Speakers Profile - Peter Rowsthorn










Travels From:
Perth

Fee Range: E


The youngest of four children, comedian, Peter Rowsthorn, was born in 1963. He took up drama classes at 13 and quickly discovered he had a knack for comedy, particularly mimicry.

In 1981, planning to go into teaching, he commenced
a drama course at Rusden College. Twelve months later, Peter was busking with fellow student James Maddock, spending the summer months performing for the public along the Mornington Peninsula as "The Cactus Brothers."

By1983, this duo was performing song & comedy routines at Melbourne's leading comedy venue, Le Joke. It was here that Peter met many of Australian's top stand-up comedians including Richard Stubbs, Shane Bourne & Trevor Marmalade.

For the next two years, Peter paid his way through college by performing comedy at night, working with Trevor Marmalade at South Yarra's Kamikaze Café and with Maryanne Fahey & Glenn Robbins in "Christmas On A Stick" at the Last Laugh theatre Restaurant.

In 1985, Peter created the role of dribbling hospitality orderly, Warren, in the medical soapy send-up, "Let The Blood Run Free", at The Last Laugh. The show was so successful it spawned two sequels, a radio program and television series.

Peter returned to Rusden to finish his teaching degree, while continuing to perform nightly stand-up shows such as, "Phones Homes" (which featured his memorable send-up of E.T the Extra-terrestrial), and "Pick A Hit" with Bob Downe & Gina Riley, in which he played aging DJ, Wild Man Col. In 1988, Peter was offered roles in The Comedy Company, Fast Forward and The Big Gig ? all in the same week. He chose the former and spent the next two seasons performing a variety of The Comedy Company characters.

He co-wrote and starred in the short film, "Bonza", which won two AFI awards in 1989. Later (1997), he performed in his first feature film, "Crackers".

His first television stand-up routine was on the long-running "Hey Hey It's Saturday" (1990), returning numerous times over the years (and hosted the show on a couple of occasions).








He went on to host the "Red Faces" spin-off program, "Gonged But Not Forgotten", then gained further television exposure as the zany host of Foxtel's "Sunday Roast" for two seasons.

During 1992/93, Peter toured nationally and internationally as Riff Raff in "The New Rocky Horror Show. (He also headlined at the 1993 Comedy Festival in New Zealand.)

He furthered his theatrical career in the Glynn Nicholas' production, "Certified Male".

Peter is in regular demand as a host and stand-up comic for corporate engagements. He can be heard on The Whole Shebang every Tuesday and every Thursday on The Cage, on Triple M Most recently he has been seen nationally in the role of Brett (Kim's husband), in the hugely successful ABC TV comedy series, "KATH & KIM'.

Peter resides in Melbourne with his wife and three children.



Television
2004 Network Nine World Comedy Unplugged
(Stand up comedy appearance)
2002 - NOW ABC-TV Kath & Kim (Core cast member ? Role of Brett)
2001 Ten Network Rove [Live] (Interview)
1999 Fox 8 Sunday Roast (Host)
1998 - 1999 Nine Network Gonged But Not Forgotten (Host)
1998 ABC TV Recovery (Stand up appearance)
1998 Nine Network Hey, Hey It's Saturday (Stand-in host for a week)
1998 ABC-TV Hessie's Shed (Stand up appearance)
1997 Nine Network IMT (Stand up appearance)
1997 Nine Network / ABC-TV The Gift (Core cast member ? Role of Raf)
1996 Nine Network Hey, Hey It's The Best Of The Comics (Stand up
appearance)
1996 Seven Network Australian Comedians In Concert (Stand up
appearance)
1995 Seven Network Denton- (Interview)
1995 ABC-TV Something Hot Before Bed (Stand up appearance)
1993 Seven Network Tonight Live (Stand-in host for a week)
1991 ABC-TV The Big Gig (Various appearances)
1990 - 1992 Ten Network Let Blood Run Free (Core cast member ? Role of
Warren Cronkshonk)
1988 - 1990 Ten Network The Comedy Company (Core cast member)
1988 Nine Network Midday With Ray Martin (Stand up appearance)

Radio
2004 Triple M (Adld, Melb, Syd) The Cage Every Thursday morning as
Richard Fitzmein.
2004 Triple M (Bris, Melb, Syd) The Whole Shebang Every Tuesday
afternoon.
2003 Austereo Network Friday Shout Weekly National Drive Program,
co-hosted with Judith Lucy.

Live Theatre
2002 Laughter On The 23rd Floor (Principal cast member)
The Playhouse, MTC. Dir. Kate Cherry.
2001 The Tempest (Principle cast member)
The Playhouse, MTC. Dir. Simon Phillips.
1999 - 2001 Certified Male (Principle cast member)
Melbourne, Sydney. Dir. Terry O'Connell.
1992 - 1999 The New Rocky Horror Show (Riff-Raf & Brad)
All Capital Cities & Singapore. Dir. Nigel Triffit.
1991 Bouncers (Principle cast member)
Universal Theatre. Dir. Terry O'Connell.

Live Comedy
(Major Work)
1989 World's Worst Circus ? With Anthony Morgan, Greg Fleet & Andrew Goodone.
1989 Blood Capsule ? Ensemble show
Le Joke ? Melbourne.
1987 Let the Blood Run Free II ? Ensemble show
The Last Laugh ? Melbourne.
1986 Pick A Hit ? With Bob Downe & Gina Riley.
The Last Laugh ? Melbourne.
1985 Peter Rowsthorn Phones Home ? Solo Show
The Last Laugh ? Melbourne.
1985 Let The Blood Run Free ? Ensemble show
The Last Laugh ? Melbourne.
1984 Christmas On A Stick ? With Glenn Robbins & Maryanne Fahey.
Le Joke ? Melbourne.

Film
1998 Beyond Films Crackers (Lead Role)
1988 Short film by David Swann Bonza (Lead Role)
Bonza won the Best Short Film Award at the AFI Awards.

Corporate
Various clients including the Essendon Football Club, Harvey Norman, Institute of Chartered Accountants Australia, Miele, Motorola, NAB, Ricoh, Telstra, Thooheys, Wesfarmers & the West Coast Eagles.