About Me

Attention students, especially those who want to do an assignment on me…I’m really honoured Check out my Q and A page and ask me a question too and I’ll add it to the page.

When I was a kid, I used to be a class clown.

I just loved making people laugh.

Teachers would tell me that I needed to grow up. But I had a better idea. Why don’t I choose a job where I can act like a kid and make jokes for a living!

I grew up in Western Sydney and I’m still proud to be westie today.

When I was little, I would write about dinosaurs because I wanted to discover one and be famous. But then I realised that most of the dinosaurs had been discovered and looking for bones sounded lame. But I still dream about reading about an Oliversaurus someday

I loved to read as a kid. My favourites were Jennings and Gleitzman books. My teachers read those cool short stories from the ‘Un’ series, and they still freak me out, like ’Sheep Eyes’ and the one about the flies. Fantastic stuff! I also loved Andy Griffiths’ Just series too.

In high school, I had fun mucking around with English speeches and debates. I used to have up to 200 cue cards (most of them blank) and chuck them up in the air at the end like Paul Mc Dermott does on Good News Week. Another highlight was going to a school excursion to Old Sydney Town (an olden days theme park that is no longer around) and I got picked to in a short play with a judge. I didn’t follow the script and just made up lines on the spot! Even the cool kids came up to me and liked my zany jokes. That’s when I knew I wanted to be a comedian.

I still kept reading and writing because I’m proud to be a nerd…I mean bookworm. I went to the University of Western Sydney and completed a writing degree. But I also wanted to be a teacher, so I did a teaching degree at Sydney University. I really enjoyed my teaching days, because I get to use my imagination and the kids gave me so many ideas.

I reckon kids are little masters of comedy, and the characters in my stories explore the wacky side of everyday life.

I’ve become a stand up comedian, performing at places all around Sydney. I’ve done a show at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival and have appeared on TV and radio

When Thai-riffic! came out, people said that I must have been happy that my dream came true now. They’re wrong. I’ve been living my dream since I was a kid, making people laugh. My first book has taken me to many schools and festivals. I’ve met so many people who have become my fans (I call them cHEwY gum gums). I’ve met so many famous authors and illustrators. I’m so lucky to have this as a my job hehe

Just another cHEwY day at a conference

My cHEwY journey continues with my second book Con-nerd out now. It’s a book that I’m really proud of because I want to celebrate nerds, they’re cool…okay, sort of cool. I can’t wait to go out and spread some choas on toast for big and small kids! 2012 is set to be another stellar year for cHEwY creations, I’ve got two books out this year. Punchlines and More Thai-riffic! There’s also a few other projects that I can’t mention just yet but they will be BIG! I’m also featured in a few anthologies, one with Penguin called ‘Things a Map won’t show you’ and another called ‘Trust Me Too’ with Ford Street Publishing.

I’m also the treasurer for the CBCA Northern Sydney Sub-branch, which is set for a terrific third year.

Back in my teacher days…

Doing some stand up comedy!

During my performance at About Face 2011!