Thomas Francis Gleeson (born 2 June 1974) is an Australian stand-up comedian, writer, television and radio presenter. Gleeson formerly co-hosted ''

The Weekly with Charlie Pickering ''The Weekly with Charlie Pickering'' is an Australian news satire series on the ABC. The series premiered on 22 April 2015, featuring Charlie Pickering as host with Tom Gleeson, Adam Briggs and Judith Lucy in the cast who joined the show i ...

'' alongside

Judith Lucy Judith Mary Lucy (born 25 March 1968) is an Australian comedian and actress, known primarily for her stand-up comedy. Lucy joined the team of the ABC's '' The Weekly with Charlie Pickering'' in 2019. Early life Lucy's adoptive parents emigr ...

and currently hosts ''

Hard Quiz ''Hard Quiz'' is an Australian television comedy quiz show which premiered on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) on 19 October 2016. Hosted by Tom Gleeson, the show is a spin-off of his "Hard Chat" segment on the satirical televisio ...

'', both on the

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-own ...

(ABC). In 2019, Gleeson won the Gold Logie Award for Most Popular Personality on Television.

Early life

Gleeson was born in

Gunnedah, New South Wales Gunnedah is a town in north-eastern New South Wales, Australia and is the seat of the Gunnedah Shire local government area. In the the town recorded a population of 9,726. Gunnedah is situated within the Liverpool Plains, a fertile agricult ...

, and lived at nearby

Tambar Springs Tambar Springs is a town in the North West Slopes region of New South Wales, Australia. At the , Tambar Springs and the surrounding area had a population of 187. Geography The town is in the Gunnedah Shire Council local government area, nort ...

before boarding at St. Joseph's College, Hunters Hill, in Sydney. He graduated from the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's ...

with a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...

in mathematics and

physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

. During his degree, Gleeson played the drums and occasionally sang vocals in an Australian band,

the Fantastic Leslie The Fantastic Leslie was a four-piece band from Sydney, Australia and was the starting point for three of Australia's popular and successful comedians and musicians. Biography The group formed in 1999, with Cameron Bruce, Andrew Hansen, Tom Gl ...

, before leaving for a career in comedy.

Career

Comedy

Gleeson's first stage appearance was as the character "Malcolm" (for two years) dressed in a flannelette shirt, tracksuit pants and a wig. He later went on to perform at major comedy events including the

Melbourne International Comedy Festival The Melbourne International Comedy Festival (MICF) is the largest stand-alone comedy festival and the second-largest international comedy festival in the world. Established in 1987, it takes place annually in Melbourne over four weeks, typicall ...

, Sydney Comedy Festival,

Adelaide Fringe The Adelaide Fringe, formerly Adelaide Fringe Festival, is the world's second-largest annual arts festival (after the Edinburgh Festival Fringe), held in the South Australian capital of Adelaide. Between mid-February and mid-March each year, ...

, Brisbane Comedy Festival, Perth Fringe World,

Edinburgh Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...

and Montreal Comedy Festival. In December 2007, Gleeson entertained Australian troops on active duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. He wrote of this experience in his book ''Playing Poker with the SAS: A comedy tour of Iraq and Afghanistan'', which was published in October 2008. Three of Gleeson's stand up shows have been nominated for the Helpmann Award for Best Comedy Performer: ''Tom On!'' (2007), ''Up Himself'' (2011) and ''Quality'' (2014). His stand up show ''Joy'' (2019) won Best Comedy at Perth Fringe World. His stand up show ''Lighten Up'' (2020) also won Best Comedy at the

Radio

From 2004 to 2005, Gleeson presented the Sydney and Melbourne evening radio program ''Tom & Subby'' with Subby Valentine on

Triple M Triple M is an Australian commercial radio network owned and operated by Southern Cross Austereo. The network consists of 40 radio stations broadcasting a mainstream rock music format and 5 digital radio stations. The network dates back to ...

. During 2009, Gleeson presented the Melbourne radio breakfast program ''Mix Mornings'' with

Brigitte Duclos Brigitte Duclos (born 13 December 1964) is an Australian television and radio presenter. Personal life Duclos, one of three sisters, was educated at Shelford Girls' Grammar. In December 2007, Duclos announced that she had split with husband ...

on Mix 101.1.

