was then known as) the RAAF - hopefully as a pilot!

So what happened? How’d this kid with a love for planes, marching and uniforms end up working in live performance???

Well, in Grade 10 some friends and I entered the Pine Rivers High School Talent Quest with and act we called “The Bohemian Philosophical Entertainment Society” and won the audience vote.?

That lead to my music teacher asking me to be in my Grade 11 school musical “How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying” (as the voice of the book - the first voiceover job of what would later become a 30+ year career) and the gameshow host in act two (a role which I would reprise throughout my life also). I fell hard for theatre - it was fun, interesting, there were so many roles and it was teamwork - which cadets had finetuned me for!?

I moved schools for my senior year due to my parent's breakup (and 3rd high school for me!) but the first thing I did was sign up for the musical - taking out the lead this time in “Guys & Dolls”. By now, I’d dropped the idea of a career in defence and was actively involved in youth theatre - even working on large-scale festivals with international acts. Plus 1988 in Brisbane was World Expo - Australia had literally never seen so much great theatre!?

As most in the biz that is show know, Brisbane is home to one of the best acting schools in the country at QUT. My Mum and my Aunty had both served as secretaries at the Drama Department there and by this time I was taking vocal classes with the awesome Dianne Eden and doing as much theatre as I could with my focus now on joining the Bachelor of Arts (Drama) Program. (Side note: Zara Love is still the youngest person ever to have attended QUT!)?

Due to a low TE from all my extracurricular activity - I was knocked back from QUT (as an audition plus suitable TE was required).

So, 1989 became a “gap year” for me and I graduated from youth theatre to appear in my first three mainhouse shows at La Boite Theatre in Brisbane; Romeo & Juliet, Equus and My Son the Lawyer is Drowning. The first and last shows lead to another actor there (who was on a company board) asking me to provide some street theatre for a series of events in North Qld - my first ever paid gig! That, in turn, lead to meeting the comedian at these events ( STEVE HADDAN ) who offered to pay me to write for his “Not Quite the News” comedy segment (the biggest thing on radio at the time) which I loved and was the beginning of a relationship with radio that lasts to this day also!

By year’s end, due to a loop-hole I’d discovered in the ASAT program -? I was able to have my TE score retested and this time it was high enough to match my audition and I had an offer to study acting at QUT with so many wonderful, influential teachers then including Sean Mee , Dr Rod Whissler and many others.?

I loved acting college, but didn’t last to the end of the degree! After my first year - Warner Brothers MovieWorld was about to open on the Gold Coast and I thought “Why study acting when I can go do it and be paid?”

And that kicked off another decade of work in street theatre, acting, comedy clubs, voiceovers for radio and TV - including my first gig with Eileen McCarthy, MA as “kid wrangler” (studio warmup) and voice on the inaugural Australian season of #SaturdayDisney. Eileen & I would meet many years later when she commissioned our #animation series for KidsCo which would be seen in 90+ countries and 16+ languages.

And now, in 2023 - Zara & I are celebrating 30-years of our company Humour Australia Pty Ltd (t/a Great Talk) with incredibly diverse and interesting work here and internationally. We are so blessed to have a career doing what we love and loving what we do! Thank you to everyone who’s been any part of that with us - we appreciate it (and you!)

The point is, you never know where life will take you… you can only do your best, look for the clues and follow your heart - life’s too short (and too long) to not be doing what you really love.

I’m forever thankful for that change of direction as a teenager - but haven’t lost the love of planes - so if you’re off to the Airshow - see you there! #eyestothesky

#greattalk #troyandzara #lovestorytelling #lovetheloves