DESCRIBING himself as “Australia’s least decorated solider”, Melbourne-based comedian and viral TikTok star Jarryd Goundrey is set to bring his latest show to Kerang this month.
Farewell Vanilla Slice is a hilarious and bittersweet “behind the curtain look” at Goundrey’s time in the army, his subsequent stint as a chef, and his experience in becoming a comedian in the midst of a pandemic.
“Everywhere you go into bookstores, there are always books about the hero of this and the amazing work of that, and I thought no one is ever really telling the story about just sitting in a puddle at 3am doing nothing with your friends,” Goundrey told the Gannawarra Times.
Goundrey’s social media shot to fame when he began reviewing vanilla slices across Australia during an outback tour at the start of 2020.
“I have always loved bakeries so whenever I was going through weird little country towns I would always eat a vanilla slice,” he said.
“So I put them up on my Instagram, and I don’t know what happened but they went absolutely crazy – hundreds of people were messaging me saying where I should try them…
“All of a sudden people really got around this idea that I liked bakery goods.”
The name of the tour comes from Goundrey’s unfortunate affliction with lactose intolerance, using the tour as his last chance to find Australia’s best vanilla slice before saying goodbye to them for good.
“I thought, well I can’t eat vanilla slices anymore and I love them, so I’m going to do a farewell tour, and I’m going to go around a do my comedy tour and I’m going to find Australia’s best vanilla slice in the process, and then finally say goodbye,” he said.
Goundrey said he had “fallen in love” with performing and travelling as a comedian and particularly likds travelling out to regional areas.
“After the pandemic, I think it put a lot of things in perspective,” he said.
“I really enjoyed comedy but then when it was taken away I really saw the impact it had on my life and just how much joy that it brought me.
“One of the best things about doing comedy is that you get to travel around, and one of the big things I wanted to do on this tour was I really wanted to get out and do at least 60 per cent of my dates in areas where not as many acts would come out.
“I just think it’s a shame that a lot of towns and places around Australia don’t get the same attention from artists.”
Farewell Vanilla Slice will be at The Exchange Hotel, Kerang, on August 12 at 8pm.
Tickets are available for purchase at www.eventbrite.com.au/e/650494635967
Ten per cent of the profits from the show will go to support the Australian National Veterans Arts Museum, which provides art therapy to veterans in need and strives to share Australia’s connection to service through art and expression.
“I’m looking forward to having a vanilla slice in Kerang,” Goundrey said.
