Ray O'Leary Comedy Special

Comedian Ray O’Leary is best known to Australian audience for his regular appearances on Have You Been Paying Attention and Taskmaster (across the ditch). He’s also an accomplished stand up comedian having appeared on the Melbourne International Comedy Festival’s Galas on numerous occasions.

In 2024, Humdinger was lucky enough to film Ray’s new comedy special “Your Laughter is Just Making Me Stronger” at Comedy Republic in Melbourne.

The Brief

Ray was looking for an intimate club feel for his special and had chosen Comedy Republic as his recording location as it was a familiar space with warm crowds.

Ray sent through examples of other specials he liked which helped us to figure out the best creative approach to filming and the camera set up.

It was also decided to film two shows back to back, a common decision for comedians recording their specials, providing options when it comes to the edit.

Our Approach

We had shot at Comedy Republic on multiple occasions so were familiar with the set up and limitations. It’s a wonderful space, but not especially big which means limited options for camera set up.

We brought in five cameras including two operated on monopods to give a natural ‘handheld’ feel without looking too shaky. Those cameras also allowed for some mobility, allowing us to frame shots shooting through the audience to give an ‘in the room’ feel.

Ray wanted his special to have a distinctive look, so his team brought in lighting designer Hugh Taranto. Hugh provided some ‘eye candy’ fixtures to add some visual interest on stage and lit the green-ish house drape blue.

The results

The end product is a fantastic, intimate special but don’t take our word for it. See Ray's testimonial below.