Jon Doust is a comedian, writer, novelist and professional speaker, born in

Bridgetown, Western Australia Bridgetown is a town in the South West (Western Australia), South West region of Western Australia, approximately south of Perth on the Blackwood River at the intersection of South Western Highway with Brockman Highway to Nannup, Western Austra ...

, who lives in

Albany, Western Australia Albany ( ; nys, Kinjarling) is a port city in the Great Southern region in the Australian state of Western Australia, southeast of Perth, the state capital. The city centre is at the northern edge of Princess Royal Harbour, which is a ...

. He gained a BA majoring in English from the

Western Australian Institute of Technology Curtin University, formerly known as Curtin University of Technology and Western Australian Institute of Technology (WAIT), is an Australian public research university based in Bentley, Perth, Western Australia. It is named after John Curtin, ...

(now Curtin University) and worked in farming, retailing and journalism before pursuing a career in comedy and writing.

Comedy

He has performed at a number of comedy venues and festivals, including the

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...

Comedy Festival in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

and the ''Palandri International Comedy Festival'' in

Margaret River The Margaret River is a river in southwest Western Australia. In a small catchment, it is the eponym of the town and tourist region of Margaret River. The river arises from a catchment of just 40 square kilometres in the Whicher Range. The ...

. He has supported local and international comedy acts including

Alexei Sayle Alexei David Sayle (born 7 August 1952) is an English actor, author, stand-up comedian, television presenter and former recording artist. He was a leading figure in the British alternative comedy movement in the 1980s. He was voted the 18th gr ...

Hale and Pace Hale and Pace were an English comedy double-act that performed in clubs and on radio and television in the United Kingdom in the 1980s and 1990s. The duo was made up of Gareth Hale and Norman Pace, with the ''Hale and Pace'' television show r ...

Richard Stubbs Richard Stubbs (born 4 November 1957) is an Australian radio and television presenter, writer and comedian. Career Stubbs was educated at Wesley College, Melbourne, where he was school captain. He then completed a Bachelor of Economics degree ...

Rachel Berger Rachel Berger is an Australian comedian, actress, and writer. Berger was born in Israel to Polish Jewish parents and emigrated to Melbourne at the age of five.Wilmoth, Peter, "Sticking to the script", The Weekly Review, 2 June 2010, She is a ...

and illusionist Robert Gallop. He has been a regular voice on local ABC radio stations, including at one stage a regular inhabitant of the Sunday radio programmes of Peter Holland among others. He was a regular guest on ABC Radio's

Ted Bull Arthur William "Ted" Bull (1898 – 10 April 1967) was an Australian rower. He was twice the Australian national sculling champion who represented at the 1924 Olympics. Rowing career Bull joined the Leichhardt Rowing Club after WWI. In 1922 ...

programme. Doust was a guest lecturer at the

Curtin University Curtin University, formerly known as Curtin University of Technology and Western Australian Institute of Technology (WAIT), is an Australian public research university based in Bentley, Perth, Western Australia. It is named after John Curtin, ...

Business School's Centre for Entrepreneurship and for many years ran a

University of Western Australia The University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Perth, the state capital, with a secondary campus in Albany, Western Australia, Albany an ...

Extension Program course entitled ''How to Laugh Your Way out of a Paper bag'', in collaboration with others including Steve Wells and Don Smith.

Politics

In the

1993 Australian federal election The 1993 Australian federal election was held to determine the members of the 37th Parliament of Australia. It was held on 13 March 1993. All 147 seats of the Australian House of Representatives and 40 seats of the 76-seat Australian Senate we ...

