Tony Martin

Anthony Francis Martin (born 10 June 1964) is a New Zealand comedian, writer and actor, who has had a successful TV, radio, stand-up and film career in Australia.

Career

1980s A former stand-up comedian and commercial voice-over artist, Tony Martin moved to Brisbane, Australia, from New Zealand when he was 21 to work as a radio copywriter. Having worked in radio and amateur theatre back in NZ, Martin approached the ABCTV's The D-Generation in 1986 to work as a writer, only to be told that filming on the first series had been completed. In the interim, he was invited to work as a researcher on ABC-TV's The Gillies Republic, which was the follow-up to the highly successful political satire The Gillies Report (1984–85). The show was not a success, but Martin learnt a considerable amount from the production's mistakes, and he made his Australian TV debut as 'Man in Bad Suit' in episode 4. radio (1987–1992), which led to the 1990 compilation album The Breakfast Tapes. On air, Martin was frequently referred to by the other D-Gen members as "The Fat Man." Along with Rob Sitch, Martin left the radio show a little earlier than the other members to prepare The D-Gen's next venture for ABC TV (although he did make time to host Bulltwang, a Sunday Night radio show on Triple M with Mick Molloy, which ran for sixteen weeks in 1990).

1990s Instantly recognisable as the "tall skinny guy with glasses," Martin was one of the most valuable members of the D-Gen as a writer and performer on The Late Show (1992–1993). His co-introductions to almost every episode and "Street Interviews" segment highlighted his effective comedic partnership with Mick Molloy. Noted for his quick wit and passion for mimicry, Martin also appeared in countless Late Show sketches (including as sleazy filmmaker Warren Perso in the classic sketch: The Last Aussie Auteur), and provided the voices of Senior Sergeant Bargearse in the serial Bargearse (dubbed episodes of Bluey) and Governor Frontbottom and Judge Muttonchops in the serial The Olden Days (dubbed episodes of Rush). Martin compiled all three volumes of The Best Bits of The Late Show with Santo Cilauro and Wayne Marx, and also co-produced the "dangerously overstuffed" double DVD set, The Best Bits of The Late Show: Champagne Edition, which was released in 2001.

After The Late Show finished, Martin and Mick Molloy went on to develop and perform their top-rating national radio programme Martin/Molloy, which produced three ARIA award-winning compilation albums: The Brown Album (1995), Poop Chute (1996) and Eat Your Peas (1998).

2000s In 2000, Martin was nominated for the Melbourne International Comedy Festival Award for his show A Quiet Word with Tony Martin. He made several guest appearances on Thank God You're Here, The Panel, The Mick Molloy Show (reprising his "Street Interview" skills), Kath & Kim (as Magda Szubanski's fiddle-playing boyfriend), and Welcher and Welcher. In 2004, Tony Martin and Shaun Micallef began work on a TV sketch comedy series for the ABC with the working title Mouse-Patrol but after they wrote enough material for the first three episodes, the project was cancelled by management, much to Martin's disappointment who commented in an interview in 2009 that the un-filmed scripts contained the best sketch stuff he had written for TV.

On 3 April 2006, Martin returned to the Austereo network to produce a nationally syndicated show with Ed Kavalee and Richard Marsland on Triple M named Get This. Although Get This was a ratings success and developed a dedicated legion of fans, on 16 October 2007 Triple M announced that the show would be axed, so the network could focus company attention and resources on new breakfast shows debuting across the country such as The Shebang in Sydney and a new, multimillion-dollar Melbourne-based show presented by Peter Helliar and Myf Warhurst, both of which were ironically also cancelled by Triple M over the next couple of years. Towards the end of the show's run, a gathering of about 170 devoted fans took place outside the Triple M studios in Melbourne on 5 November 2007 to protest against the cancellation of the program.

Martin wrote an online column called "Scarcely Relevant" at The Scrivener's Fancy which was updated weekly 2009–2011. The website was placed on hiatus in June 2011 so Martin could concentrate on his latest TV project. The site was closed in November 2011. As of June 2012, the archived columns are available to download as an eBook.

Martin directed episodes of ABC TV's The Librarians and Judith Lucy's Spiritual Journey, and, from 2008 to 2015, co-hosted shifts on 3RRR with Tony Wilson as The Two Tones.

