McDermott Paul

Australian all-round entertainer and Renaissance man, a comedian, radio, television and stage personality, singer, artist, book illustrator and writer. Paul McDermott has been at the forefront of the Australian entertainment industry since the Doug Anthony All Stars stormed to national and international success in the late 1980s. Over more than two decades this immensely popular entertainer and artist has proven to be one of the most versatile in Australian history. McDermott has presented national radio programs (Triple J), and written and presented television programs including The Big Gig (ABCTV), DAAS Kapital (ABCTV) and Good News Week (ABCTV & Ten Network). He has also hosted The World Comedy Tour, a standup comedy program being broadcast on major networks worldwide. Added to these electronic media successes are sellout seasons at Melbourne and Edinburgh Comedy Festivals, and national tours of Australia and the UK. Among all this McDermott has also found time to write and illustrate books and comics, and record successful CDs. In August 2002, McDermott commenced a starring season as Daryl Van Horne in "The Witches of Eastwick," a major musical production that played in Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Sydney. McDermott is the younger of non-identical twins, in a family of six children. He was educated at a private Catholic boys school in Canberra, where he developed strong skills in both drawing and writing. These talents led him to art school. In the early ‘80s, he joined a performance group and then a singing group; the "Doug Anthony All Stars" were formed. He moved into a stage production which he wrote and starred in, that segued into "Good News Week," a satirical game show. He showcased his talents in most every variety of show biz, gaining immense popularity. In late 1997, he began writing a weekly column for the Sydney Morning Herald supplement "Sunday Life", and in 1999 he moved to the Weekend Australian and continued with a bi-weekly column. In late 2000, a book of some of these pieces was published, entitled "The Forgetting Of Wisdom". Hyperactive while performing, McDermott is brash, profane and charming. Subtitled "Hard Core Cabaret," his GUD ensemble was funny, including an excess of copulatory and scatological jokes. In 2018 he hosted "Think Tank," an Australian television quiz show on the ABC based on the British program of the same name. Link to Wikipedia biography Read less