Man about the house is such an amazing concept, how did the idea originate?
I had been doing some work with Sydney Living Museums just on some programming stuff. I was interested in historical properties and also interested in architecturally designed properties and I was looking at different ways of doing unique programming and I just thought I should really think about something I could do that combined that. I really wanted to do something in the Rose Seidler House, which is a late 1940s modernist home that they have as one of their properties, designed by Harry Seidler. Sydney Living Museums let me do the show there for the first time and people really enjoyed it – they liked the idea of checking out a house and seeing a show. We just kept doing it and over the last year it has expanded.

Have you encountered any other show like it, comedy wise, incorporating spaces in such a way?
Well, lots of people do house shows – like when I was at university people would put on shows in their living room. What makes this one different in those terms is that in many ways the venue is the hero of the show and I happily take second billing. We are prepared to admit that it’s the star.

In the video on your website you discuss your love of architecture and design, was it ever something that you ever thought about pursuing as a career at any stage?
Nah, not at all – my passion has always been performing and that was the only thing I ever thought about doing. However architecture has always been a massive interest for me, I’ve always collected things and I’ve always loved design. As time has gone on my furniture collection has gotten out of control and I filled up my house, so I thought I’d slide my interest into houses and being able to see things rather than trying to collect everything. In a sense I’m collecting houses by going into them! I think most people have some sort of interest in hanging out in houses, going somewhere they couldn’t normally go – there is something about it that is very appealing.

You are upping the scale with the your show at the Brisbane Museum for Man about the museum, what is the difference between performing in a house and a building that boasts a bit more history?
Galleries and museums are interesting because people behave in a very conservative manner in them. We all know how we are supposed to behave in those sorts of places but we welcome them into that space and tell them to relax and have a laugh. It takes a while to get there, but I love the idea of being able to ease that part of museum culture. People can come along and check out the exhibition and have a drink in a different type of environment, which I think is fantastic.

Does the setting that you are in alter the content of the show, especially when you are performing in such diverse locations?
Yeah, they always adapt. It does change, we talk about the space in one way or another – there is always an integration that we do. The basis of the show remains the same but it is tailored to where we are, what the venue is and we will always weave in a bit of history of the place and the design features.

What would you say is the most amazing or unique venue that you’ve performed in as part of this tour?
In Canberra there is The Shine Dome at the Academy of Science that has been restored beautifully and I think it’s one of Australia’s great buildings. It’s certainly underrated in many ways – it’s up there with the Opera House, though it’s much more modest inside. From an engineering and design point of view it’s beautifully made and wonderfully restored and it was a joy to perform in. Everything about it was iconic down to the furniture. I love that place – but I love the little houses as well. In Brisbane we did a show at the Jacobi House, which is one of my favourite homes. There is a beautiful modesty to that house and it has some great owners and history to it. That’s a really important part of Brisbane’s heritage because of its beautiful reinvention of the traditional Queenslander.

How do you go about approaching owners of these houses? Are they receptive to the idea of letting people come in to their homes?
Yeah, some of the time we get the architects coming to us or the owners of the houses will come to us, but most of the time I’ll see or read about a house and I’ll approach the owners and ask if we can do a show. Usually it’s really great, people see the other houses that we’ve been in and that there were no troubles – nothing has been burned down or stolen and every attendee was very respectful.

All of these shows feature your mate Kit who provides the musical element to the night, how does it fit in with the show?
I get up for a little bit at the start and then Kit plays four or five songs of his own, then I do some more storytelling stand-up – that takes up most of the first half of the show. During the second half Kit and I play music together. By then everyone gets what’s going on and understands the concept. They come along for the ride and see the dynamic between Kit and I – we are old friends and he is a very talented musician. We’ve been performing together for a long time as well so I really enjoy it all.

How does the musical comedy differ from your own stand-up?
We do a lot of storytelling with music, which I love. It can punctuate things differently and it can pace the whole thing. It’s a really interesting way of telling jokes ­– I’ll keep some stories to the side because I know they’ll make better songs. Some of them I might sing – I do a limited amount of singing – or I’ll just tell a story and kit will sing underneath or sing a chorus. That’s one of the things that we’ll do more of as time goes on.

With these performances, what have you brought to the table in terms of comedic content? What are you talking about with your comedy these days?
I talk about everything. We talk a lot about heritage and preservation as part of the show. Then there is the journey of all the places we have been to and what happens when we are on the road – the nature of being at people’s houses. A lot of the show is about where we’ve been and the styles of houses we’ve been into. There is also some general stand-up that I do, which is about being married and having kids. A lot of it is quite broad in that sense – it’s not just conversation about houses, we weave it in pretty well and some of it is serious and some of it isn’t but I didn’t want to make it a lecture series. It’s basically about just having an entertaining show in a great space – you aren’t coming along and copping an hour and fifteen minutes of just me trying to do jokes about architecture, which is pretty useless.

What do you hope people that come to Man about the museum or any Man about the house show take away from it?
It’s about sitting back. What I love is that with the modern houses we perform in a lot of people come and learn what is worth preserving – they see historic architecture in a different light. With a new building they see how architecture can make you feel, how great design can lift you up on a daily basis. As time goes on I think more and more the show will become about how we should all be thinking about having better design in our houses. A lot of it is just simple – it’s very intimate and afterwards we chat to people, there is a great community of people that come to the show. They understand that we do it because we love it. It’s good to come along and be part of something that will make you laugh and you’ll be able to check out a fantastic space.

What’s the best thing about being you right now?
Having freedom. Being able to spend time with my family, being able to go visit different places and not being ties down to one particular job. I’m able to follow my passions and do interesting things with interesting people – it’s been an absolute joy.

Proudly presented by Museum of Brisbane in partnership with Brisbane Open House, the two-hour show is for one night only, so lock in your tickets before they sell out.