The Gangsters’ Ball is interactive and non-stop entertainment where the audience is as much a part of the show as the performers. Featuring the biggest names in Cabaret, Sideshow Vaudeville, Burlesque, Magic, Illusion and Big Band Swing, it is an event like no other. This year's event will be MC-ed by comedian Dave Callan.
We're told that you're over in Europe at the moment for a bout of sightseeing with a little comedic work thrown in?
Yes, just did Edinburgh fringe. I feel at home there because they like hairy people. Over here this look says 'trouble-maker', in Edinburgh, 'hero'.
You're MCing 'The Gangsters' Ball', how much fun will you have playing that role? Do you fancy yourself as an Al Capone type?
Lots of fun. It's amazing to go to a shindig where absolutely everyone dresses up. It's a spectacle even before the entertainment kicks off. As for Al Capone, I'm not sure. I'd prefer to be Al Pacino in 'Scarface' with my little pump action friend. Wait, that didn't sound right.
Dave Callan's gangster nickname?
Oh yeah, you need a preferably Italian name and a defining characteristic. Like 'Wise Guy Tony' or 'One Eye Capelli' right? I'd probably be 'Lucky Clover Callan' or 'Beardy McGee'.
The Dave Callan 'The Gangsters' Ball' outfit — are we talking pinstripe silk suits, diamond stickpin, fedora topped off with a Tommy Gun for security?
Thanks, do you want to be my stylist? Haha! I have a lot of pinstripe which never goes astray. Hats never fit because I have a massive head and even more massive hair. It's interesting that everyone goes as prohibition-era gangsters. Nobody ever comes with a baseball cap and pants slung low or as Jabba the Hutt.
Have you ever dabbled with the idea of permanently erasing the beard from your look?
No. Much that I'm pro beard as anti-chin. Most women have stronger jaw lines than me.
Looking back at your career — the early days with Rove on Channel 9, no one can ever foretell their future, but did you have any inkling that your career would take off so much?
I really like the sound of laughter. So that drives me in everything I do. The most rewarding thing you can do is make other people happy.
Your film career is under way with your role in the Aussie flick 'Reverse Runner', where you star alongside Australian Olympic hero Steve Moneghetti. How was the experience?
It was great. Those guys who made that are brilliant I think they are going to go a long way. I was a commentator for a pro race where people run backwards. Worth chasing up when it comes out and the trailer should be online now.
Presenting the Graveyard Shift on Triple J, does it ever get lonely or are there enough "different" folks to keep things lively?
Yes indeed, hosted that bad boy from 2005 - 2010. It was five years of mayhem. Never a dull moment. As I got more tired, the calls got more weird which kept me awake! Someone rang in once to tell me they had tied their dog to a wheelbarrow so aliens couldn't abduct it. Made sense at 5am.
How is your 2012 new year's resolution working out?
Well. I have been going well with it. No diet drinks. They are poison. So I'm fat now but my brain and kidneys work.
Your Twitter page proudly declares that you 'secretly like spiritual stuff'. You're pulling our leg, right?
No, I get a lot out of meditation. I like the idea that we are all learning and improving as we go through life if we reflect properly and process everything well and don't feed the negativity. I think everyone can agree that that is a good thing and a proper use of existence whether Atheist, Christian, Muslim, Native American, Jedi, Church of the flying spaghetti monster or any other tradition. As the late comedian George Carlin said as Rufus in Bill and Ted's excellent adventure, "Be excellent to each other".
Dave Callan is the most excellent host of the upcoming 'The Gangsters' Ball 2012' at The Tivoli, September 15.
