Dan Ilic
Dan Ilic
A Rational Fear Host
‘Investigative Humourist’ Dan Ilic is one of Australia's most prolific comedy voices, known for his work across TV, film, radio and stage.
Known for raising hundreds of thousands of dollars to shame the Australian Government's record on climate action in Times Square, New York City before the Glasgow climate talks in 2021.
Host of the popular podcast and live comedy show A Rational Fear, Dan brings together industry leaders, journalists, comedians and politicians, to use comedy to explore big issues such as climate change, press freedom and the intersection of culture and the internet. A Rational Fear won Best Comedy Podcast at the Australian Podcast Awards in 2020, 2021 and 2022.
Starting his career on TV shows including The Ronnie Johns Half Hour (TEN), Hungry Beast (ABC) The Feed (SBS), Can of Worms (TEN), and Insiders (ABC). He rose to national fame for his satirical comedy fringe show Beaconsfield: A Musical In A-Flat Minor.
He has sold out shows at the Sydney Opera House, entertained with seasons on ABC Radio National, and performed stand-up under rocket fire in Kandahar.
As a journalist, in 2008 Dan scooped the world to the news Heath Ledger's Death and covered US election for Fairfax Media, In 2015 was appointed the senior satire producer of Al Jazeera’s youth publisher AJ+ and in 2016 he covered the US election while Executive Producer of Satire for Fusion/Gizmodo Media Group in the USA.
He landed back in Australia as the Executive Producer and Showrunner of the daily satirical TV show Tonightly with Tom Ballard (ABC), then more recently, the AACTA nominated At Home Alone Together (ABC), a coronavirus comedy lifestyle show.
He also co-wrote, performed, and directed the narrative comedy series ‘Riot Act’ for Audible which won a Webby Honouree in 2019, and went on to secure television development funding from Create NSW.
Dan was recognised by the Obama Foundation in 2019 as an Obama Foundation Leader Asia Pacific for his work in satire and climate change activism, and was a 2020 and 2021 Bertha Foundation Fellow.
Known for raising hundreds of thousands of dollars to shame the Australian Government's record on climate action in Times Square, New York City before the Glasgow climate talks in 2021.
Host of the popular podcast and live comedy show A Rational Fear, Dan brings together industry leaders, journalists, comedians and politicians, to use comedy to explore big issues such as climate change, press freedom and the intersection of culture and the internet. A Rational Fear won Best Comedy Podcast at the Australian Podcast Awards in 2020, 2021 and 2022.
Starting his career on TV shows including The Ronnie Johns Half Hour (TEN), Hungry Beast (ABC) The Feed (SBS), Can of Worms (TEN), and Insiders (ABC). He rose to national fame for his satirical comedy fringe show Beaconsfield: A Musical In A-Flat Minor.
He has sold out shows at the Sydney Opera House, entertained with seasons on ABC Radio National, and performed stand-up under rocket fire in Kandahar.
As a journalist, in 2008 Dan scooped the world to the news Heath Ledger's Death and covered US election for Fairfax Media, In 2015 was appointed the senior satire producer of Al Jazeera’s youth publisher AJ+ and in 2016 he covered the US election while Executive Producer of Satire for Fusion/Gizmodo Media Group in the USA.
He landed back in Australia as the Executive Producer and Showrunner of the daily satirical TV show Tonightly with Tom Ballard (ABC), then more recently, the AACTA nominated At Home Alone Together (ABC), a coronavirus comedy lifestyle show.
He also co-wrote, performed, and directed the narrative comedy series ‘Riot Act’ for Audible which won a Webby Honouree in 2019, and went on to secure television development funding from Create NSW.
Dan was recognised by the Obama Foundation in 2019 as an Obama Foundation Leader Asia Pacific for his work in satire and climate change activism, and was a 2020 and 2021 Bertha Foundation Fellow.
Related Sessions
A Rational Fear - Live
FRI, OCT 20, 3:30 PM
Conference
Winner of Australia’s Best Comedy Podcast 2020,2021 & 2022, 'A Rational Fear' is recording a special episode at SXSW Sydney.
Join Dan Ilic (Insiders) and he wrestles some of the biggest names in comedy, journalism, climate and politics as they discuss the Future Of Everything!
Also on stage Lee Constable (War On Waste), Chris Taylor (The Chaser),Antoinette Lattouf (The Briefing) Ed Coper (Populares), Dylan Behan (Newsfighters) plus others.
It's the only session at SXSW Sydney where you can't buy a book afterwards, but the gang will happily hang around and sign anything you need signing.
Rohit Bhargava - Non-Obvious Podcast: The Future of Boredom
MON, OCT 16, 2:00 PM
Conference
What happens in a world without space or time to be bored?
Every waiting moment can now be filled with something. Reading, streaming, listening - all of it keeps us from the undesirable tedium of being bored. Boredom can be painful, but it can also open new spaces in our minds. So if we lose the ability to be bored, will we give up something important?
In this conversation we bring together an award-winning investigative humorist who uses comedy to make climate related stories accessible and a digital behavior expert (and creator of the term “zombie scrolling”) as we take a non-boring look at the importance of being bored … and what happens if a new generation grows up with an inability to understand what it feels like or why it might matter.
With Rohit Bhargava, Dan Ilic and Dr Joanne Orlando .
