Enjoying turning his own misery into laughter and making a living from it, comedian Dave Hughes is bringing his latest show to Kalgoorlie-Boulder after a near-death experience inspired all-new content.
Hughesy’s stand-up show, Cooked, will touch on his experience at the AFL Legends Charity Game in 2025, which left him with five broken ribs and a punctured lung and later resulted in him being hospitalised “close to death” with fluid in his lungs.
“The irony of that it was to raise money for prostate cancer, which affects men really over the age of 50, and I was the only guy over 50 on the field, and I nearly died — the jokes write themselves,” he said.
He said turning his real-life pain, embarrassment or sadness into content to make others laugh was “cathartic”.
“What a gift that I can turn my misery into laughter and make a living at it,” he said.
“I’m a blessed individual who can turn five broken ribs and a punctured lung and a near death experience into laughter for anyone who wants to observe it.
“The ability to see life as funny is something we all need, and whether you get paid for it or not, it’s still so valuable.
“I try to instil that in my children — to laugh at life rather than cry at it . . . or do both, but at the end of the day, remember we’re all here for but a brief moment in time, and there’s no point taking any of it too seriously.”
Hughesy’s Cooked tour includes 36 stops, and the comedian said feedback from the crowds had been largely positive.
He said some people who had been to many of his shows said this was the funniest he had ever been.
And while the cost-of-living is — in his words — a “f…… nightmare at the moment”, Hughesy assured the Kalgoorlie-Boulder community that a ticket to his May 1 Goldfields Arts Centre show would be “money well spent”.
“I’m just having the time of my life so I just say to everyone, regardless of your opinion of me, come along and see the show, and then tell me your opinion of me,” he said.
“I just know, if I get people in a room I can convert the non-believers, because I know what I can do.
“They might have a fleeting experience of me and thought I wasn’t that funny because they heard me on radio for four seconds or something but come to the show and you’ll have the time of your life.”
Having not performed in Kalgoorlie-Boulder for more than 10 years, Hughesy said he was excited to return to the “rugged town” he remembers.
As a regional boy himself, he said he enjoyed walking in the towns he performed in and taking what he observes to the stage to give the crowd a chance to laugh at themselves.
“I’ll walk around and see what I see in town, and I’ll walk on stage, and I’ll talk about what I saw that day,” he said.
“The crowd generally appreciate that as well because I’ve looked at their situation with fresh eyes and pointed out something that they’ve just walked past every day.
“You point out the silliness of it and then they get to laugh at themselves.”
Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased online at davehughes.com.au
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