PLAY TELEVISION TOM’S SERIOUS ABOUT COMEDY

ABC is getting serious about comedy, so serious it has launched a whole new channel dedicated solely to the genre.

ABC Comedy replaced ABC2 on Monday and, every weeknight, comedian Tom Ballard will host a flagship show called Tonightly With Tom Ballard on the new channel.

The pressure is on as a brand new episode will air every night from Monday to Thursday, while Friday’s episode will look back on the week. “We’re going to pre- tape it at seven o’ clock, then we go to air at nine. By the nature of the show and how it all rolls out, we’ll pretty much be loosey- goosey, we’ll be rolling out the taping pretty much as live. There’s not a lot of room for error, but that’s kind of fun,” Ballard said.

Ballard has been working predominantly as a stand- up comic for the last few years apart from his memorable turn on SBS social show, First Contact, in 2016. He’s now preparing to shake up his routine and get across the biggest news stories of the day from the moment he wakes up, but says he’ll be hanging on to one element of his stand- up comedy: the live audience.

“That’s my natural habitat somewhat, performing in front of a crowd, so that’s going to be an extra element.” Bollard says he and his panellists won’t be afraid to tackle the issues that are really affecting the country. “We’re going to call bulls--- whenever we see it on both sides of politics.’’