Paul Verhoeven (Australia)
Paul Francis Verhoeven (born c. 1983) is an Australian broadcaster, writer, blogger and comedian, and the host of Steam Punks on ABC3. He grew up on Sydney's northern beaches, and moved to Melbourne after completing a Bachelor of Film Studies at the University of New South Wales.[1]
Radio
Verhoeven has co-hosted The Somewhat Ambitious, a mixtape-themed show on Student Youth Network, along with Melbourne-based comedian and writer, Luke Ryan.[2]
Since 2008 he has broadcast weekly for youth station Triple J, as the host of the "Nerdy By Nature" segment on The Breakfast Show with Tom Ballard and Alex Dyson (formerly known as "Nerds of a Feather" and "Close Encounters of the Nerd Kind").
He has also hosted The Mid-Dawn show for four years, has produced The Graveyard Shift with Dave Callan, and has written for the Triple J publication, Triple J Magazine. Verhoeven has hosted the "The Breakfast Show", "Weekend Arvos" and the Triple J Weekend Breakfast Show.
Television
Paul is the host and co-writer of Steam Punks, a narrative game show on ABC 3, produced by Beyond Entertainment. Steam Punks airs every Sunday at 5.25pm, and Paul was described by The Australian as "a revelation as host... a mix of Basil Fawlty, Oliver Reed and Johnny Depp".[3]
Verhoeven co-hosted and wrote for Planet Nerd, a geek comedy programme on Channel 31 Melbourne, which was nominated for Best Comedy Program in the 2008 Antenna Awards. Reviewer Marieke Hardy referred to him as "the hot one".[4]
He wrote and presented an online television series entitled Curiageous, a comedic mythbusting series, for the Australian online news site, The Vine. Among other things, he drank his own urine and had his arse waxed.[5]
He narrated Stop Rewind, a 13-part documentary series on ABC 2, which he described as "truly awful".[6]
He was a presenter on two seasons of Save Point, a gaming show on ONE HD, which began its second season in 2012.[7]
Comedy
Along with longtime friends Dan Debuf, Luke Ryan and Matt Saraceni, Verhoeven runs a fortnightly sketch comedy podcast called Lords of Luxury. They have also performed sketches live as a comedy show in the 2011 and 2012 Melbourne International Comedy Festival, and 2012 Adelaide Fringe Festival.
Reviewing their 2011 Melbourne season, Rabbit Hole Urban Music called them "endlessly entertaining";[8] however The Enthusiast argued "the fact that sketch comedy is often performed by undergraduates doesn’t make it a place for undergraduate humour, and I’m afraid the Lords of Luxury fall into that trap."[9]
The Adelaide Advertiser wrote of their 2012 show, "The dapper devils shine when they delve off script and interact with the audience. The joke is on them and they embrace it."[10]
In Melbourne, the Herald Sun opined: "The Lords of Luxury are unlikely to win a prize for comedy writing, but still put on an entertaining show. If their material was half as strong as they are as performers, they'd go a long way."[11]
The Age wrote, "A claque of helpless Lords cultists kept up a delirious response from the front tables throughout, pausing only to throw panties at the end. It was that kind of night."[12]
Online and other work
From June 2008 to April 2010, Verhoeven ran the blog "The Somewhat Ambitious" (the online presence of his SYN FM radio show) along with his Lords of Luxury colleague Luke Ryan.
He is also writer and artist of Lessons for Children, a weekly web comic.[13]
Verhoeven is an active and popular Twitter user; as of April 2012 he is the 77th most popular Australian journalist using the social media platform.[14] In December 2011 he called Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard a "whore". His conduct was condemned by his employer the ABC, and he was made to delete the tweet,[15] but defended himself by claiming it had satirically quoted the film Mean Girls.[16]
He has been a regular contributor for Yen Magazine, a gaming reviewer and film critic for The Vine, and has written for Filmink magazine and Horse and Hound.[citation needed]
He has interviewed Elmo and Abby Cadabby. On stage, he has interviewed Viggo Mortensen, Philippe Petit, Dylan Moran and Ryan Johnson.
Personal life
Verhoeven was one of Cleo's Top 50 Bachelors of the Year for 2011, and was named as the second runner up. He thanked Albus Dumbledore in his acceptance speech. He then said 'Go Knicks'.[17]
He is an avid golfer. He cries every time he watches the film Notting Hill.[18]
References
- ↑ "Claxton Speakers International profile: Paul Verhoeven".
- ↑ "The Somewhat Ambitious".
- ↑ Cuthbertson, Ian. "Review: Steam Punks". The Australian.
- ↑ Hardy, Marieke. "31 reasons for hope". The Age.
- ↑ "Lords of Luxury: About Us".
- ↑ "Lords of Luxury: About Us".
- ↑ "Save Point: Presenters".
- ↑ McCormack, Anthony. "RHUM Loves Lords of Luxury @ MICF 2011". Rabbit Hole Urban Music.
- ↑ Campbell, Mel. "Review: Lords of Luxury". The Enthusiast.
- ↑ Spain, Katie. "Adelaide Fringe 2012 review – Lords of Luxury". Adelaide Advertiser.
- ↑ Fenton, Andrew. "Review: Lords of Luxury". Herald Sum.
- ↑ Linden, Richard. "Lords of Luxury – For One Night Only". The Age.
- ↑ Verhoeven, Paul. "Lessons for Children: partial archive". The Vine.
- ↑ Papworth, Laurel. "Australian Journalists and Social Media Influence". Retrieved 26 April 2012.
- ↑ Byrnes, Holly. "Twitter 'whore' jibe against Julia Gillard and Tim Mathieson a sacking offence?". Daily Telegraph.
- ↑ "Paul Verhoeven on his Gillard 'whore' tweet". ABC News.
- ↑ "Video: Paul Verhoeven's Cleo Bachelor speech".
- ↑ "Cleo Bachelor profile: Paul Verhoeven". Cleo.
External links
- Paul Verhoeven's page on Triple J
- Curiageous, presented by Paul Verhoeven on The Vine TV
- The official Nerds of a Feather page on the Triple J homepage
- Lords of Luxury podcast
- Lessons for Children comics archive
- Paul Verhoeven at the Internet Movie Database
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||