Comedian Nick White On Absurd Characters, Being Queer In Comedy, & Loving The Sims 

“I guess quite a bit of my material is about being gay, because being gay is so funny sometimes,” says viral comedian Nick White, while chatting about his new comedy show with Star Observer. After a second he also points out that “a lot of my material is about straight people too. Straight people are also hilarious, and I love pointing out the difference.”

There’s a strong chance you’ve come across one of Melbourne comedian White’s social media videos. Across TikTok and Instagram, he’s become well-known for his suite of absurd sketch characters, which are all unfortunately recognisable people in almost everyone’s lives.

White’s biggest characters include the “dull co-worker” or – my personal favourite – “the friend who tells stories nobody can follow”. He has a particular gift at capturing the horror of corporate life through characters that capture the energy of the strange people you meet in the office kitchenette.

The comedian has a new show called Nick White’s Talent Night, which takes the format of a talent show, where each of the five contestants are some of his favourite comedic characters. 

“I thought a talent show was the perfect format because each character gets five to 10 minutes each on the stage and it’s just silliness and it’s a very interactive and every night will be a bit different. I just love interacting with people in character, so I wanted a show where I could do that.”

While White has become known online for these characters, the live character-focused sketch show is a slight departure from his usual standup routine.

“I always wanted to do a character show, but I didn’t want it to be serious. I didn’t want it to have a narrative or a message, you know? I just wanted it to be a silly, fun show.”

White points to The Amanda Show, an American sketch and variety show starring a young Amanda Bynes as his initial “love of character comedy and like sketch comedy and just silliness”, and also mentions character performers like Chris Lilley, Kristen Wiig, and Kate McKinnon as inspirations.

White started doing standup around eight years ago, and has toured three standup shows around the country. He says that his online success – 285k followers on Instagram and 540k on TikTok – has made it easier for “his people” to find his live shows.

“I think definitely as a queer comedian you kinda have to win the audience over, because the world’s homophobic sometimes,” he explains. “And then it’s nice to just step out on the stage and be like, okay, these people here they came because they know who I am and they get me and they like me.”

“I hate the rhetoric of, like ‘ugh, gay comedians always talking about being gay’. A lot of my stand up is about being gay, because I am gay, babe,” he adds.

The comedian came out when he was 26, after deliberately keeping his head down throughout his younger years. 

“My fear was that I was really different and really weird. And I realised I was gay, so I was just kind of too scared to be myself.”

Finding his people and his path has been a journey, who says he always knew he was a “strange boy” who loved inventing characters. Before comedy he worked at a series of architectural firms – which gave him the fodder for his popular workplace characters.

“I like architecture, but I think I only studied it because I like playing The Sims and building houses on there,” he jokes, saying that he found design and architecture interesting, but it just didn’t feel right.

“When I used to be in a meeting with my co workers I’d be like, ‘oh, I chose this colour for this. That’s probably wrong, right? That’s probably a stupid idea, right?’ Like, I just really doubt myself.”

But comedy didn’t feel that way. “Self doubt still creeps in, but compared to other jobs I’ve had, I feel like I know what I’m doing and I just really trust myself.”

During his Masters degree, he began doing open mic nights, and discovered that performing comedy felt “right”.

“I thought this is probably what I’m supposed to do with my life, at least for now. I just follow my gut for everything. That’s how I live my life, even though it sounds real cheesy.”

Nick White’s Talent Night will be at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival over March and April, before touring to Adelaide, Sydney, and Brisbane.