July 30, 2025 • 6 mins
Rod and Gabi caught up with comedian Daniel Connell, who’s bringing his national tour to Canberra on August 14.
From his early days on Queanbeyan community radio to stages across the country, this coastal local has carved out a big name in Aussie comedy.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Two one four point sevens Rod and Gabby Forbrecki. The
longer time goes on, the more I realize all roads
lead back to Canberra. It's very rare that we speak
with anyone. It doesn't matter where in the world they are,
invariably if they aren't from here, don't have a family
member here, and we know we all came here to
(00:21):
you know, go to the museum. But there's there's some
there's some connection. And for Daniel Connor, the fantastic comedian,
it's a pretty obvious one. Both his sisters here. He
lived here for years as a young fellow, originally from
the coast. Daniel Gooda in a preemptive welcome back. You're
performing here on the on the fourteenth at the Street Theater.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
Hello, yes, yes, very keen to get back. I always
love coming back to the bearer. You mentioned quest On there.
I know Questicon is very famous in Canberra, but it
is so underrated. I still think I went there six
months ago and I was this needs to be talked
about more. How good it is.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
That's funny as a local who always kind of had
it so that when you've come back to visit family,
how did you land quest of con.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
Just with my son. He wanted to go, wanted to
check it out, and it was Yeah. We I spent
about six hours there. I loved it.
Speaker 3 (01:13):
It's the best of a bad weather day and you
need to get the kids out of the house just
to have the whole day. Quest to god, it's the bottle.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
What a way to spend a day.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
I haven't been for too long. Is that giant moon
down the bottom?
Speaker 2 (01:26):
Moon's still there, laid under that for a good fifteen minutes.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
Moon, Gabby, We're going back.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
That's the big from Bateman's Bay. I'd love your perspective
on this because we call it the other suburb of
Canberra because in summer the entirety of Canberra moves down
to the coast as a Bateman's Bay. Boy, do you
do you hate that?
Speaker 2 (01:48):
Yeah. As the years have gone on and I understand
how the economy works, I now like it. When I
was a teenager and I was work over summer at
all LEAs and trying and get a park in town
to go to work, all those blue number plates everywhere,
and you know that the young guys would come into
(02:08):
the pub and yeah, you know it was Yeah, I
dislike it when I was a teenager, but now I
get it and it keeps the town alive as.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
An eighteen year old bloke. Yes, very few are walking
around their country town going gude. This is tremendous for
the economy. It's just not something you say, understandably, the
local see the blowings come exactly. You put up with it.
And then obviously you know this career choice takes you
around the around the country and of course you're in
(02:39):
I guess the capital of Australian comedy and that is Melbourne.
How far I mean this trade, it's terrifying. It terrifies
me any of us think about getting on stage trying
to make an audience laugh, but to make a career
out of it, it's it's some hard yak.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
You've got to travel, right, Yeah, yeah, it's been you know.
Now I can come to camera and play the street theater.
But it's in my fifteenth or sixteenth year now of
doing it, so there's a lot of I moved to
Melbourne in twenty ten and it was probably seven or
eight years of outmost nights of the week, probably doing
three hundred odd gigs a year, just trying to get
(03:17):
your foot in the door and just get better. Basically,
that's the thing you need to do, the most important thing.
So it is terrifying the start, but that all sort
of goes away as the years go on, and then
it becomes really fun and now that you can sort
of draw a crowd, that makes it even more more exciting.
But yeah, it is a tough slot, like any industry.
(03:39):
You know, it probably takes a good decade to get
your foot in the door.
Speaker 3 (03:42):
Well, now you're less terrified because you are doing amazing things.
Does that mean you then test yourself in the terrifying
stakes by going on, who's been have you been paying attention?
Speaker 2 (03:53):
Yeah? Yeah, yeah, so more terrifying things come along, that's right. Yeah,
so you work after that. But then, you know, I
hadn't done much TV before I did my first ones
of those. So the first couple are you know, you're
definitely in the zone and the heart rates up a bit.
But like anything, the more you do it, the more
(04:14):
comfortable you become. And everyone there is so welcoming and
it's such a fun show to be on, so there's
no it doesn't feel like you're in a competition, even
though there's a scores. Everyone's very welcoming.
