Nathan Chin: Australia’s Funniest Lawyers

Lawyer turned-comedian Nathan Chin calls in to talk about the strange phenomenon of Australian lawyers taking up being professionally funny and  the link between the two… and his Fringe show ‘Australia’s Funniest Lawyers’.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Sign for another Fringe Festival act with Clazy and Lisa.
Fringe continues. You can catch Australia's Funniest Lawyers at Lenot's
Lounge in Northbridge from the eleventh to the sixteenth of February.
Tickets are available through fringeworld dot com dot AU. One
of those lawyers is Nathan Chin. He's joining us.

Speaker 2 (00:20):
Good morning, I mean, guys, how's it going good?

Speaker 1 (00:24):
So, Nathan, are you a practicing lawyer?

Speaker 2 (00:28):
Not anymore? Some of them went to my show?

Speaker 3 (00:31):
Yeah, my career wouldn't past very long, might not get
to the clients.

Speaker 1 (00:36):
Well, tell us how the show works. You've got four
lawyers turn comedians, not an uncommon switch of careers I've
noticed over many years. And you all performs, I know,
I know.

Speaker 2 (00:49):
Yeah, So basically, yeah, it's a bunch of us. We've
gone together. A lot of people were doing our own
solo fine show as well, so this is a bit
of an opportunity to fly for that as well. You get,
you know, a bit of a short ten to fifteen
minute taste of their set, you know, but it's obviously
also tailored to a law crowd, a corporate crowd. But
obviously you know, if you enjoy witty political that style

(01:13):
of humor anyway, then like I think it's is for everyone.
It's not just for lawyers.

Speaker 3 (01:18):
Yeah, gotcha and Nason. When I got divorced about twenty
years ago, I saw the billing the way my divorce
lawyer builed me, and I thought that was a bit
of a comedy. Do you cover any of that kind
of stuff because people are very critically the cost of lawyers?

Speaker 2 (01:30):
Yeah, definitely. I mean were you charged more than the
actual divorce settlement? Yeah?

Speaker 1 (01:35):
I've never talked so fast in a phone call in
my life.

Speaker 3 (01:38):
One phone call forty five dollars.

Speaker 2 (01:41):
Yeah. I mean if I was on the if I
was back at my job now, I think this would
cost five hundred bucks as well.

Speaker 3 (01:47):
Yes, you're right, lucky, Yeah, we got you.

Speaker 1 (01:49):
Sure. Why do you think so many lawyers and it
often happens while they're still in UNI turned to comedy
the similarities.

Speaker 3 (01:57):
It's all performance, isn't it. Yeah?

Speaker 1 (02:00):
Yeah, I don't know.

Speaker 2 (02:02):
Probably it's firstly, maybe a bit of the it's where
all the smart asses go, especially in Australia, I reckon.
I don't know, maybe the narcissism, maybe just the constant
need to like talk, you know, justify things, justify your
whole existence, you know, because we work by the billable minute. Yeah, basically,

(02:24):
so every single second, you know, yeah, we can charge.
So I think it's a very common over the lack
of skills.

Speaker 1 (02:30):
I've asked a few people that question, and I think
it's where the smart asses go. Is the best answers.

Speaker 2 (02:39):
Heard.

Speaker 1 (02:40):
I don't need to ask that question ever.

Speaker 3 (02:42):
Again, funny nothing you say that because I did dry
duty last year. We've got cut short in the end.
But one of the lawyers in there, he was a
real smart ass, and I was I'm not thinking should
I be talking like that? You spot on?

Speaker 2 (02:54):
Yeah? Did it make you like him or her?

Speaker 3 (02:57):
Because it wasn't that clever with it. It was just
like school Yardie, you know. I didn't not like him
at all.

Speaker 2 (03:04):
Yeah, I mean it's yeah, it's funny. It seems to
be more of an Australian thing as well. You don't
really see the lawyer comedian that comment in the UK
or the US, so I think it's a bit of
an interesting phenomena. Maybe we all watched Dennis Denudo in
the Castle.

Speaker 1 (03:19):
Yeah, Jeri Mora, is that Yes, Yes, that was pretretty amazing.
Will you be accepting legal advice questions from the crowds.

Speaker 2 (03:34):
I mean, we'll see. I mean we'll do a crowd work.
We're not afraid to any anyone. But yeah, we can't
be charged. That's that's an important part.

Speaker 3 (03:47):
How do you go with hecklers? Mate? Because you're all
all four of you, you're all pretty quick on your there.

Speaker 2 (03:52):
Yeah, I think, I mean you'll have to come and
see for yourself, but I think, yeah, I think we
do okay. But yeah, it's a mix of everything, so
there'll be an interactive part. We love to hear about
what people do. You know, hear the reasons people give
for wanting to do law and picking the professions they choose.
You know, I think you hear a lot of you know,

(04:14):
crap made up reasons that I think it's funny to
pick a part. You know, people think they're changing the
world when they're just making corporations a lot more money.

Speaker 1 (04:22):
So lawyers and comedians handle hecklers in a very similar manner.

Speaker 3 (04:27):
Really yeah.

Speaker 1 (04:28):
Yeah, Oh well, well, my learned friend, we will catch
you and the rest of your lot at Lenott's Lounge
in North Bridge from February eleven to sixteen. Tickets are
available through Fringe world dot com dot are you Thanks
for chatting Nathan, Thanks so much, guys,