| 1 | · | 1994 | > |
1993 Scans
Top
 |
|
| New Idea (Australia: November 1993) Scan Provided By: Mona |
TV Weekly: First Impressions
Top
Written By: Darren Devlyn
Typed & Provided By Mona
Australia: Febuary 10, 1993
Eric Bana's career Prospects looked dim until the debut of Full Frontal, when he showed the importance of FIRST IMPRESSIONS.
The career prospects of Full Frontal's Eric Bana were once extremely dim. As a student in Melbourne, Bana was so unispired by his studies he was force to repeat high school, he struggled to find a job.
New Idea
(Australia: November 1993)
Scan Provided By: Mona
Bana, 24, who has amused Full Frontal audiences with his uncanny impersonations of Mike Willesee, Billy Ray Cyrus and Paul Mercurio, worked as a wharfie after leaving school.
Hungry for adventure, he left Australia for the U.S. When he returned, Bana became a salesman and worked part-time as a barman. His stand-up career took off when he performed at a pub comedy night.
"I must admit that I wasn't at all happy with life leading up to my first stand-up gig," he says.
"I had really wanted to get into comedy and television after leaving school but I just wasn't sure how to go about it."
Five months after his television debut on Full Frontal, Bana faces the challenge of maintaining a high level of performance. And to help him, he has fishing guru Rex Hunt and bumbling detective Columbo in his sights. But it's unlikely we'll see much of his Willesee impersonation in the next series, which starts on September 30.
"I don't want to overdo Willesee," he says. "How far can you take one joke? And the three-hour make-up job is torturous."
"Looking back on the early work on the show, I don't feel I've come anywhere near the good stuff yet."
Full Frontal has given Bana's stand-up career a boost. The days of struggling as a warm-up man for other performers are behind him and Bana is now a headline act. However he hasn't forgotten the comic lessons he has learned along the way.
"I've learnt to be very careful about what I say. I once started a gig by announcing that I'd been to America a couple of years ago. A guy in the audience called out, 'Why did you come back?'"
| 1 | · | 1994 | > |