2010s After a successful guest appearance on Sunday Arts (ABC-TV) in 2009 in which he interviewed US writer and lecturer Robert McKee, Martin commenced working on a new programme called A Quiet Word With ... which began airing on ABC1 on 28 September 2010. Rather than being a conventional celebrity-interview show, the programme featured Martin having relaxed and informal conversations with comedians and performers that he admired, and in some cases, had worked with during his own career. The first two episodes, featuring English comedian Bill Bailey and US actor and writer Carrie Fisher, were aired, respectively, in September and November 2010. The remaining ten episodes were screened weekly on ABC1 from 2 April 2011, beginning with British actor and comedian Alan Davies, and concluding on 4 June 2011 with British actor and writer Richard E Grant.

In February 2011, Martin appeared as one of the regulars on the radio-comedy programme The Lonely Hearts Club which was broadcast weekly on ABC Radio National on Saturday nights from 10 pm to midnight. The show, delivered in a deadpan, straight fashion, featured an uncredited Martin appearing under the pseudonym of 39-year-old Duncan Jardine, one of Australia's most successful second-unit directors, alongside Angus Sampson, Stephen Curry and Sam Pang also uncredited as fictitious co-hosts. The first episode was broadcast on 12 February 2011 and the eighth and final episode was heard on 2 April 2011.

In December 2010, the Nine Network announced that Martin would be reunited with his former co-host on Get This, Ed Kavalee, for an upcoming comedy show entitled The Joy of Sets. This comedy television series looking at the elements used to construct television shows, commenced screening on 20 September 2011 in the 9:00 pm Tuesday timeslot on Nine. The debut episode rated well but audience figures declined for the subsequent episodes, prompting Channel 9 to move the show to a later timeslot of 10.30pm midway through the series. The eighth and final episode aired on 8 November 2011.

In late 2012, Martin wrote and directed episodes of a new eight-part comedy series Upper Middle Bogan, filmed on location in Melbourne and which aired on ABC-TV in August 2013. The series was created and written by Wayne Hope and Robyn Butler of Gristmill Productions who also created The Librarians and Very Small Business. Martin later wrote and directed episodes of the second series of the show in 2014.

In 2013, Martin announced via Twitter that he was in the UK working as a co-writer on Ross Noble's new comedy-travelogue programme Freewheeling which aired on the UK comedy channel Dave. Back home, Martin made a return to live comedy with his show The Yeti opening at the Melbourne Fringe Festival in September 2013. In 2015, Martin performed at the Melbourne Fringe with his show The Arse/Elbow Equation which he later performed at Brisbane Arts Theatre in early 2016.

In 2014, Martin and writer/editor Sarina Rowell began writing a new sitcom, Childproof, about a couple who decide not to have children. But after two years of pitching the idea, they were unable to sell the project to any of the TV networks. Instead, in September 2017, Martin and comedian Geraldine Quinn recorded the scripts as a live podcast at the Melbourne Fringe Festival, later downloadable for free. Childproof was subsequently named Best Comedy Podcast at the 2018 Australian Podcast Awards.

From 2015, Martin became a guest vocalist for Damian Cowell's Disco Machine, performing in their live shows, and appearing on their self-titled 2015 album, their 2017 album Get Yer Dag On, and 2021's Only The Shit You Love. In May 2016, he joined the Nova 100 breakfast show Chrissie, Sam & Browny, initially as a temporary replacement for regular co-host Sam Pang, and then as a weekly guest co-host until the show ended in December 2022. Since 2016, Martin has also appeared as a regular co-host on Ed Kavalee's T.E.A.M Effort podcast, His first novel Deadly Kerfuffle was published by Affirm Press in October 2017. In May 2018, Martin & producer Matt Dower began releasing a new fortnightly comedy podcast Sizzletown which by mid-August had achieved over 160,000 downloads. Sizzletown won Best Comedy Podcast and Outstanding Podcast Production at the 2019 Australian Podcast Awards.

From 2017, Martin has been a regular panelist on comedy game show Have You Been Paying Attention?, and from 2018 to 2022, was the official announcer for the TV Week Logie Awards.

