Luke Heggie

Luke Heggie is a Australian stand-up comedian and a host on the podcast Mid Flight Brawl. He is raw and unapologetically himself which is represented in his live stand-up gigs around the nation. You can catch him at Melbourne Comedy Festival this season until the 20th of April 2025.

Hey Luke, can you tell us a bit about yourself and how you began your career as a comedian?

I'd love to say it was a calling or something, but it's not. Growing up I didn’t have any real desire to be a comedian. I just started, thought I was alright and kept going. I didn’t really start comedy until I was 35 years old, and it didn’t really take off until then. Previously I was just working random jobs like retail, hospitality. My last job was on a building site. I just never settled into anything. Comedy’s always been my favourite and the longest I've ever committed to anything.

How do you draw inspiration and material for your comedy skits?

Mostly people who annoy me all day, every day. My family also gives me some great material for my shows as well. I usually just write down everything whether that’s on the back of an envelope or a piece of paper but most of the time it’s on my notes page. I'll go through it once a week even though it's 5000 words of just absolute rubbish. There'll always be something in there to form into jokes. There are infinite amount of topics to cover so I don't have anything that I purely focus on. As you get older, especially as a bloke, you've got certain things that annoy you which stem from mid-life crisis, children and people getting in your way in public.

Being a comedian, you’d get faced with a lot of different crowds, how do you handle a tough crowd or hecklers?

I generally just power through it. I spend a lot of time writing this material and getting it right. It’s the crowd’s fault if they’re not familiar with my type of comedy or if they haven’t seen any of my content. I do get a few walkouts, but it’s always a guessing game because I’m not super offensive or edgy. As time goes on in my career, I care less and less because I've written this stuff; I spent a lot of time making it right, I just try to stay calm and not think about it. It's taken me a lot of years to get my crowd in and some come year after year which I’m so grateful for.

I've also got a podcast called Mid Flight Brawl with Nick Cody. That brings a very loyal audience that constantly supports me at gigs as they know exactly what you’re like. The podcast is a good outlet which I’ve been very lucky to be a part of. Nick wanted to do it and since he's quite popular in the media, that built me up a bit.

What’s been one pinch me moment you’ve faced in your career so far?

Back in the day it would’ve been supporting a big-name act. A couple of years in, I was at the Opera House supporting Steven Merchant which I thought was pretty cool. But now looking back on it, it's actually not. All the fans in the crowd are sitting there thinking, 'who's this?'. They're really just waiting for their hero to come out. It's not as glamorous as I thought it might be. But I’ve never had a full pinch me moment as my career has been very gradual and slow and steady. That could be a good thing in hindsight, because I've never really yearned for that.

If you could give your younger self one piece of advice what would it be and why?

I know it's late and I know you're tired, but you've gotta dig a deeper hole. But I’d also say 'Don't delay, just do the job. Stop caring what other people think'. 

Can you run down on your current daily life now?

I first get up and yank my kids out of bed and get them off to school. After I go for a bike ride, I come home and work at my desk for a few hours, writing down ideas and content for a show. I like to include podcast planning during that time too. Podcast planning usually takes me a few days to organise as we have a researcher who finds cases for us to report on. I usually take his findings and make it into about 10 pages worth of notes.

I’ll then have a nap before the kids come home, get dinner prepared and then get ready to go to work. I usually gig every 5-6 days but during Comedy Festivals it will be 1 or 2, 7 days a week. It’s a lot of writing and preparing for sure. 

How would you describe your clothing style on and off stage?

Everyday it would be shorts and a t-shirt. If I’m on stage it would be a pair of blue jeans and one of my t-shirts I rotate between. For corporate gigs I usually put on a collared shirt with jeans which does the job. I don't shop in clothing shops. It's not for me. I don't walk into a shop unless they're selling hardware or food.

You have such a laid-back style. What would be one of your go-to Wild Rhino Shoes? 

Definitely Bern. They’re smart enough to wear to a corporate gig or can easily dress them up for a wedding. I like how it’s got the elastic side aspects and the thick outsole, so I can stomp people if they heckle me at a gig.

QUICK FIRE ROUND

Early-bird or Night-owl? Night-owl

Favourite Comedian? It changes all the time, but at the moment Daniel Connell, I think he’s fantastic.

Knock-off drink of choice? A beer, just a regular beer. Nothing fancy.

Introvert or Extrovert? Introvert

Don't forget to check out Luke Heggie at Melbourne Comedy Festival this year.