Frank Woodley talks personal favourites - realestate.com.au

Funny guy Frank Woodley relaxing at home. Pictures: Chris Groenhout

Comedian and actor Frank Woodley blames being the youngest of seven children and needing some attention as the reason he first started developing his comic talents.

“Also, my most regular playmate was my brother who was three years older than me, so I couldn’t be better than him at anything, so that may have informed me needing to turn failure into a skill,” he said. “If I was going to be a loser, I had to make that charming, somehow.”

Growing up, Woodley loved comedians like Don Adams of Maxwell Smart fame, Peter Sellers as Inspector Clouseau, and The Goodies. And, aged 17, decided he wanted to pursue a comedy career.

“I never went into a comedy venue until I was an adult,” he said. “But I came from a family who were very open to me just exploring and following my nose.”

He eventually formed a comedy partnership, Lano & Woodley, with Colin Lane. But, after 20 years of performing together, the duo called it quits after a farewell tour in 2006 and Woodley threw himself into a solo career, with regular comedy shows, an ABC-TV series, Woodley, and a role in movie Oddball.

Then, in 2016, he reunited with Lane for a Melbourne International Comedy Festival gala show.

“We really enjoyed the week we spent writing a new routine and performing it. Afterwards, in the dressing room, we were like, ‘That was really good fun. How would you feel about getting back together and doing another show?’” he recalled.

The result was the smash-hit Fly, which, alongside encore seasons in Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide, will tour regionally this year.

Meanwhile, Woodley, who lives with his wife, son, 14, and daughter, 10, in Melbourne’s inner north, is adding Shakespeare to his resume.

He is performing in Melbourne Theatre Company’s Twelfth Night (Southbank Theatre, until January 5).

“Shakespeare’s a new world for me, and I’ve been quite nervous, but I’m pulling on those pantaloons and giving it my best shot.”

Frank Woodley is from a family that encouraged him to explore comedy.

Typical Saturday morning

I live a very atypical life. Recently, I’ve had rehearsals for Twelfth Night on a Saturday morning and now I have performances on Friday and Saturday evenings, so I don’t really have Saturday mornings as humans know them. But when I’m not working, I’ll usually have a cup of tea and read some news online and then ride my daughter over to her gymnastics class.

Emergency snack

It boggles my mind when kids don’t like snacking on fruit because, ever since I was young, I couldn’t think of a better snack than an apple, banana or orange.

Signature dish

I’m not much of a cook. But I can do a stir-fry with rice and lots of vegies.

On my bedside table

I don’t go to bed until I’m literally falling asleep. So, I don’t have any books on my bedside table because I don’t read in bed. The only thing I have is my phone, which has an alarm set for the morning.

Chill-out music

Of late, I have been listening to Canadian singer/songwriter Ron Sexsmith. He has a very sweet kind of sentimental melancholy that I find beautiful and calming.

Happiness at home

Just all sitting down and sharing a meal together and the playful family conversations that come with that. It doesn’t have to be gourmet food, just something healthy and delicious, but I think it’s important to sit down and eat together.

My favourite things

Cup

This is my giant tea cup, which is called The Bucket. It’s about as big as a cereal bowl. If you set up a secret camera at my house, it’s quite probable it would reveal I spend 30 per cent of my time drinking tea and another 30 per cent going to the toilet because I’ve drunk so much tea. Luckily, I make the other 40 per cent of my day productive. I will basically drink tea from my bucket and then once it’s finished, I’ll put the kettle on for the next cup. I travel with The Bucket because it annoys me when I go to hotels and they have these little cups.

The Bucket keeps Woodley supplied with a good amount of tea.

Ukulele

I love to play music, sing and write songs: it’s very relaxing for me. The great thing about my ukulele is that I can take it with me when I’m touring. But I do worry sometimes that when I am in a hotel room, I’ll be singing away before a show and there will be some poor bugger in the next room trying to get some work done. I bought my ukulele about 15 years ago and although I do play the guitar as well, the ukulele is so much more portable. It’s got a quirky quality, too. I use it to write lots of songs for my live-comedy work but I do enjoy noodling around on the ukulele for my own pleasure as well.

Quirky and portable: the ukulele.

Bike

I cycle to commute. I’m not one of those people who go on long marathon bike rides dressed in Lycra. I cycle to get wherever I need to go. It’s a good habit to get into because not only does it keep me fit but it also means I don’t have to worry about traffic or parking. This is a Brompton bike, which folds up into a suitcase, and it’s another thing I take when I’m touring. It means I’ve got the freedom to get around a new town really easily without having to hire a car or wait for an Uber to turn up.

The folding Brompton bike can fit into a suitcase.

Notepad and pencil

I don’t think a lot of comedians are immediately considered writers but I believe that 95 per cent of the work is in the writing. With a new show, we actually have to write an hour-and-a-half of comedy that will make the audience laugh from the first minute through to the last and we’ve got to do it every year. And if you don’t, you won’t make a living. So, the writing is by far the most important skill. Whenever I do a new project, there is something so exciting about the promise of a new blank notepad. Whatever my year is going to be, I’ve got to start building it on those pages.

An essential tool for writing a new show.

Tablet

A couple of years ago, I wrote and illustrated three children’s mystery novels called the Kizmet series. When I did that, I decided to learn how to illustrate them using a digital illustration program. I immersed myself for about 12 months in online drawing tutorials on YouTube — there is an incredible wealth of generous people sharing their knowledge online. As a result, I developed my drawing skills a great deal. I found it both satisfying and enjoyable and it’s something I will hopefully do more of.

Digital illustrating is a new and satisfying skill for Woodley.

Pliers, wire and tape

One of the most relaxing things for me is doing little fix-it jobs with gaffer tape and wire. My daughter was recently making some slime and wanted to film her hands making it. So, I made her a little stand out of wire and tape that would hold her phone and that was by far the most enjoyable thing I did that week. Another time, I was appearing at a venue in Sydney with comedian Felicity Ward and she had a prop that wasn’t working properly. So, instead of prepping my own show, I spent 20 minutes fixing her prop, and my show ended up being the best of the whole run because I was so relaxed. Fixing things is my happy place.

Woodley’s tools for little fix-it jobs.