Wil Anderson

For other people of the same name, see William Anderson (disambiguation).
Wil Anderson
Born (1974-01-31) 31 January 1974
Heyfield, Victoria, Australia
Occupation Television Presenter
Comedian
Radio Host
Website www.wilanderson.com.au

William James "Wil" Anderson (born 31 January 1974) is an Australian comedian, writer, stand-up performer, television and radio presenter, and media personality.

Personal life

Anderson grew up in the small town of Heyfield, in the Gippsland region of Victoria on a dairy farm. He attended Gippsland Grammar School in Sale for high school.[1][2] He later went on to study journalism at the University of Canberra, graduating top of his course.[1]

Anderson lived in Sydney with his girlfriend of six years, Amy Williamson, before their breakup in 2008.[3][4] These days, Anderson splits his time between Australia and the United States.[5][6]

Anderson suffers from a form of osteoarthritis which he mentions in some of his performances.[7]

Career

Anderson is well known as host of popular Australian panel show The Gruen Transfer, and prior to that The Glass House, both broadcast on ABC. Anderson also co-hosted a popular breakfast radio show on triple j with Adam Spencer for five years, from 2000 to 2004.[8] While his media career has made Anderson a highly recognised comedian in Australia, standup comedy remains his foremost discipline and, over a 17-year period, he has used a pun on his name for the title of his live shows.

Live shows

Anderson has performed at numerous festivals, including the Just For Laughs Comedy Festival in Montreal, Canada.

Television

Anderson was the host of the ABC TV show, The Glass House from 2001 to 2006, with Corinne Grant and Dave Hughes. In November 2006 the show was cancelled amid speculation that the cancellation was made due to pressure from the Howard government.[11] Howard responded with, "I do not tell the ABC what programs it should run. I respect the independence of the ABC."[12] In 2007, Anderson was nominated for the "Most Popular Presenter" award at the Logies for his role on the show.[13]

Anderson also made numerous appearances on Good News Week, on both the original and revamped version.

Anderson is the current host of a panel talk show about advertising called The Gruen Transfer, which debuted on ABC1 on 28 May 2008.[14] It was the water-cooler show of the year, debuting with a record-breaking audience of 1.287 million viewers, the highest rating debut entertainment program in the history of the ABC.[15] It has sparked three spin-offs, relating to marketing and spin, all of which are hosted by Anderson. Anderson appeared as the guest comedian on the RMITV Show Under Melbourne Tonight on 19 June 1996[16] and appeared with RMITV again on the Under Melbourne Tonight spin-off What's Goin' On There? on the 3 June 1998.

Radio

From 2001 to 2004, Anderson was best known as one half of triple j's breakfast radio team, co-presenting with Spencer on the show which aired nationally across Australia. In 2005, Anderson and Spencer stood down from breakfast radio to pursue their solo careers. They went on a national farewell tour together just before their final shows. They were replaced by Frenzal Rhomb members Jay and the Doctor.

From 2 April 2007 to 4 November 2008, Anderson and co-host Anthony "Lehmo" Lehmann presented a new show called Wil & Lehmo in the 4–6pm (Monday to Friday) timeslot on the Triple M network. The show was cancelled due to less-than-average ratings. Anderson and Lehmo have maintained a close friendship.[17]

Podcast

Anderson's Wilosophy podcast was launched in December 2014. The inaugural episode featured John Safran, while subsequent guests include Spencer, Judith Lucy and Todd Sampson. Anderson explained in January 2015 that the podcast will continue.[18]

From 2010 to 2012, Anderson collaborated on a free weekly podcast, TOFOP ("30 Odd Foot Of Pod"),[19] with actor Charlie Clausen. Anderson returned in 2013 with spin-off podcast FOFOP, where he is joined by 'Guest Charlies' in lieu of Clausen. Guests include: Dave Anthony (known as Guest Charlie No. 1 on the podcast), Justin Hamilton and Rove McManus.

Controversy

Anderson was the subject of controversy after he made jokes about the late father of Australian Idol finalist Shannon Noll at the 2006 Melbourne International Comedy Festival.[20]

In a January 2015 episode of podcast TOFOP, Anderson recalled his first Logie Awards ceremony, held in 2008, when he garnered controversy for his live tweets from the event. Anderson explained that he has never been a fan of the event, as he believes that a large number of other causes for celebration exist in Australia that never receive the recognition they deserve.[21]

Awards

2011

2010

2009

2008

Recordings

References

  1. 1 2 Anderson, Wil (September 2012). Wil Anderson. Interview with Angus Fontaine. GQ.com.au. pp. 2–6. Archived from the original on 28 September 2012. Retrieved 28 September 2013.
  2. ↑ Callaghan, Greg (30 July 2011). "10 questions - Wil Anderson". The Australian (News Corp).
  3. ↑ "Garden Design & Landscaping Vaucluse". Archived from the original on 25 April 2013. Retrieved 30 September 2013.
  4. ↑ "Heartbroken radio star in tears for weeks". News Corp Australia. 1 June 2008. Retrieved 30 September 2013.
  5. ↑ anthony, dave. "Storytelling is dead" (Podcast). Fofop.
  6. ↑ Marshall, Konrad (6 April 2013). "Lunch with Wil Anderson". The Sydney Morning Herald (Fairfax Media). Archived from the original on 3 May 2013. Retrieved 30 September 2013.
  7. ↑ Blake, Elissa (8 September 2013). "Wil Anderson: laughing at adversity". The Sydney Morning Herald (Fairfax Media). Archived from the original on 12 November 2013. Retrieved 30 September 2013.
  8. ↑ "Bio". Adam Spencer - The Big Book of Numbers. Adam Spencer. 2015. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
  9. ↑ Wil Anderson, Fire at Wil - comedy.com.au, 2016
  10. ↑ "Wil Anderson performs Man Vs Wil", Beat Magazine (Furst Media), 2011, archived from the original on 12 November 2013
  11. ↑ McManus, Gerard (1 November 2006). "I didn't axe Glass House: PM". News.com.au. Retrieved 3 November 2006. By staff writers, Gerard McManus and AAP
  12. ↑ "I didn't get Glass House axed: PM". The Sydney Morning Herald (Fairfax Media). 1 November 2006. Archived from the original on 19 April 2008. Retrieved 28 September 2013.
  13. ↑ "Logie Award nominations". The Sydney Morning Herald. 2 April 2007. p. 1. Archived from the original on 4 November 2012.
  14. ↑ Ziffer, Daniel (7 February 2008). "Anderson plays nice with Aunty". The Age. Archived from the original on 24 October 2012. Retrieved 28 September 2013.
  15. ↑ Speaker Profile of Wil Anderson at The Celebrity Speakers Bureau
  16. ↑ http://web.aanet.com.au/~vfok/umt/episodes/list96.htm
  17. ↑ Wil Anderson, Tony Lehmann sacked from Triple M 4 November 2008, The Daily Telegraph
  18. ↑ "WILOSOPHY with Wil Anderson". iTunes Preview. Apple Inc. 12 December 2014. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
  19. ↑ "TOFOP: Wil Anderson & Charlie Clausen". Retrieved 30 September 2013.
  20. ↑ Where there's a Wil there's a way out by David Braithwaite, 1 May 2006, The Sydney Morning Herald.
  21. ↑ "FOFOP 177- Sniglets Really Satisfy" (Audio upload). TOFOP - Wil Anderson & Charlie Clausen. libsyn. 23 January 2015. Retrieved 26 January 2015.

External links

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