2020s

In 2022, Martin produced and directed the web series Shut Up, written by Sarina Rowell and starring Debra Lawrance and Celia Pacquola. In 2023, he was a staff writer on Aunty Donna's Coffee Cafe.

In 2024, Damian Cowell and Martin formed the electropop duo Arseless Chaps. In 2025, they released three singles, "Pong", "Lance the Unbeautiful" and "Fosagawi", and three versions of their debut album Arseless Chaps . Also in 2025, Martin performed at the Adelaide Fringe and toured with his show Gasbag, and in December, he and Matt Dower released the 100th episode of Sizzletown.

Movies Martin wrote, produced and directed the 2003 comedy movie Bad Eggs (in which he also made a cameo appearance as a game show host), and wrote and directed the unreleased 2007 mockumentary BoyTown Confidential. He has also played minor roles in several films (mostly those of former Late Show colleagues), including The Castle (1997), Tackle Happy (2000), Crackerjack (2002) and BoyTown (2006). He had roles in two films made by his former Get This co-host Ed Kavalee: Scumbus (2012) and Border Protection Squad (2012).

Books Martin's first book, Lolly Scramble, a collection of humorous autobiographical essays, was published in 2005. His second book, A Nest of Occasionals, was released in October 2009. The latter, reprinted in a second edition in April 2011, was voted as the best work of Australian comedy in any medium in 2009 by the comedy review website Australian Tumbleweeds. In 2012, Scarcely Relevant, a collection of Martin's columns from the now closed Scriveners Fancy website, was released online as an eBook. Martin's 2017 novel Deadly Kerfuffle was shortlisted for the 2019 Russell Prize.

Personal life Martin grew up in the small New Zealand towns of Te Kūiti and Thames. For two years as a child, he lived on a boat for five months of the year, as his father was a part-time amateur marlin fisherman. Since there was no TV, he would listen to radio programs like The Goon Show and try to copy the voices.

In 2009 Martin embarked on a venture to walk every street in Melbourne. Nine News aired a story on his project in August 2017.

