Josh Glanc
| Josh Glanc | |
|---|---|
| Years active | 2017–present |
| Genres | Surreal comedy |
| Website | joshglanc |
Josh Glanc (/ɡlæns/ GLANCE[1]) is an Australian comedian. Known for his surreal[2] sketch and musical comedy, he has won a Best Comedy Show award at Fringe World and been nominated for an Edinburgh Comedy Award.
Early life
[edit]Glanc's father, an accountant, was the eldest son of two Holocaust survivors who moved to Melbourne.[3] In grade 7, Glanc says he made his own "dirty magazine", Ahooga Magazine, made from photocopied pages of Playboy, and sold them at school.[4] He has said that he "performed a lot as a kid", but stopped doing so for 10 years after reaching university.[2]
Career
[edit]Glanc initially spent five years in corporate law, working toward becoming a barrister. A friend from his school encouraged him to audition for a sketch comedy show featuring Melbourne lawyers, and he then wrote and performed his show 99 Schnitzels (But a Veal Ain’t One),[2] a Sacha Baron Cohen tribute show,[5] at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival in 2015.[2] He left his law career in 2016 to focus on comedy, and made appearances at the Adelaide Fringe from that year onward.[5] He trained five months at the John Bolton Theatre School in Melbourne, and with Philippe Gaulier in France; he has jokingly described Gaulier as a "larger-than-life clown teacher who abuses you for a month in order to make you funny".[2]
Manfül, his 2017 show, featured Glanc playing Dicky Rosenthal, a narcissistic bodybuilder character,[6] hosting an information seminar.[7] It appeared at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival.[6] At Fringe World 2017, Glanc won its Best Comedy Show award for 99 Schnitzels.[8][2] He spent a year touring his show Karma Karma Karma Karma Karma Chamedian around Australia, the UK and North America in 2018, despite losing $10,000 in ticket sales at Fringe World 2018 due to the collapse of events company JumpClimb,[2] and moved to London in 2019.[5] Chamedian won Best Comedy at Fringe World 2018 and was the only comedy nominated for The West Australian Arts Editors Award.[9]
In 2020, Glanc returned with his "more story based"[2] show Glance you for having me,[8] described by Fest Magazine as a "lounge-music autobiography".[5] After spending the COVID-19 lockdown in London, he moved back to Australia in February 2021,[5] ultimately being subject to 273 total days in lockdown in both London and Melbourne.[10] His "greatest hits" show, Collections 2023, featured Glanc lip syncing to Smash Mouth's "Walkin’ on the Sun" and other sketches.[1] Glanc played the pig in Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Pig, a production billed as "Britain’s first professional Jewish pantomime", at the JW3 centre in London in late 2023.[11][12]
Vrooom Vrooom, Glanc's 2024 sketch comedy special, was released through 800 Pound Gorilla after being filmed at Stupid Old Studios in Melbourne.[13] The same year, he debuted his shows Collections 2024[5] and Family Man; the latter is described by The Guardian as "a restlessly zany sequence of songs and thumbnail sketches," and was nominated for an Edinburgh Comedy Award.[14] It was also listed as one of the "stand-out shows of the Edinburgh Fringe" by Rolling Stone, which praised its "whiplash-inducing segues", and fusing of "musical interludes with audience participation."[15] Chortle remarked that Glanc had "very much found his audience recently."[16] Part of the show was featured on Channel 4 Comedy Playground.[17]
Personal life
[edit]Glanc is Jewish, and was brought up in Melbourne's Jewish community. He states that he "drifted away from [his] Jewishness in [his] teens, though in late 2023 began a "reimmersion" in this identity.[11] Due to his Polish heritage, he has a European passport.[2] Glanc's father died around 2014.[3]
References
[edit]- ^ a b Morgan, Joyce (8 July 2023). "Musical follows in footsteps of Hamilton and Six, with modern take on history". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 19 February 2025.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Collins, Simon (28 January 2019). "Legal eagle turned comic Josh Glanc gives Fringe World second chance". The West Australian. Retrieved 24 February 2025.
- ^ a b Glanc, Josh (23 August 2024). "'For a long time I felt conflicted' - Josh Glanc on giving up a law career for comedy". The Scotsman. Retrieved 24 February 2025.
- ^ Glanc, Josh (27 April 2022). "Josh Glanc: the 10 funniest things I have ever seen (on the internet)". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 19 February 2025.
- ^ a b c d e f Boden, Justin (7 February 2024). "Interview: Josh Glanc". Fest Magazine. Retrieved 24 February 2025.
- ^ a b Bennett, Steve. "Josh Glanc: Manful : Reviews 2017 : Chortle : The UK Comedy Guide". Chortle. Retrieved 19 February 2025.
- ^ Swan, Chris. "Josh Glanc shines in the must-see 'Manfül'". Beat. Retrieved 19 February 2025.
- ^ a b "Review | Josh Glanc: Glance you for having me". OutInPerth. 30 January 2020. Retrieved 19 February 2025.
- ^ McKeough, Betty (3 February 2019). "Chamedian on top of his game". The West Australian. Retrieved 24 February 2025.
- ^ "Fringe World top 25: the wild, the weird and the wonderful plus the 10 best kids' shows". The West Australian. 7 January 2022. Retrieved 24 February 2025.
- ^ a b Linton, Deborah (5 December 2023). "'Humour is our biggest cultural export': behind the scenes at a groundbreaking Jewish panto". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 19 February 2025.
- ^ Maier, John (8 December 2023). "'Being silly and joyful and Jewish feels extra special right now'". The Times. Retrieved 19 February 2025.
- ^ Martin, Clare (19 July 2024). "Josh Glanc Captures the Fringe Spirit in New Special Vrooom Vrooom". Paste. Retrieved 19 February 2025.
- ^ Wiegand, Chris (23 August 2024). "Josh Glanc: Family Man review – fun and games with an avuncular oddball". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 19 February 2025.
- ^ Choudry, Nooruddean (27 August 2024). "The 12 stand-out shows of the Edinburgh Fringe 2024". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 24 February 2025.
- ^ Harding, Tim. "Josh Glanc: Family Man : Reviews 2024 : Chortle : The UK Comedy Guide". Chortle. Retrieved 19 February 2025.
- ^ "Family Man from Josh Glanc - Channel 4 Comedy Playground". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 24 February 2025.