Thomas James Cashman (born 14 September 1989) is an Australian stand-up comedian and writer. In 2022, he posted videos on TikTok about his request for a landlord reference (a reference from a prospective landlord, written by a previous tenant of theirs). In 2023, he was a co-host of the Australian version of television series ''Taskmaster''.

Career

Cashman has appeared as a regular host on '' The Project'', and has guested on ''

The Hundred with Andy Lee ''The Hundred with Andy Lee'' is an Australian comedy panel television game show hosted by Andy Lee and starring Mike Goldstein. Format Andy Lee poses questions to three guest panellists, who battle it out to determine who knows Australia best. ...

'', '' Question Everything'', '' Celebrity Letters & Numbers'', and ''

Tonightly with Tom Ballard ''Tonightly with Tom Ballard'' was an Australian comedy entertainment show presented by comedian Tom Ballard and regular contributors Bridie Connell, Greg Larsen, Greta Lee Jackson and Nina Oyama. It aired on ABC Comedy from 4 December 2017 until ...

''. Cashman was also on the writing team for ''

Planet America ''Planet America'' is an Australian television news program on ABC News (Australian TV channel), ABC News. The program is co-hosted by John Barron and Chas Licciardello, and premiered on 10 February 2012. The program was launched to cover Ameri ...

'', ''

''., and ''

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

s '' Win the Week''. In April 2020, Cashman began hosting ''The Good Stuff'' podcast, alongside fellow comic Sam Taunton. In 2022, Cashman began presenting a regular segment on ''

Triple J Triple J (stylised in all lowercase) is a government-funded, national Australian Radio in Australia, radio station intended to appeal to listeners of alternative music, which began broadcasting in January 1975. The station also places a greate ...

.'' Also in 2022, Cashman began the show "All Comedians Are Beautiful" (ACAB) with his ''The Good Stuff'' co-host Sam Taunton. This weekly performance in the

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 ...

suburb of Chippendale began as a trial run for the comics' individual shows, and then developed into the duo compéring for a variety of other comedians. Cashman's shows include ''Good'' (2018), ''XYZ'' (2019) and ''Graphs'' (2022). In February 2023, ''

Taskmaster Australia ''Taskmaster Australia'' is an Australian comedy panel game show first broadcast on Network 10 in 2023. Based on the UK series '' Taskmaster'' created by comedian Alex Horne, it sets five comedians ridiculous tasks to complete, and judged against ...

'' began airing on

Network 10 Network 10 (commonly known as Ten Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network owned by Ten Network Holdings, a division of the Paramount Networks UK & Australia subsidiary of Paramount Global. One of five ...

, with Cashman in the role of the Taskmaster's assistant.

Landlord reference saga

During Sydney's second lockdown during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, Cashman began making videos on the popular social media app

TikTok TikTok, known in China as Douyin (), is a short-form video hosting service owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which can range in duration from 15 seconds to 10 minutes. TikTok is an international version ...

, with his 'landlord reference saga' gaining particular traction. In these videos, Cashman asked a prospective landlord for a reference written by a previous tenant, and shared their response. In addition to garnering millions of views, these videos inspired ACT politician

Michael Pettersson Michael Hugh Pettersson (born 1991) is an Australian politician. He has been a Member of the Legislative Assembly of the Australian Capital Territory since 2016 when he was elected as the Labor Party representative for the newly formed electo ...

to introduce a motion to the

ACT Legislative Assembly The Legislative Assembly for the Australian Capital Territory (known in short as the ACT Legislative Assembly) is the unicameral legislature of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). It sits in the Legislative Assembly Building on Civic Sq ...

which would allow renters to ask for references from prospective landlords.

References

Australian stand-up comedians Living people Australian television presenters Australian podcasters Australian TikTokers 1989 births {{Australia-comedian-stub