DANNY MCMASTER

DANNY MCMASTER

IMPRESSIONIST/COMEDIAN

Danny was born in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. His family moved to Mudgeeraba on the Gold Coast when he was 4 years old, where his famous father ‘Wallaby’ Bob McMaster was mine host at the equally famous “Wallaby Hotel” for the next 27 years.

He was schooled at Nudgee College in Brisbane as a boarder for over 10 years where he enjoyed the schoolboy company of future Australian sporting heroes and prominent members of society alike. However, it was here where he first discovered he could command an audience as his schoolmates can attest. He learnt public speaking, acting, music and even studied poetry. He inherited some athletic ability handed down from his international rugby union and rugby league playing (and international professional wrestling) father Bob, and mother Joyce, and became a talented sportsman, playing Rugby Union, Rugby League, Soccer, Touch Football, Athletics and Swimming.

However, it was the music (of any genre) and an uncanny knack for mimicry that marked his school years as the portent for things to come.

His first big love: comedy, was never too far away from his thoughts. He was collecting comedy, anything he could his hands on: albums, singles, books, scripts, cassettes and reel-to-reel tapes of British, American & Australian artists. But, it was the impressionists who fascinated him. ”How do you change your voice like that?” Rich Little, Fred Travalena, George Kirby, David Frye and Frank Gorshin, for starters, and then later on British artists: Joe Longthorne, Mike Yarwood, Bobby Davro, Alistair McGowan, Rory Bremner, Jon Culshaw and American/Canadian performers: Gordie Brown. Dave Coulier, Danny Gans, Terry Fator and Frank Caliendo.

Performing in Talent Quests in ‘live’ situations as well as TV shows was a hoot as an amateur dabbling with impressions and music throughout the 70’s. He turned pro in 1980 and hasn’t looked back since.

He has performed on every major TV show in Australia throughout the 80’s and 90’s and was the voiceover expert on the Nine Network’s “Australia’s Funniest Home Video Show” for nine years from 1991-99 working with Jackie McDonald, JoBeth Taylor, Catriona Rowntree, Kim Kilbey and Lisa Patrick.

His love of Rugby League, The Greatest Game Of All, led him to writing and recording “The Rugby League Song” in 1980 and it has stayed in the sporting lexicon as a perennial tribute ever since. He has co-written and recorded “The Birth Of Origin” as a tribute to the first State-Of-Origin match played in 1980 captained by now-good-friends, legends Artie Beetson and Tommy Raudonikis and these are available on i-tunes.

He has shared the stage with various big-names as Mary Wilson (“The Supremes”), Don McLean (“American Pie”), Glenn Shorrock (“Little River Band”), The Barron Knights (UK), Col Elliott (legendary Oz comic) and Sammy Davis Jnr., just to name but a few.

He has worked the great showrooms, five-star hotels, pubs and clubs of Australia, VietNam, New Zealand, New Guinea and even Los Angeles, Miami, Pennsylvania and Las Vegas, in front of politicians, heads of industry, the public and his peers.

A polished emcee, performer and raconteur, Danny wants to do it for many years to come and he’s well on his way to ‘doing it all’.

Danny is married to the beautiful Tracey and he has 2 children from a previous marriage: university graduate daughter, Brooke, and professional soccer/football goalkeeper son, Griffin.