Hamish Blake

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Hamish Blake : biography

11 December 1981 –

Mr. New York State 2011

As part of a stunt for the TV series Hamish and Andy’s Gap Year, Andy entered Hamish into the Mr. New York State bodybuilding competition in the Heavyweight division. Due to a technicality in which Blake was the only contestant over 200 pounds (the minimum requirement for a Heavyweight contender), he was awarded the title of Mr. New York State 2011 in the Heavyweight division.http://www.siflexphysique.com/2011_Mr__Ms__New_York_State_Results.html

Career

Hamish and Andy

Hamish Blake has collaborated with fellow comedian Andy Lee as the duo Hamish and Andy since 2003, when they performed their breakout show at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, a stage production about a trip they had taken to North Queensland in Blake’s old car. Soon after, they trained with SYN Radio, gaining a drive-time shift, and created a show called Radio Karate for RMITV on community-access television station Channel 31, which they created in collaboration with Ryan Shelton and several other school friends. Radio Karate won an Antenna Award for best comedy program at the inaugural National Community Television Awards in February 2004, and one month later were offered a national comedy program on Australia’s Seven Network.

The Hamish and Andy Show premiered on the Seven Network in March 2005, but failed to achieve ratings success and was cancelled after two weeks. Reviewers acknowledged the duo’s talent, but criticised the show as "poorly executed". Blake says that while working on the show was a fun experience, they had little control over what happened and the way it went forward. Following the cancellation of The Hamish and Andy Show, they created a short mockumentary titled The Greystone 2800 about a couple who accidentally bought an open display home after failing to read the fine print on a housing purchase. The film won the Melbourne Comedy Festival Short Film competition and attracted the attention of comedian Rove McManus. This led to some small spots on McManus’ Network Ten show Rove Live.

McManus’s company, Roving Enterprises, also helped the duo develop Real Stories, a mock current affairs show that aired on Network Ten in 2006. Blake says that the experience of creating Real Stories was much more enjoyable than The Hamish and Andy Show because they had greater control over the series. Blake and Lee wrote, acted, directed, filmed and produced the show with input from Ryan Shelton and Tim Bartley.

In 2006, Blake and Lee debuted a national drive-time radio show titled Hamish & Andy on the Today Network. The show quickly gained popularity, finishing 2006 with almost one million Melbourne listeners, ahead of 3AW’s popular radio host Derryn Hinch. As of August 2008, Blake and Lee’s show was rating number one in four out of Australia’s five major capital cities. As of the beginning of 2009, the show is broadcast in all capital cities as well as many regional centres across the country.

In September 2008, it was announced that they would make a guest appearance on Ten’s Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader?, which is hosted by Rove McManus. In the same year they also made a guest appearance on the Australian soap opera Neighbours.

Rove Hamish & Andy Re-Gifted: A Very Early Christmas Special

Hamish and Andy have also appeared on Channel Ten’s Good News Week and The 7PM Project several times.

Solo work

Blake has appeared on various Australian television series, including Spicks and Specks, Thank God You’re Here, Twentysomething, Australia’s Brainiest Comedian, The Librarians, The Panel, Rove, Talkin’ ’bout your Generation and The Footy Show. He has also featured in the British version of Thank God You’re Here. In 2008 he was a speaker for the negative team in the Melbourne International Comedy Festival’s annual televised Great Debate.

He has a monthly column in the Australian women’s magazine Cosmopolitan. He was also the winner of the TV Fugly Award for Spunkiest Male TV Personality in 2008. Hamish Blake was voted the comedian of the year in 2007 by the Eather corporation. His compatriot Andy Lee was placed 14th for 2007. Blake also came first in ‘Television’s most powerful celebrity’ for 2009, Lee came 19th.

On 20 January 2010 it was announced Hamish will be writing a column for the Herald Sun.

Hamish, along with Zoe Foster, has written a book on dating called "Textbook Romance"http://www.penguin.com.au/products/9780143009474/textbook-romance

After retiring from his daily radio show, Hamish has taken on several side projects over the summer. In 2011, Blake will make an appearance in a new ABC comedy called Twentysomething, starring real life best friends Jess Harris and Josh Schmidt.http://www.heraldsun.com.au/entertainment/confidential/hamish-blake-acts-up-with-his-mates/story-e6frf96x-1225969245919 He will also co-starring in his first feature film with Bret McKenzie of Flight of the Conchords in Two Little Boys, shot in New Zealandhttp://www.heraldsun.com.au/ipad-application/hamish-takes-a-kiwi-flight-with-bret/story-fn6bfkm6-1225968516462 Hamish jokes: "I don’t feel comfortable about cheating on Andy but now it’s all out there. We’ve always had an open comedic relationship, but it was for one-night stands only, no exchange of phone numbers. I’ve heard them [Andy and Jemaine Clement, Bret’s comedic partner] whispering on the phone, plotting to do their own movie to release on the same day to sink ours."http://www.popsugar.com.au/Hamish-Blake-Co-Star-Bret-McKenzie-New-Zealand-Comedy-Two-Little-Boys-12508651