Austen Tayshus

Austen Tayshus (born 17 March 1954) is the stage name of Jewish Australian comedian Alexander Jacob Gutman (commonly called Sandy Gutman). He is best known for the 1983 comedy single "Australiana", a spoken word piece written by comedian Billy Birmingham, which is filled with Australian puns; it is Australia's best-selling single ever.[1]

Austen Tayshus
Birth nameAlexander Jacob Gutman
Born (1954-03-17) 17 March 1954
New York City, U.S.
Occupation(s)Comedian
Years active1983–present
Websitewww.austentayshus.com
Home townMelbourne, Australia

His humour often drawing on his Jewish background. A tall man (6 feet 6 inches (1.98 m)), he appears on stage wearing a black suit and dark sunglasses. He is characterised by a resonant deep voice. He is often moody, and taunts his audience and venue staff.[2]

Biography

1954–1982: Early life

Alexander (Sandy) Jacob Gutman was born in New York to Australian parents and moved to Sydney at the age of one.[3] He is the son of an Hasidic Holocaust survivor. He grew up in an Orthodox Jewish home. At 15, he participated in the International Bible Contest for Jewish Youth and took part in the finals in Israel; he finished in the top five. Later, he spent several months at a yeshiva in Jerusalem. He returned to Israel as a volunteer during the Yom Kippur War. Gutman lives in New South Wales and has two daughters.[2]

1983–1984: "Australiana", "Phantom Shuffle" & When the Ticklers Stopped Quivering

The stage name "Austen Tayshus" is an aptronym based on the word "ostentatious". Austen Tayshus first gained public recognition in 1983 performing his comedy single, "Australiana", written by fellow comedian Billy Birmingham. It is a spoken word piece that contains many puns using Australian terms, especially with the names of places and animals.[4] For example:

In 1984, Austen Tayshus released the single "Phantom Shuffle" followed by the album When the Ticklers Stopped Quivering. Both peaked within The Australian top 100.

In 1984 Austen Tayshus sold out the Sydney Entertainment Centre, supported by local comedians.[5]

1985–1989: "Highway Corroboree" & Whispering Joke

In February 1988, Austen Tayshus released the single "Highway Corroboree", which peaked at number 46 on The Australian charts. It was lifted from the album Whispering Joke.

In the late 80s Austen Tayshus toured Australia with other well-known comedians and has always enjoyed introducing young, new comics to his audiences.[5]

1990s: Film

In 1990 Austen Tayshus had relocated to Los Angeles to pursue a movie career. He had a small cameo in the Sharon Stone movie Sliver. At night, Austen Tayshus worked in all the comedy clubs in LA and in New York.

His stay in Los Angeles culminated in a collaboration on a low budget feature film titled Dream Factory, which he co-wrote and starred in. The film was a tragi-comedy about Austen's last days in LA trying to become a big shot.[5]

Returning to Australia in 1997, Tayshus wrote and starred in a short film titled Intolerance. At Tropfest in 1998, the film won the award for Best Film and Tayshus won Best Actor. This led directly to work on the Jane Campion film Holy Smoke!, Emma-Kate Croghan's Strange Planet and Baz Luhrmann's Moulin Rouge!.[5]

1999–2009: "Footyana"

In July 2000, he released "Footyana", a comedy piece in the style of "Australiana", referring to Australian rules football and the National Rugby League. It includes such lines as:

He performed on the television show Live and Kicking.

2010: Political career

In August 2010, he ran for the Australian House of Representatives in the Division of Warringah in the August federal election, representing the Australian Sex Party. He stood against Liberal Party leader Tony Abbott.[6] He subsequently ran in the 2011 New South Wales state election as a member of the Outdoor Recreation Party, contesting Opposition Leader Barry O'Farrell's seat of Ku-ring-gai.[7]

In 2012, he appeared as a panellist on the ABC's political panel show Q&A.

Discography

Studio albums
List of studio albums and Australian chart positions
Title Album details Peak chart positions
AUS
[8]
When the Ticklers Stopped Quivering
  • Released: December 1984
  • Label: Regular Records (RRLP 1214)
 76
Whispering Joke
  • Released: 1988
  • Label: MAX Records (MAX LP188)
 —

Live albums
List of live albums
Title Album details
Lounge Lizard Live
  • Released: 1985
  • Label: Regular Records (L38473)
Alive and Shticking
  • Released: 1994
  • Label: Laughing Stock

Singles
List of singles and Australian chart positions
Year Single Peak chart positions Certification Album
AUS
[8]
1983 "Australiana" 1
  • ARIA: 2xPlatinum[5]
 non album single
1984 "Phantom Shuffle" 16 When the Ticklers Stopped Quivering
1986 "The Pope Down Under" — non album single
1988 "Highway Corroboree" 43 Whispering Joke
"They're Coming to Take Me Away, Ha Ha" —
1989 "Put Down That Stubbie" — non album single
1990 "Rappin' Back to My Roots" — non album single
1995 "I'm Jacques Chirac (And I Don't Give a...!)" — non album single
1998 "Xenophobia" — non album single
2000 "Footyana" 78 non album single

Awards and nominations

Countdown Australia Music Awards

The Countdown Australia Music Awards were an awards ceremony produced by Countdown in collaboration with the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA), from 1981–1986.

Year Nominee / work Award Result
1983 "Australiana" Best Debut Single Nominated
himself Special Achievement Won

ARIA Music Awards

The ARIA Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony that commenced in 1987 and recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of Australian music. Austen Tayshus has been nominated for four awards.[9]

Year Nominee / work Award Result
1987 Do the Poh ARIA Award for Best Comedy Release Nominated
1989 "Highway Corroboree" Nominated
1995 Alive and Schticking Nominated
1996 "I'm Jacques Chirac" Nominated

Literature
  • Fitzgerald, Ross; Murphy, Rick (2011). Austen Tayshus: The Merchant of Menace. Hale & Iremonger.[10]
gollark: Also, I have *some* of the bids?
gollark: > yeah its unicode in... some unicode encodingYou had better be using UTF-8.
gollark: It is, presumably, encrypted with the other datæ.
gollark: Or, er, doubly dethroned.
gollark: `euapioduofluoropseudochromohazard` redethroned cÖral.

References
  1. Fitzgerald, Ross (29 December 2012). "Austen Tayshus sends a postcard from the edge". The Australian. Retrieved 29 December 2012.
  2. Down Under comedian brings show to Israel
  3. "Sandy Gutman aka Austen Tayshus" at Q&A
  4. "Australiana by Austen Tayshus". The Mad Music Archive. Mad Music Productions, LLC. 2010. Archived from the original on 4 February 2010. Retrieved 20 August 2010.
  5. "history of Austen Tayshus". austentayshus. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
  6. Comedian Austen Tayshus to contest Tony Abbott
  7. http://candidates.elections.nsw.gov.au/default.aspx Archived 11 March 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  8. Australian chart peaks:
    • Top 100 (Kent Music Report) peaks to 12 June 1988: Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (Illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 306. ISBN 0-646-11917-6. N.B. The Kent Report chart was licensed by ARIA between mid-1983 and 12 June 1988.
    • Top 100 (ARIA Charts peaked to 2010: Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010. Mt. Martha, VIC, Australia: Moonlight Publishing.
  9. "Austen Tayshus ARIA Awards search". ARIA Awards. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
  10. "A rare genius for burning bridges" by Jack Marx, The Australian (4 June 2011)
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