Tune in the Spoken Word on 3CR to hear Josh Cake in conversation with Carmen Main. 

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Josh Cake is a writer and performer from Melbourne, Australia. He has worked in Australia, France, and Italy.

His poetry was first published at the age of 10 in Random House’s collection 'Poems by Young Australians, Volume 3'. He wrote the comedy blog 'Penguin on Porpoise', a repeat finalist at the International Weblog Awards. A former member of the Paris Spoken Word community, he was a lead performer at the 2015 'Poetry Brothel' in Paris.

He has written, directed, and performed in hundreds of comedy, music, cabaret, theatre, and short film productions. His debut solo stand-up and musical comedy show, 'A Death By Chocolate', won the 2014 Degraves Award for Best Comedy. His cabaret work in Paris won him The Weekly Beckett's award for Best Cabaret in 2015, and Humour Nouveau's awards for Best Musical Comedian and Best Solo Performer in 2016. He currently hosts a weekly inclusive space for experimental comedy at Sloth Bar in Footscray.

He has worked as a radio and television host for SYN 90.7FM, 88.3 Southern FM, and Channel 31, as well as appearances on Radio Fodder, SBS Radio, and ABC RN.

His recent credits include composing and performing a 2018 concert series for the National Gallery of Victoria, a 2018 storytelling feature on ABC Radio National, directing and composing the 2018 cabaret 'Foreign Woman' for the Melbourne Fringe Festival and Sydney audiences, producing 'Three Guards on Manus Island' at the 2019 Melbourne International Comedy Festival, delivering a TEDx talk in September 2019, and receiving an Honourable Mention at the 2019 Melbourne Spoken Word Prize.

Josh loves teaching music and comedy. As well as his piano, guitar, and composition students, he regularly runs comedy workshops at the University of Melbourne, and is also passionate about languages - you can hear him on the Spanish course CDs of the Victorian School of Languages.

Josh is currently active in the Melbourne Spoken Word community. His poetry is informed by his background in music and comedy, aiming to entertain and provide laughter while drawing out the rhythms and melody of the spoken word, as well as urging audiences to reflect on the world in which they live. His recent poetry has centred around themes of climate change, emotions in digital spaces, and anecdotal encounters between the personal and the political.

Josh is grateful to the Melbourne and broader Australian poetry community for their welcome, friendship, advice, and inspiration. He would like to particularly thank all the people who work hard, often unseen, to create opportunities for poets.

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Reviews:

★★★★★
"a stunningly intelligent performer ... extraordinary awareness of his audience" - Red Kangaroo, 2019

★★★★★
"Josh Cake weaves simple, universally recognisable objects into extraordinarily beautiful metaphors for the human condition." - The Recruiting Officer, 2018

★★★★★
"he moves from a masterful display of meticulously timed hilarity to metaphors that bypass the brain and land straight in your tear glands ... intensely funny and heartbreakingly poignant, with a core of sincere hope" - The Bullock, 2018

★★★★★
"virtuosic in his comedic intelligence, his musical dexterity, and his control of an audience" - The Weekly Beckett, 2015

"That was so good that I'm a little bit angry. Fuck you, Josh." - Tim Evans, 2019