Paul Cashmere from Noise11 speaks with venue operator Jason Cavanagh about the current state of Australia’s live entertainment industry and the rapid expansion of The Motley comedy venues during the Melbourne International Comedy Festival.
Jason Cavanagh is behind three independent performance spaces in Melbourne – The Motley Wherehaus, The Motley Bauhaus and The Motley Spielhaus – which together host more than 100 shows during the festival. The new pop-up venue, The Motley Wherehaus, alone stages around 36 performances every night, making it one of the largest independent hubs in the festival.
In this conversation, Jason Cavanagh explains how the venues were built around a simple idea: accessibility for artists. By keeping hire costs low and creating small experimental rooms, emerging comedians can test new material without the financial risks often associated with large theatre productions. Many performers who begin in these intimate spaces eventually move on to larger festival stages.
The discussion also explores the financial pressures currently facing the live entertainment sector. Cavanagh describes how arts venues and hospitality businesses are often the first to feel the impact of economic downturns, and why independent venues are particularly vulnerable without government support.
Despite these challenges, Cavanagh argues that investing in the arts generates wider economic activity – bringing audiences into city centres where they spend money in cafés, restaurants and shops.
Jason Cavanagh also discusses potential policy changes that could support venues, including reducing beer excise for live performance spaces and recognising the broader economic value of arts tourism.
The interview offers an inside look at the logistics of running more than a hundred festival performances, the importance of supporting emerging talent, and why independent venues remain essential to Australia’s cultural landscape.
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