Who is Gig Clarke?
An aspiring cool dude and misplaced cartoon character. Performer, part-time sellout and wannabe art-world figure. My mum sometimes thinks I’m cool.
What would you do differently to what you do now?
I’d always be making something for the sole purpose of having fun. Not a show for the hope of pitching it or a meeting to discuss story concepts, just getting in a studio with friends to dance/laugh/have fun. Laughter is the healthiest.
Who inspires you and why?
Anyone who isn’t somehow trying to sell something. Healthcare workers, activists, volunteers. Anyone who is trying to effect change and help people or the environment. Politicians of course do not count as all they are pedaling things constantly. Pedaling LIES.
What would you do to make a difference in the world?
Have the courage, conviction and self-discipline to really commit to a cause beyond simply donating, recycling, avoiding excessive packaging, volunteering here and there etc.
Favourite holiday destination and why?
This might sound intense but years ago I bought a passport to the Melbourne International Film Festival, and across the two weeks of the festival I saw approximately 6 films a day. IT WAS INCREDIBLE. I know what you’re thinking but I developed a film watching fitness and got used to it. The breadth of the stories I heard, the worlds I visited and the places I went to left me feeling like anything was possible. Actually travelling in real life is for dorks.
When friends come to town, what attraction would you take them to, and why?
Something nature outside the city? The Warburton Valley just outside Melbourne. Otherwise I guess I’d drag them to whichever pretentious coffee spot I’d convinced myself I’d ‘discovered’.
What are you currently reading?
The Steve Jobs biography by Walter Isaacson. It’s great but I haven’t touched it for ages. I’m still stuck at the beginning where he’s being a new age jerk at uni and doing heaps of acid. But who’s got time to read when you can play computer games! Am I right? …Hello?
What are you currently listening to?
I am going to use this question to mention the television show Rick and Morty. It is truth. It is life. It is my everything. It is a close as I get to religious fervor. (If you have not seen it: A crude sci-fi cartoon with fart jokes and extensive pop-culture references.)
Happiness is?
Ah jeez. I dunno. The correct balance of chemicals? A merry state of delusion? When your gut microbiota is in balance and functional? Mass gains at the gym? I slept in this morning and that felt kinda good.
What does the future hold for you?
At least two more existential crises. No more wondering if I’m a morning swim person though, I’m done with that. The answer is no.
Gig is starring alongside Cameron Daddo in The Haunting by Hugh Janes at Melbourne’s Athenaeum Theatre: 16 June – 1 July 2017. For more information, visit: www.ticketek.com.au for details.
Image: Gig Clarke (supplied)