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Tom Gleisner | |
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 Gleisner in 2012 | |
| Born | Thomas Edmund Gleisner (1962-10-24)24 October 1962 (age 63) Melbourne, Victoria, Australia |
| Alma mater | University of Melbourne |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1980s–present |
| Television | Have You Been Paying Attention? |
| Spouse | Mary Muirhead |
| Children | 2 |
Thomas Edmund GleisnerAO (born 24 October 1962) is an Australian comedian and producer. Gleisner co-founded production companyWorking Dog Productions and currently hostsNetwork 10'sHave You Been Paying Attention?.
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Gleisner was educated atXavier College in Melbourne, Australia. He attended theUniversity of Melbourne in the 1980s, and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws in 1987. While he was a university student he began working withSanto Cilauro andRob Sitch in the 1983 Law RevueLegal A.I.D.S. Gleisner wrote and performed in the 1985 Melbourne University RevueToo Cool for Sandals.
Gleisner was credited as a writer onThe D-Generation (1986–1987) but not as a regular performer.[1] He did, however, appear on numerous occasions as a guest star (he featured more prominently in the second season), and on the albumThe Satanic Sketches.
Gleisner went on to perform in the D-Gen's late-eightiesTriple M radio show (and its spin-off albumThe Breakfast Tapes)[citation needed], and then starred in, and wrote for, ABC TV'sThe Late Show (1992–1993). His best-remembered performances inThe Late Show included the newsreader ofLate Show News, the co-host ofCountdown Classics withJane Kennedy and the interviewer of stuntman Rob Sitch inShitscared, although he appeared in various other sketches (including a recurring role as brainless bush-traveller "Wallaby Jack").[citation needed]
AfterThe Late Show finished, Gleisner co-foundedWorking Dog Productions, along withSanto Cilauro, Jane Kennedy andRob Sitch. Their first venture wasFrontline which ran on the ABC from 1994 until 1997. Gleisner was a writer/producer/director, and also had a minor role as photocopier repairman Colin Konica.
In 1995, Gleisner starred as mute cop Poncho onFunky Squad on ABC, another Working Dog comedy which he co-created and served on as a writer/producer/directors. Gleisner co-wrote the Working Dog filmsThe Castle (1997),The Dish (2000) andAny Questions for Ben? (2012). He also hosted and co-executive produced the popularNetwork Ten programThe Panel (1998–2004). Gleisner has also appeared with Rob Sitch as a presenter of the ABC TV fly-fishing documentaryA River Somewhere (1997–1998). He wrote and directed theGlenn Robbins comedy,All Aussie Adventures (2001–2002, 2004, 2018), was the judge on theimprovised comedy programThank God You're Here from 2006 to 2009, but was replaced by various judges from 2023, and co-wrote/co-produced Working Dog'sThe Hollowmen (2008),Utopia (2014–2023), andPacific Heat (2016).
Currently he is host of the popular Australian quiz showHave You Been Paying Attention? (2013–present), and a producer ofThe Cheap Seats (2021–present).
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Gleisner has written four comedic books in the persona of a fictitious cricketer,Warwick Todd,The Warwick Todd Diaries (1997),Warwick Todd: Back in the Baggy Green (1998),Warwick Todd Goes The Tonk (2001) andWarwick Todd – Up in the Block Hole (2009). He has appeared in his Warwick Todd persona in guest appearances on TV.
Gleisner has also written a number offly fishing books along with Rob Sitch.
With Sitch and Santo Cilauro, he is responsible for the travel guide parodies in the "Jetlag Travel Guide" series. The series comprises theEastern Europe send-up ofMolvanîa: A Land Untouched by Modern Dentistry, parody ofSoutheast Asian destinationsPhaic Tăn: Sunstroke on a Shoestring, and Central American send-upSan Sombrèro: A Land of Carnivals, Cocktails and Coups.
With Cilauro and Sitch, Gleisner co-wrote the comic playThe Speechmaker, which theMelbourne Theatre Company premiered in 2014.[2]
His musicalBloom, with music by Katie Weston, premiered in 2023, also for the Melbourne Theatre Company.
Gleisner is married to Mary Muirhead and they have two children, a son and a daughter.[citation needed]
Gleisner is the chairman of Challenge, an Australian cancer support organisation.[3]
He is also passionate about raising autism awareness, co-founding Learning For Life, a centre that provides early intervention to autistic children, with his wife in 2004.[4] They were inspired to do so by the child of a friend of theirs.[5]
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