Television

In 2003 and 2004, Gleeson appeared in Network Ten's comedy sketch program ''

skitHOUSE ''Skithouse'' (styled ''skitHOUSE'') was an Australian sketch comedy television series that ran on Network Ten from 9 February 2003 to 28 July 2004. The series was produced by Roving Enterprises. It featured many well-known Australian comedia ...

'', playing various characters including the "Australian Fast Bowler", a parody of

Dennis Lillee Dennis Keith Lillee, (born 18 July 1949) is Australian retired cricketer rated as the "outstanding fast bowler of his generation".

. In 2006, Gleeson won Australia's Brainiest Radio Star. In 2008, he was a panelist on the short-lived '' Big Brother's Big Mouth''. In 2009, Gleeson was in the "They don't get it in Australia" advertising campaign, where he asks people in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

about

Red Rooster Red Rooster is an Australian fast food restaurant chain founded in 1972 that specialises in roast chicken, chicken burgers and fried chicken. Their product range includes whole roasts, half roasts, wraps, burgers, salads, beverages and desserts ...

. Gleeson also made several appearances on ''

Good News Week ''Good News Week'' is an Australian satirical panel game show hosted by Paul McDermott that aired from 19 April 1996 to 27 May 2000, and 11 February 2008 to 28 April 2012. The show's initial run aired on ABC until being bought by Network Ten ...

'' between 2008 and 2011. In 2013, Gleeson co-hosted Australian comedy chat show '' This Week Live'' with Tommy Little,

Dave Thornton Dave Thornton (born 13 December 1979) is an Australian stand-up comedian, actor, television and radio presenter. He has performed stand-up comedy throughout Australia, in Edinburgh, Singapore and New York. He has also appeared on Australian tele ...

and Meshel Laurie. In 2015, Gleeson appeared on the ABC satirical television news program ''

'', hosting the segments "This Is What You Think", "Go Away" and "Hard Chat". In 2016, he began presenting ''

'', a spin-off of his "Hard Chat" segment from ''The Weekly''. In 2017, Gleeson was credited for the decision to cast

Sophie Monk Sophie Charlene Akland Monk (born 14 December 1979) is an Australian singer, actress, model, and television personality. She was a member of the pop girl group Bardot, winners of the first season of '' Popstars Australia'' in 2000, and later re ...

as the lead in ''

The Bachelorette Australia ''The Bachelorette Australia'' is a reality television adaptation of the U.S. series of the same name, and a spin-off of '' The Bachelor Australia''. The series, hosted by Osher Günsberg, premiered on 23 September 2015 on Network 10 Net ...

''. Gleeson will host the upcoming Australian version of '' Taskmaster''. In 2022 he performed in a celebrity tribute to Australian comedian and actor Paul Hogan, Roast of Paul Hogan, which was broadcast on Australia’s Seven Network.

Awards and nominations

ARIA Music Awards

The ARIA Music Awards are a set of annual ceremonies presented by

Australian Recording Industry Association The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) is a trade association representing the Australian recording industry which was established in the 1970s by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing ...

(ARIA), which recognise excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of the

music of Australia The music of Australia has an extensive history made of music societies. Indigenous Australian music forms a significant part of the unique heritage of a 40,000- to 60,000-year history which produced the iconic didgeridoo. Contemporary fusions of ...

. They commenced in 1987. ! , - ,

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

, , ''Joy'' , , ARIA Award for Best Comedy Release , , , , , -

Logie Awards

! , - , 2019 , Tom Gleeson ,

Gold Logie The Gold Logie Award for Most Popular Personality on Australian Television, commonly referred to simply as the Gold Logie, is an award presented annually at the Australian Logie Awards. The Gold Logie was first awarded at the 2nd Annual TV We ...

, ,

References

External links

Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gleeson, Tom 1974 births Australian stand-up comedians Australian male comedians Comedians from Melbourne Gold Logie winners Living people People educated at St Joseph's College, Hunters Hill People from Sydney University of Sydney alumni