Speaker 3 (04:27):
And supporting more is really not. The thing is no
one actually.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
Can score even go on the screen like you know,
a proper score and a proper competition a game, there's
a score in the corner of the there's a graphic,
or it comes up from time to time after someone scores.
I don't recall ever seeing a score displayed. Tommy might
occasionally just do a vague recap.
Speaker 3 (04:47):
It's always because he's the one that has to come
in with the answer after the fuddies.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
That's true sensibility.
Speaker 3 (04:53):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
Yeah, I've been told that people still people still like
to know who's won and everything, which I find interesting. Yeah,
but I think that a few diehards loved the love
to see who's one.
Speaker 3 (05:04):
It was coming with a score and I'm like, oh,
that's right.
Speaker 1 (05:08):
As a stickler no matter.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
Where in Yeah, I'm certainly I've never won an I
doubt I ever will.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
Like, well, congratulations, this is a great camera eash story.
A certainly the boy from the coast, you know, trying
things out in Queen NFM as a young fella.
Speaker 3 (05:25):
And now a queen the NFM.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
I'm guessing how Yeah, yeah, I did a Friday Night
sports show with a mate. I was still working in
defense at the time. It was about two thousand and eight.
I reckon and I did a Friday night sports show
with a mate called Nick Risteski.
Speaker 3 (05:40):
He was there in twenty two thousand and nine, I
was at Queen BNFF.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
Really did you ever come across James Buckley? Jimmy Buckley,
he was. He was the host of the show on
Friday nights.
Speaker 3 (05:52):
I couldn't tell you great thing.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
The best thing about community radio commercial radio, you got
three or four shows, and you know we just keep
two and up every day. Community radio there can be
a different show every hour. Soda and so you're right.
You could have been on at the same time.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
Yea. We would come on after the Friday night bird Caller.
There were the guys that did bird Chat and we
were on fan and him talking rugby league.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
Now you're on the telly with some of the best
comedians in the world, and you're on fire. The tour
box Headed Man Baby is the name of itself. We're laughing.
August fourteenth at the Street Theater, Preemptive. Welcome back, mate,
so we'll see.
Speaker 2 (06:33):
You here soon. Jeers, no worries. Thanks for the chat,
Two one four point sevens Rod and Gabby Forbrecki. The
longer time goes on, the more I realize all roads
lead back to Canberra. It's very rare that we speak
with anyone. It doesn't matter where in the world they are,
invariably if they aren't from here, don't have a family
member here, and we know we all came here to
(00:21):
you know, go to the museum. But there's there's some
there's some connection. And for Daniel Connor, the fantastic comedian,
it's a pretty obvious one. Both his sisters here. He
lived here for years as a young fellow, originally from
the coast. Daniel Gooda in a preemptive welcome back. You're
performing here on the on the fourteenth at the Street Theater.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
Hello, yes, yes, very keen to get back. I always
love coming back to the bearer. You mentioned quest On there.
I know Questicon is very famous in Canberra, but it
is so underrated. I still think I went there six
months ago and I was this needs to be talked
about more. How good it is.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
That's funny as a local who always kind of had
it so that when you've come back to visit family,
how did you land quest of con.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
Just with my son. He wanted to go, wanted to
check it out, and it was Yeah. We I spent
about six hours there. I loved it.
Speaker 3 (01:13):
It's the best of a bad weather day and you
need to get the kids out of the house just
to have the whole day. Quest to god, it's the bottle.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
What a way to spend a day.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
I haven't been for too long. Is that giant moon
down the bottom?
Speaker 2 (01:26):
Moon's still there, laid under that for a good fifteen minutes.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
Moon, Gabby, We're going back.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
That's the big from Bateman's Bay. I'd love your perspective
on this because we call it the other suburb of
Canberra because in summer the entirety of Canberra moves down
to the coast as a Bateman's Bay. Boy, do you
do you hate that?
Speaker 2 (01:48):
Yeah. As the years have gone on and I understand
how the economy works, I now like it. When I
was a teenager and I was work over summer at
all LEAs and trying and get a park in town
to go to work, all those blue number plates everywhere,
and you know that the young guys would come into
(02:08):
the pub and yeah, you know it was Yeah, I
dislike it when I was a teenager, but now I
get it and it keeps the town alive as.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
An eighteen year old bloke. Yes, very few are walking
around their country town going gude. This is tremendous for
the economy. It's just not something you say, understandably, the
local see the blowings come exactly. You put up with it.
