“Comedy is like a puzzle, when all the pieces come together – there is nothing better.”
- Jay Sullivan
Jay was born in Sydney, but spent most of his childhood in Tumut NSW.
Jay’s birthday is the 20th March. Jay shares his day of birth with Spike Lee, William Hurt, Henrik Ibsen and Holly Hunter. On March 20 1969, John Lennon and Yoko Ono were married. John is Jay’s favourite Beatle.
Jay first did stand-up comedy at RAW Comedy 2006. “I’d been acting in theatre for about 8 years and always wanted to try stand-up, but was scared I would suck.” His comedy heroes include: Bill Cosby, Brian Regan, Akmal Saleh, Ricky Gervais, Arj Barker, Demetri Martin, Steven Wright. Sullivan also has several comedians who he refers to as “the gods of comedy” – these are: Charlie Chaplin, Lenny Bruce, Andy Kaufman, Mitch Hedberg, Bill Hicks and Richard Pryor.
Jay’s first five minute routine is Canberra comedy folklore. It was a raw and loud set that ended up going for seven and a half minutes. Tom Gibson wrote of that performance: “An angry young man took to the stage to right some wrongs. He took no prisoners. You had to be prepared to ride some full-on topics to appreciate the jokes along the way. Some of the audience were shocked. Most people realised they were seeing the birth of something special.”
Jay said, “My act has changed a lot since then, as I’ve learned more about comedy. I just want the audience to laugh a lot and have a good time.”
Fast-forward to 2008, Jay made the National Final of RAW Comedy at the Melbourne Town Hall. The night was hosted by Adam Hills (Spicks and Specks) and the stars of the night were: Neil Sinclair, Laura Davis, Luke Macgregor, David Cunningham and Smart Casual – all producing innovative comedy in front of 1,500 people.
Jay has performed at the National Multicultural Fringe Festival two years running and this year he hosted the National Heckler’s Competition, Jay said: “There was nothing scarier than walking out onstage knowing the audience had microphones and were ready to go!”
Jay performs regularly at open mic nights around Canberra, trying to stick to a policy of never doing the same joke twice in the same venue. Jay’s regular Canberra venues include: The Front, Filthy McFadden’s, The Phoenix, The Soul Bar and The Venue.
Jay has also supported Akmal Saleh and Joel Ozborn at the Sydney Opera House and performed at various gigs in Canberra with Clint Paddison, David Eastgate, Chris ‘Bloke’ Franklin, Joel Ozborn and Tahir. He has also performed at the Comedy Store as a support act for Australian comic Trevor Crook and Steve Wilson (US).
Jay has performed at corporate functions for a range of businesses in Canberra and the local region.