Tradies are hilarious, we all know that. Comedian – and former tradie – Luke Heggie’s heard his fair share of tradie humour, and he’ll be sharing plenty of it in his upcoming tour…
Luke’s worked a few jobs in his time. And by a few, we mean 80-odd.
The Brisbane-born charismatic comic has worked in restaurants, kitchens, bottle shops, and as a security guard, a forklift operator and even a snow maker.
SEE MORE: Tradie Profiles
“I had the odd office job, which I absolutely hated,” Luke said.
But what’s been his favourite job other than his current gig? Gotta be tradie.
“They’re the funniest blokes we have in the country,” Luke said.
“They’re on-site, sledging each other all day.
“It passes the time of day, some of the funniest blokes I’ve met have been tradies, they just don’t have the wherewithal to get on stage to be comedians.
“I’ve always enjoyed the mateship aspect of it. Even when you’re on a terrible job there’s always someone there who’s on the same wavelength who you can have a laugh with.
“If it wasn’t for that, I don’t know why anyone would sign up for a lifetime of hard work and not find some fun.”
Bit of a laff
While never fully qualified in any trade, Luke’s regularly found himself helping on sites.
“I mostly did carpentry stuff, but of an unqualified nature,” he said.
“Since starting comedy, I know a few builders and someone – who’s a great patron to the arts – put me on as a builder and let me shoot off when I wanted to do gigs.”
“I’ve only just stopped that in the last year and half.”
Working in various jobs across the globe, Luke’s seen plenty in his time.
But one thing he loves about Aussies is the tradie lifestyle.
“It’s much more celebrated here than I’ve seen anywhere else – it becomes an identity,” he added.
“You see all the young blokes getting nice utes to look the part, I suppose it ties in with the Aussie dream of wanting to own and build a house.
“People do respect tradies a lot more here and you can get paid pretty well here too, whereas a lot of countries you are bottom of the run and considered on the lower end of society.
“It’s completely turned around here.”
On the Grog(an)
In Luke’s upcoming tour – named Grogan – he’ll be drawing from the hilarious banter he’s heard chirped by tradies in his time.
“I’m not gonna lift someone’s complete story, but some of the words and phrases they use and the general attitude toward life is a really rich vein when it comes to comedy,” he said.
“Just the way some of these blokes think – there’s still the old guard there, but it has changed a lot.
“There was a real stigma around builders being old school bigots and catcalling women … I think that’s a thing of the past.
“It’s a different environment, it’s not as ‘tough’ as it used to be which is a good thing.”
As for the tour name Grogan well, you’ll have to find that out for yourself.
“It’s a bit of a wink and a nudge to the old language,” Luke said.
“I grew up in Queensland, and we used to say it all the time, but I don’t hear it much anymore so, dare I say, I don’t think anyone knows what it is.
“It’s just a bunch of stand up about things that have annoyed me in the last 12 months since the last time I did a show, basically.”
Check out the latest tour dates and times for Grogan 2024 here.