And then obviously you know this career choice takes you
around the around the country and of course you're in
(02:39):
I guess the capital of Australian comedy and that is Melbourne.
How far I mean this trade, it's terrifying. It terrifies
me any of us think about getting on stage trying
to make an audience laugh, but to make a career
out of it, it's it's some hard yak.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
You've got to travel, right, Yeah, yeah, it's been you know.
Now I can come to camera and play the street theater.
But it's in my fifteenth or sixteenth year now of
doing it, so there's a lot of I moved to
Melbourne in twenty ten and it was probably seven or
eight years of outmost nights of the week, probably doing
three hundred odd gigs a year, just trying to get
(03:17):
your foot in the door and just get better. Basically,
that's the thing you need to do, the most important thing.
So it is terrifying the start, but that all sort
of goes away as the years go on, and then
it becomes really fun and now that you can sort
of draw a crowd, that makes it even more more exciting.
But yeah, it is a tough slot, like any industry.
(03:39):
You know, it probably takes a good decade to get
your foot in the door.
Speaker 3 (03:42):
Well, now you're less terrified because you are doing amazing things.
Does that mean you then test yourself in the terrifying
stakes by going on, who's been have you been paying attention?
Speaker 2 (03:53):
Yeah? Yeah, yeah, so more terrifying things come along, that's right. Yeah,
so you work after that. But then, you know, I
hadn't done much TV before I did my first ones
of those. So the first couple are you know, you're
definitely in the zone and the heart rates up a bit.
But like anything, the more you do it, the more
(04:14):
comfortable you become. And everyone there is so welcoming and
it's such a fun show to be on, so there's
no it doesn't feel like you're in a competition, even
though there's a scores. Everyone's very welcoming.
Speaker 3 (04:27):
And supporting more is really not. The thing is no
one actually.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
Can score even go on the screen like you know,
a proper score and a proper competition a game, there's
a score in the corner of the there's a graphic,
or it comes up from time to time after someone scores.
I don't recall ever seeing a score displayed. Tommy might
occasionally just do a vague recap.
Speaker 3 (04:47):
It's always because he's the one that has to come
in with the answer after the fuddies.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
That's true sensibility.
Speaker 3 (04:53):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
Yeah, I've been told that people still people still like
to know who's won and everything, which I find interesting. Yeah,
but I think that a few diehards loved the love
to see who's one.
Speaker 3 (05:04):
It was coming with a score and I'm like, oh,
that's right.
Speaker 1 (05:08):
As a stickler no matter.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
Where in Yeah, I'm certainly I've never won an I
doubt I ever will.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
Like, well, congratulations, this is a great camera eash story.
A certainly the boy from the coast, you know, trying
things out in Queen NFM as a young fella.
Speaker 3 (05:25):
And now a queen the NFM.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
I'm guessing how Yeah, yeah, I did a Friday Night
sports show with a mate. I was still working in
defense at the time. It was about two thousand and eight.
I reckon and I did a Friday night sports show
with a mate called Nick Risteski.
Speaker 3 (05:40):
He was there in twenty two thousand and nine, I
was at Queen BNFF.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
Really did you ever come across James Buckley? Jimmy Buckley,
he was. He was the host of the show on
Friday nights.
Speaker 3 (05:52):
I couldn't tell you great thing.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
The best thing about community radio commercial radio, you got
three or four shows, and you know we just keep
two and up every day. Community radio there can be
a different show every hour. Soda and so you're right.
You could have been on at the same time.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
Yea. We would come on after the Friday night bird Caller.
There were the guys that did bird Chat and we
were on fan and him talking rugby league.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
Now you're on the telly with some of the best
comedians in the world, and you're on fire. The tour
box Headed Man Baby is the name of itself. We're laughing.
August fourteenth at the Street Theater, Preemptive. Welcome back, mate,
so we'll see.
Speaker 2 (06:33):
You here soon. Jeers, no worries. Thanks for the chat,
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