DamianCallinan

Damian Callinan is a multi award-winning comedian, actor & writer. He is best known to audiences as the lead actor, screenwriter & co-producer of The Merger, the feature film adaptation of his one man show of the same name. You may also recognise his dial from his work on Skithouse, Before The Game & Backyard Ashes & regular guest appearances on shows such as Spicks and Specks & the Melbourne Comedy Festival Gala.

However, it’s The Merger that has greatly expanded his profile & reputation. The Netflix hit film that also stars Kate Mulvany, John Howard and Fayssal Bazzi, was selected as the Gala Centrepiece at the Melbourne International Film Festival in 2018 and was theatrically released soon after. The film consistently picked up awards & nominations including the Cinema Australia Audience Award (2018), two AACTA nominations (2018), Best Film & Best Screenplay at Ozflix Independent Film Awards (2018) & was also shortlisted for the coveted Cinefest Oz Prize (2018). In 2019 the film was selected as the touring feature for both the Dublin & Glasgow International Film Festivals. The film has found a much broader audience since being streamed on Netflix, & its new home at Amazon Prime.

Damian has been prolific in his output of live shows racking up a swathe of awards & nominations. Three of his shows, The Merger, Sportsman’s Night, Proxy Heroes were nominated for Most Outstanding Show at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. His other gongs include, Spaznuts [Piece of Wood Comedians Choice Award MICF]; Cave to the Rave [ABN Amro Edinburgh Foreign Exchange Award]; Sportsman’s Night [Melbourne Fringe Best Comedy]; ‘The Lost WWW1 Diary’ [Nominated Best Comedy @ Perth Fringe & Victorian VCE Playlist] & most recently ‘Swing Man’ [Perth Fringe Comedy Award] & ‘Double Feature’ [Perth Fringe Comedy Award], Double Feature, his celebrated new show based on his mother’s 1946 diary, is a cinematic take on his parents 61 year romance. The show stole hearts at festivals & regional arts centres across Australia in 2023 &  2024 & is now being developed as a feature film.

Callinan has also forged a reputation for creating tailored, immersive shows for regional audiences. Road Trip (2013-2014) & Town Folk (2017) saw him link up with documentary film makers, to create live shows with a film component capturing the essence of each town that they visited. Damian distilled those concepts down to a solo live show with a stills/photoshop AV component, with ‘Damian Callinan is Mayor for a Day’ (2022). As the incumbent head of council, Damian immersed himself in myriad community engagements, then riffed on stage about what he would do when his term on council began. In What a Relief … it’s Damian Callinan (2020-2025), he played close to 50 country halls in disaster impacted communities, under the auspices of the National Emergency Management Agency, tailoring up to half of the show in a single day.

In 2024 Damian premiered his new community engagement project, Hall Stories: a multi format venture that combines a live show & podcast. Damian’s shares his collected stories, observations, monologues & photo montages from hall touring and is also playful examination on the unique role that community halls play in rural life. In the Deluxe version, the show will be partly tailored to the specific hall, and culminates in the delivery of a podcast encapsulating the oral history of the hall. Hall Stories is touring Victoria in 2025 and nationally in 2026.

Unlikely Friends is another of Damian’s new hybrid live show / podcast formats.  Hosted by Damian, he is joined on stage by two comedian/improvisor guests who portray disparate figures from history, in an improvised chat show format. Over the hour, Damian teases scenarios such Estee Lauder creating the look for Ned Kelly’s Gang. Premiering at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival (2024), subsequent seasons at Adelaide Fringe & Woodford Folk Festival (2025) have all been recorded. The Podcast is out now.

As well as taking Hall Stories around the country in 2026, Damian is also touring in the remount The Plan & Other Plans (by Bridie Connell & Grace Rouvray) with the Hothouse Theatre, Albury. He will also be Premiering his new solo, character based, one man show, Spoons at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. Damian is also the regular host of Stranger the Fiction at Melbourne’s Comedy Republic. A night of long form storytelling, the show features a rotation of comedians, actors & media personalties on the 4th Monday of  the month.

In recent times, Callinan has added author to his list of credits, with the release of a junior fiction book Weird School, published by Penguin Random. The book was shortlisted for the State Library of NSW – Russell Prize for Humour Writing (2023) . He also took out the Silver Medal for Best Comedy at the  Australian Podcast Awards (2022) for The Bodgy Creek Community Podcast. You can read more of Damian’s work & listen to his podcasts on The Complete Perks of Damian Callinan on Substack.

Damian’s recent screen work includes a leading guest role in the final season of Rosehaven [ABCTV] & a guest role on Spreadsheet [Paramount +] alongside Catherine Parkinson. He appeared in the recurring roles of Frank, the floor manager on The Newsreader – Seasons 2 & 3 [ABCTV] & as an ‘unedited’ uncle in White Fever [ABCTV]. You may have also seen his hero image on the poster for The Emu War [Hot Dad Productions]. Damian plays the lead role of Major Meredith in this wildly inaccurate take on an obscure chapter in Australian history. The film was nominated for Best Independent Film at the AACTA’s (2024) & took out Best Film at Monster Fest (2023). Following its cinema release, the film is now streaming on Amazon Prime.