THOMAS BROMHEAD

Thomas Bromhead

As a former Chartered Accountant and KPMG Peat Marwick audit guru, Thomas Bromhead knows how to party. An appearance on Red Faces in 1993 as Tommy Ray Sinus proved to be a life changing experience and a score of SIX from Red Symons was all he needed to launch a career in showbiz!

Reluctantly he said goodbye to the dizzy heights of accounting and that year he travelled to London where he completed a diploma in Acting at the Richmond Drama School.

In 1995 Thomas returned to Australia where he commenced his full time career as an entertainer. Thomas had immediate success in the field of stand up comedy. Soon he was performing regularly at major comedy venues as The Espy and The Star and Garter.

Thomas continued his climb up the comic ladder when he became the resident comic, "Spider" at Dracula's Theatre Restaurant for the 1997 season. In 1998 he performed spots on "Recovery" and The Comedy Channel's "Headliners".

Around this time he started making a name for himself in the voiceover field. He received the ultimate compliment in early 1998 when he voiced a series of Ansett advertisements impersonating Richie Benaud, who complained that they sounded too much like him. The adverts were subsequently pulled off the air!

Thomas is a semi regular on "The X-Fools" where he has impersonated stars such as Jack Nicholson, Robin Williams and Patrick Stewart. The "X-Fools" is played around the world in places as far flung as London and Kuala Lumpur. In 1998, Thomas' voice was featured on "The Footy Wars" CD. His most recent appearance was as a CEO in an AAPT ad called "Hot Potato".

As an actor Thomas has appeared on Blue Heelers, Neighbours, Seachange, Stingers and of course Network Video advertisements that were filmed in Auckland. "Fulming in New Zealund was great fun. The crew were very uffucent and there were heaps of fush and chups for iverone. It was a great uxperience." said Thomas.

Impersonating Elvis as part of his stand up act. Comments from the audience include "If you were a foot taller and had hair, you'd be a dead ringer for Elvis". Encouraging words like these spur him on. In his Las Vegas type jumpsuit Thomas is easily recognisable on the circuit. In fact, dressing up has been a feature of his life. In 1974 he won second prize in a fancy dress competition as Evel Knevil.

From 1987 - 1996 he dressed as a soldier so he could perform in Army Bands. Thomas blew his own trumpet during this period. The worst two weeks of his life were spent at Puckapunyal Army Base doing a recruit course. As he was only playing trumpet in the band Thomas did not see any "active service". In 1996, Thomas decided he wanted to wear an earring and sideburns so he said goodbye to the Army Reserve.

Thomas is a regular headliner on the comedy circuit in both Melbourne and Sydney, performing at The Star and Garter, The Espy, The Comedy Club, Laugh Again and Crown Odeon. When in Sydney, Thomas chooses to stay at the following venues: The Comedy Store, The Manly Boatshed and The Sebel Townhouse.

Thomas' first stand up gig was in December 1994 at the HaBloodyHa Club in London where he won his heat of The New Comic of the Year. Unfortunately, he had to return to Australia before the final. But he can proudly say he has a perfect comedy record in England.