Russell Gilbert - Biography
Russell Gilbert - funny man
Russell Gilbert is one of the country’s hardest-working comedians. The veteran star of television, radio and stand-up comedy is always switched on, upbeat and effervescent when it comes to performing – and is excited about taking a leap into the singing arena.
It’s almost unbelievable to imagine Russell could be nervous on stage, with a host of national TV credits behind him, including the Comedy Company, Hey Hey It’s Saturday, Joker Poker, Temptation and The Wedge.
With great success in TV, Russell eventually landed his own TV program, The Russell Gilbert Show, and has more recently hosted Seven’s Great Comedy Classics with flair and side-splitting humour.
But Russell was a late starter into the entertainment world. As a teenager he left school to work in the local abattoir and it wasn’t until his early twenties that he performed his first comedy stand-up routine at the local football club.
Drawing on his favourite influences – such as Abbott & Costello and Charlie Chaplin – Russell developed his routine and was eventually noticed by former Hey Hey It’s Saturday and now Dancing With The Stars host Daryl Somers, who invited him to perform on the show.
The success of his Hey Hey It’s Saturday performance resulted in an invite to appear with established leading female comic Wendy Harmer and The Cabbage Brothers at the annual Christmas show at the Last Laugh – one of the most prestigious events on the comedy circuit calendar. His career since then has only gone from strength to strength and he’s looking forward to plenty more laughs on It Takes Two.
Russell supports the Shane Warne Foundation which focuses on raising money for seriously ill and underprivileged children and teenagers and runs a series of events each year that urges support from both the corporate world and Shane Warne’s legion of cricket loving fans around Australia and abroad.
Wendy Matthews - Biography
Australian Singing Legend.
Wendy Matthews has a reputation as an artist with a sublime, expressive voice that never fails to move those who hear it.
Indeed, Wendy’s music is now in more than a million homes in Australia. And her talent is reflected in the albums she has released and the various ARIA Awards she has won.
Wendy has an a diverse range of styles in her music – from jazz to blues, from rock to gospel, from soul to outright infectious pop and then there are the beautiful ballads. Simply put, Wendy Matthews has a reputation for having one of the finest voices ever.
Born in Montreal, Canada, Wendy spent her early years at the feet of her harmonica – playing grandfather and describes her early influences as ‘everyone from Odetta to Aretha Franklin to Patsy Cline’.
At the age of 15, Wendy left home, busked her way across North American and Mexico and then settled in Los Angeles. It was there where she earned a reputation as a sought after session singer for artists such as Cher and Donna Summer which led to an offer to accompany ex-Little River Band singer Glenn Shorrock to Australia for his 1993 solo tour. Six weeks later turned into a lifelong stay and huge successes with albums Émigré, Lily, The Witness Tree, Ghosts, Beautiful View and ‘Best of’ Album – Stepping Stones.
Her first number one hit in Australia was as lead singer of the group Absent Friends. The song was ‘I Don’t Want To Be With Nobody But You’ and its success provided her with the impetus to go solo.
Wendy Matthews’ latest album, Café Naturale is a mixed up, chilled-out record that’s partly bound up in memories of songs you fell in love to, made new friends with, talked and laughed and fought through.
Wendy took out citizenship in 1995, but didn’t experience a sense of belonging until she acquired her land by making a dramatic sea change from Sydney’s beachside suburb Bondi and shifting herself to the coastal haven on the North Coast of NSW. It is here where she enjoys thriving on living close to nature by living in a teepee, based on the traditional Sioux design.
Wendy enjoys the lifestyle of being able to look up to the trees and the stars on her four hectare block in the country side. She is however building her dream home in the valley below using mud bricks, local rocks and timber from the trees around her block.
Former Midnight Oil’s front man, Peter Garrett, said when he eloquently described her abilities: “Wendy’s voice is to the vocal chords what the Daintree is to the wilderness”.
Let’s see if Wendy’s unhurried clean melodies, infectious energy and simple grace can seamlessly guide her partner, Russell Gilbert to centre stage with similar ease.
