Damien Warren-Smith is bringing his comedy creation – Garry Starr – back to Melbourne for an hour of rapid-fire gags, puns and physical lunacy.
Damien Warren-Smith is bringing his comedy creation – Garry Starr – back to Melbourne for an hour of rapid-fire gags, puns and physical lunacy.
By Tyson Wray
February 23, 2025 — 4.30am
Garry Starr is a master of highbrow idiocy. He’s an oxymoron of a character. Emphasis on the moron.
Starr is the creation of artistic polymath Damien Warren-Smith. Through his clown alter ego, he combines high-concept ideas with sheer absurdity (and a healthy dose of full-frontal nudity) – and has quickly risen to the ranks as one of Australia’s pre-eminent clowning exports.
In 2018, his debut solo show Performs Everything showcased every form of theatre under the sun; he followed that in a COVID-stunted run by depicting the history of Greek mythology in Greece Lightning; and in his latest hour, Classic Penguins, he promises to retell the entire catalogue of the titular publishing house to save the art form of literature from extinction.
Of course, he doesn’t.
Instead, he waddles around wearing only flippers, a tuxedo jacket and his signature Elizabethan ruff for an hour of rapid-fire gags, puns and physical lunacy. I attended Classic Penguins at the 2024 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and have never seen a crowd exiting a venue so deliriously giddy.
“I want people to laugh in a way that they haven’t in a very long time,” Warren-Smith says.
‘I love that what I do is more niche.’
Performer Damien Warren-Smith
To put it bluntly: there’s no underlying message or catch-cry of political rebellion to the masses, as has become fashionable in the post-Nanette/Career Suicide/Homecoming King world of modern-day comedy. While his performances are draped in intellect, Warren-Smith’s shows are completely, self-knowingly stupid – and that’s exactly the point.
“I had someone write to me once and tell me that their boyfriend came along to the show, and he’d been going through a period of depression and she hadn’t seen him smile in almost a year,” he says. “He spent the entire 60 minutes grinning and giggling. I really hope I can have this effect on as many people as possible for as long as possible.”
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Warren-Smith is an alumnus of the master clown Philippe Gaulier’s academy in Étampes, France. The school is renowned as much for producing world-class comedians (of the ilk of Sacha Baron Cohen, Natalie Palamides, Julia Masli, Elf Lyons, Viggo Venn and Sydney’s Tom Walker), as it is for its founder’s volcanic temperament.
“He was an incredible teacher,” says Warren-Smith. “All the people I had trained with before him had also trained under him. He has a huge influence on so many young clowns and comedians.”
However, he is also known for his ruthless methodology and insults to his pupils. If they disagree, he hits them with a stick.
“It’s terrifying when you get up on stage in front of him and I think that’s what drew me to it,” says Warren-Smith. “I’m always looking for the most terrifying thing, which is perhaps why I make the shows that I make. I came away from his training with an incredible amount of courage. When you’ve failed in that intense environment nothing seems scary any more.”
Performs Everything was nominated for the Golden Gibbo at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. The award celebrates shows that pursue artistic creativity rather than commercial gain. While it might not be as derided as mime, clowning isn’t necessarily the most accessible, let alone lucrative, form of comedy compared with, say, straight-white-man-complaining-about-his-wife stand-up. Warren-Smith doesn’t want that to change.
“I think clowning has hit the mainstream in various forms,” he says. “Mr Bean is an obvious one, as are Sacha Baron Cohen’s characters, but people don’t think of them as clowns, as clown doesn’t tend to transfer to screen particularly well. You have to do something quite unique. In order for clown to work on screen, you need to see the effect it’s having on the audience.”
That being said, Warren-Smith doesn’t think that becoming mainstream should be the main goal. “I hope clowns will never become popular on screen because there’s something wonderful about the fact that you have to be there to experience clown. I love that what I do is more niche.”
Having just taken out the best comedy award at Perth Fringe World, Starr is now bringing Classic Penguins to the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, followed by a regional tour. The show features an abundance of many comedy attendees’ most dreaded content warning: audience participation.
While the idea of being pulled up on stage by a near-naked clown may sound like a nightmarish fever dream to many, let alone (spoiler alert) having him crowd-surf over you, Warren-Smith ensures that consent is always key.
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“I want everyone to feel completely comfortable,” he says. “I want the audience to know that … if they choose to get up on stage, then they will be looked after. I’m always the butt of the joke. It’s never the audience member who is being laughed at. I’m always the object of laughter, and I think that’s especially important when there’s nudity involved.
“Thank the gods it’s never gone completely wrong. I did have someone get very close to my genitalia with a large pair of scissors while I wasn’t looking. That was a scary moment – but so far, I’ve managed to remain relatively unscathed.”
Having experienced it first-hand in a late-night show in a foreign country, I couldn’t recommend embracing the chaos in Melbourne any higher.
“I love that there’s an element of danger,” says Warren-Smith. “It’s bordering on performance art. I’m inviting them to be a part of the experience – which is what I love about theatre.”
The 2025 Melbourne International Comedy Festival takes place from March 26 to April 20. Garry Starr will be performing Classic Penguins at The Malthouse from March 27 to April 20.
The Booklist is a weekly newsletter for book lovers by Jason Steger. Get it delivered every Friday.
Tyson Wray is a writer and editor who has spent over a decade working on and covering cultural events in Melbourne.
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