TV Week Logie award-winning comedian Dilruk Jayasinha was fired from an accounting job before realising that being a stand-up comedian was the job for him and thirteen years after starting in the biz, the 38-year-old is hosting RAW Comedy 2023, the largest and longest-running national open mic competition in Australia.
Showcasing budding comedians from all corners of the nation, the fresh comics hit the stage with their best five min sets to reach the penultimate grand finale which took place on April 16. Now, viewers will be able to watch the final on SBS Viceland on Saturday, July 22 at 9.30 pm.
Dilruk Jayasinha and the RAW Comedy 2023 finalists. SBS Viceland
For Jayasinha, hosting the inaugural gig (which is now in its 28th year) is a full-circle moment.
“All I wanted to do was perform at the National Final because there were going to be 1,200 people at the Melbourne town hall,” he told Mediaweek before the show’s air date.
“I remember going to watch the RAW Comedy gig as a punter. I still love going, I like feeling jealous of all these new comedians having the courage to get up there and do it.”
When it first came across his radar, Jayasinha was working across the road at an accounting firm and ducked out to catch the big show.
“Believe it or not, it was a Sunday and I was still in the office,” he said. “Because I was so bad at my job, I had to study on a Sunday and still do work and then I took a break to go watch the RAW National Finals across the road.”
Following this, the Have You Been Paying Attention? guest panellist participated in the showcase; however, never made it passed the first round.
“For me, finally getting there to the National Finals, even as the host — maybe not a competitor — is a genuine dream come true.”
Dilruk Jaysinha. SBS
Dilruk Jayasinha still can’t believe he’s in Utopia
Another “dream come true” for the comedian was getting the role of Ashan on ABC’s Utopia after being a “huge fan of seasons one and two.”
“When they asked me to do season three, that was what I always hoped [for], that I could be on a show like that,” he admitted. “I didn’t ever think that it was going to be that show itself. Because I thought, ‘Oh, they’ve got the cast, there’s no room for me, why would I make it there?’ And all of a sudden, there was an opportunity.”
During his first scene on the hit show — which reaches over 1 million each week in Total TV viewers — Jaysinha had a bit of a moment, forgetting that he was actually on the show.
“I could not be more grateful because as much as I’d worked with Kitty Flanagan, for example, as a stand-up, she’s very different from her Rhonda character. So, the first scene I had in season three, I was at my desk and Rhonda kind of walked past and I remember having this flutter, like, ‘Oh my god, Rhonda is here’ kind of thing, like just forgetting that this is not Kitty Flanagan, a colleague. I forgot that I’m not on the other side of the camera. I’m not watching it.”
Kitty Flanagan. Rob Sitch and Dave Lawson in Utopia. ABC
Dilruk Jayasinha on the hardest part about being a comedian
For Jayasinha, the “hardest part” about being a stand-up and actor is “behaving like a colleague and not a fanboy”,
“Almost everyone I get to call a friend or colleague now is like a version of a hero of mine,” he admitted. “Kitty and Celia Paquola, I can make a really strong case that they’re the best comedians in the country. Because not only are they great at stand-up, they’re exceptional at stand-up. They’re fantastic on a panel and off the cuff, but they’re amazing comedic actors as well. So, it’s like every facet of comedy that’s involved in this country, they do it and they do it at the top level.
“The fact that now I am sharing dialogue with them, or on the same comedy lineup as then…I cannot believe I get to do this.”
Jayasinha and Celia Pacquola in Utopia. ABC
While gigs have been flying at the comedian, he’s well-versed in how “volatile” the entertainment industry is.
“There’s no guarantee that you’re going to be around forever,” he said. “So, if that happens, if things start to go quiet for me, I don’t want to ever look back and go, ‘I wish I enjoyed it more while I had it’. So, that’s why I’m extremely vigilant about making sure that I pinch myself every single day that I get to do this.”
Melbourne International Comedy Festival’s 2023 RAW Comedy final on SBS VICELAND on Saturday, July 22 at 9.30 pm.