Filmography Feature Films Year Title Role Notes Ref 2015 Border Protection Squad Nick 2014 The Heckler TV Host 2012 Scumbus Luke Gower 2006 BoyTown Kenny Larkin Second Unit Director 2003 Bad Eggs Gavin Clack Director, Writer, Producer, Casting Director 2002 Crackerjack Les Nestor Guru Wayne Executive Producer 2000 Tackle Happy Himself Special Thanks 1997 The Castle Adam Hammill Special Thanks Television Year Title Role Notes Ref2025 Sam Pang Tonight Guest Announcer 2 episodes Shaun Micallef's Eve of Destruction Himself 1 episode Guy Montgomery's Guy Mont-Spelling Bee Himself 1 episode 2023 Aunty Donna's Coffee Cafe Himself 1 episode The Hundred with Andy Lee Himself 1 episode 2021-22 The Cheap Seats Himself 2 episodes 2020 The Weekly with Charlie Pickering Himself 1 episode 2019 Hughesy, We Have a Problem Himself 1 episode 2017-2026 Have You Been Paying Attention? Himself 28 episodes 2015-2017 Stop Laughing...This Is Serious Himself 5 episodes2014 Famous with Luis Himself #1.1 Shaun Micallef's Mad as Hell ABC Sports Commentator #3.8 The Flamin' Thongs Various characters (Voice) 8 episodes 2013 Dirty Laundry Live Himself #1.13 Freewheeling Co-writer 2012–2014 Upper Middle Bogan Co-director & co-writer 2 series The Joy of Sets Himself Writer, host The Bazura Project Interviewer Cameo appearance Judith Lucy's Spiritual Journey FM Radio Host Series Director Dogstar Voice #2.23 & #2.25 Adam Hills Tonight Himself 1 episode 2010–2011 A Quiet Word With ... Himself Creator, executive producer, host 2010 Santo, Sam and Ed's Cup Fever! Himself Episode 13 June 2010 2009 Talkin' 'bout Your Generation Himself 1 episode ADbc Himself 12 episodes The Chaser's War on Everything Himself The Librarians Gene Director series 3 Shaun Micallef's New Year's Rave Himself Sunday Arts Himself Guest Interviewer 2008–2014 Spicks and Specks Himself 5 episodes 2008 Very Small Business Himself DVD extras 2007–2008 Newstopia Giles & Waiter 2 episodes 2006–2024 Thank God You're Here Himself #2.1, #2.7, #2.10, #3.3, #3.7, #4.5, #5.3, #6.3 2003–2004 Kath & Kim Mark #1.1, #1.8, #2.4, #2.8 2003 Welcher & Welcher Sex-Shop Proprietor #1.3 Micallef Tonight Himself #1.12 & DVD commentary 2001 The Micallef Program Himself (voice) #3.7 2000 The Games Barman #2.13 1999 The Mick Molloy Show Various characters/Himself Director, writer, 1997 The D-Generation: The Bottom Drawer Various characters Writer, editor 1993 It Seemed Like a Good Idea (At the Time)- John Farnham Himself Music Video Bargearse Sen Sgt Bargearse Director, writer, editor, voice The Olden Days Gov Frontbottom & Judge Muttonchops Director, writer, editor, voice 1992–1993 The Late Show Various characters Director, producer, writer 1988–1989 The D-Generation Goes Commercial Various characters Writer 1987 The D-Generation Various characters Writer 1986 Rubbery Figures Various characters Writer, Puppeteer, Sound Effects Editor The Gillies Republic Man in Bad Suit Writer, Researcher Radio broadcasting Year Title Role Network Notes 2016–2022 Chrissie, Sam & Browny Weekly co-host Nova 100 No longer on air. 2015 Arseless Chaps Co-host 3RRR No longer on air 2011 The Lonely Hearts Club Co-host (uncredited) ABC Radio National Short series 2008 – 2015 The Two Tones Co-host, producer, writer, 3RRR No longer on air. 2006–2007 Get This Co-creator, co-host, producer, writer Triple M Network No longer on air. 1995–1998 Martin/Molloy Co-creator, co-host, producer, writer Austereo Network No longer on air. 1990 Bulltwang Co-host, writer, producer Triple M Melbourne No longer on air. 1987–1991 The D-Generation Breakfast Show Co-creator, co-host, writer, producer Triple M Melbourne No longer on air.

Podcasts Tribute to Richard Marsland (Triple M Network) December 2008 Summer Lovin (Nova) 2010–2012 I Love Green-Guide Letters (episodes 21 & 65) (iTunes & www.ilovegreenguideletters.com) April 2012 & March 2013 The Little Dum Dum Club (episodes 131, 158 & 233) (www.dumdumclub.libsyn.com) March 2013, October 2013 & March 2015 Dumbed down atheist (episode 36d) ( http://www.spreaker.com/user/4582839/dumbed_down_atheist_36d_melb_comedy_fest & iTunes ) Can You Take This Photo Please? (with Justin Hamilton) T.E.A.M Effort (Triple M Network) 2016-) (iTunes) Childproof (2017) (co-written with Sarina Rowell) Sizzletown (2018-) (with Matt Dower) From the Hideout (2023-) (with Pete Smith and Djovan Caro)

Discography Albums Name Album details Peak chart positions Certification AUS as part of The D-Generation The Satanic Sketches Released: December 1989 Label: Mushroom Records (L-30223) Format: LP, Cassette, CD 50 The Breakfast Tapes (1988-90) Released: September 1990 Label: Mushroom Records (L-30421) Format: LP, Cassette, CD 47as part of Martin/Molloy The Brown Album Released: December 1995 Label: Mushroom Records (D98019) Format: 2xCD, 2xCassette 17 ARIA: Gold Label: DRW Format: LP, CD, Digital

Awards ARIA Music Awards The ARIA Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of Australian music. Martin has been part of four winning ensembles, all in the category of ARIA Award for Best Comedy Release.

1990 The Satanic Sketches

1991 The Breakfast Tapes (1988-90)

1996

1997 Poop Chute| 1999 Eat Your Peas|

Books Lolly Scramble (Pan Macmillan 2005) A Nest of Occasionals (Picador 2009) Scarcely Relevant (ebook 2012) Deadly Kerfuffle'' (Affirm Press 2017)