, he unsuccessfully stood for the seat of Curtin against incumbent

Allan Rocher Allan Charles Rocher (16 February 193618 March 2016), Australian politician, was a Liberal Party of Australia Senator for Western Australia from 1978 to 1981 and member of the Australian House of Representatives Division of Curtin from 1981 to ...

gaining only 428 votes (0.59%). His campaign slogan was "Put me last!". In the

1998 Australian federal election The 1998 Australian federal election was held to determine the members of the 39th Parliament of Australia. It was held on 3 October 1998. All 148 seats of the House of Representatives and 40 seats of the 76-seat Senate were up for election. T ...

he stood against sitting member

Geoff Prosser Geoffrey Daniel Prosser (born 6 November 1948) is an Australian businessman and former politician. He served in the Australian House of Representatives, House of Representatives from 1987 to 2007, representing the Liberal Party of Australia, L ...

in the seat of Forrest, this time gaining 424 votes (0.56%).

Writing

Doust has co-authored with

Ken Spillman Ken Spillman (born 11 June 1959) is an Australian writer based in Perth, Western Australia, whose work has spanned diverse genres including poetry, sports writing and literary criticism. He is best known as a prolific author of books for childre ...

two children's books, ''Magpie Mischief'' (2002) and ''Magwheel Madness'' (2005) - both published by

Fremantle Arts Centre Press Fremantle Press (formerly known as Fremantle Arts Centre Press) is an independent publisher in Western Australia. Fremantle Press was established by the Fremantle Arts Centre in 1976. It focuses on publishing Western Australian writers and writin ...

, as well as short stories published in anthologies and ''

The West Australian ''The West Australian'' is the only locally edited daily newspaper published in Perth, Western Australia. It is owned by Seven West Media (SWM), as is the state's other major newspaper, ''The Sunday Times''. It is the second-oldest continuousl ...

'' newspaper. He has also self-published two small books titled ''How to lose an election'' and ''Letters to the police and other species''. Early in his career he was a writer for Perth's ''

Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...

'' newspaper as a reviewer of computer technology. He was later a columnist on the weekend edition of

newspaper, with clearly autobiographical references in his work. He was shortlisted for the Western Australian Writer's Fellowship at the 2020

Western Australian Premier's Book Awards The Western Australian Premier's Book Awards is an annual book award provided by the Government of Western Australia, and managed by the State Library of Western Australia. History and format Annual literary awards were inaugurated by the Wes ...

Novels

Doust's novels are ''Boy on a Wire'', ''To the Highlands'' and ''Return Ticket''. * ''Boy on a Wire'' is based on boarding school experiences in Perth, Western Australia. * ''To the Highlands'' was based on experiences on a South Pacific island. * ''Return Ticket'' has included experiences between Australia, South Africa and

Kibbutz A kibbutz ( he, קִבּוּץ / , lit. "gathering, clustering"; plural: kibbutzim / ) is an intentional community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. The first kibbutz, established in 1909, was Degania. Today, farming h ...

living in Israel.

Works

* (1992) ''Letters to the police — and other species'' with George Gosh. Lesmurdie, W.A: Wordplay. * (1993) ''Better than a poke in the eye: a few notes, tips and things to do to help you increase the laughage in your life'' Lesmurdie W.A.: Wordplay. * (1993) ''How to — lose an election'' Lesmurdie, W.A: Wordplay. * (2002) with Ken Spillman ''Magpie mischief'' (illustrations by Marion Duke). Fremantle, W.A. Fremantle Arts Centre Press. * (2005) with Ken Spillman ''Magwheel madness'' (illustrations by Marion Duke). Fremantle, W.A. Fremantle Arts Centre Press. * (2009) ''Boy on a Wire'', Fremantle Press, * (2012) ''To the Highlands'', Fremantle Press, * (2020) ''Return Ticket'', Fremantle Press,

Anthologies

* (1997) ''Great Australian Bites'', ed. Dave Warner, Fremantle Arts Centre Press. * (1997) ''Fathers in Writing'', ed. Ross Fitzgerald and Ken Spillman, Tuart House.

Notes

External links

boyonawire.blogspot.comjondoust.iinet.net.au
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Doust, Jon Australian male novelists 21st-century Australian male writers 21st-century Australian novelists Australian children's writers Australian male comedians People educated at Christ Church Grammar School Curtin University alumni People from Albany, Western Australia People from Bridgetown, Western Australia Living people Year of birth missing (living people)