Frank Woodley
Frank Woodley is built from funny – it’s in his bones. Whether he’s being a comedian, clown, actor or acrobat, he is constantly creating characters and worlds to engage audiences of all ages. He is Australia’s most-loved professional show-off, and his special brand of nonsense-genius has seen him create numerous stage shows – Possessed, Inside, and F*@#!KING CLOWN amongst others – as well as his own ABC TV series, Woodley.
Since emerging from the Perrier Award-winning duo Lano and Woodley in 2006, Frank has toured around Australia and every major comedy festival. He also starred against type as the Dog Catcher in family film Oddball, stretched his musical legs in his collaboration with Harvest Rain (playing Sir Robin in Monty Python’s Spamalot at QPAC) and as the Inspector in Lemony Snicket’s The Composer Is Dead at the Sydney Opera House, the Melbourne Recital Centre, and the Adelaide Cabaret Festival. In 2019 he starred as Sir Andrew Aguecheek in the Melbourne Theatre Company’s acclaimed production of Twelfth Night.
He performed his children’s show Noodlenut around Australia, including a season at the Sydney Opera House, and has written three hilarious books for kids about a girl detective called Kizmet.
Frank is a regular guest on numerous Australian television shows including ABC’s The Weekly with Charlie Pickering, music quiz show Spicks and Specks, Network 10’s Good News Week and was an audience favourite on Thank God You’re Here. Earlier this year, he was a Team Captain on the all-new Australian version of Would I Lie To You that aired on Network Ten.
He also appeared in Amazon Prime’s smash hit Last One Laughing Australia. Hosted by Rebel Wilson, the show sees ten of Australia’s top comedians in a psychological battle to see who can keep a straight face while simultaneously trying to make their opponents laugh. Spoiler alert – he bloody won.
After reuniting with Colin Lane as part of the Melbourne Comedy Festival’s 30th Birthday Bash at the Regent Theatre in 2016, for a surprise performance that brought the house down. It naturally led to a serious “Waddya reckon?” chat. “Waddya reckon?” soon turned into “Yeah, why not?” and Lano & Woodley returned to the stage in an all-new show FLY, which won the 2018 Melbourne Comedy Festival People’s Choice Award and sold out theatres around the country. FLY was recorded by Amazon Prime in 2019 and premiered on the Prime Video service in 2020.
In 2022 Frank and Colin Lane embarked on a national tour of arguably, their most ambitious show yet, Moby Dick. The show used the classic tale of the demented Captain Ahab and his obsession with taking revenge on the whale that bit off his leg, as a springboard for Lano & Woodley to become entangled in their own crazy and hilarious conflict with each other.
“You must leap out of your chair and sacrifice life and limb to buy a ticket.” ★★★★ Sunday Herald Sun
“One of our most naturally gifted comedians.” ★★★★ The Age, Melbourne
“Woodley has so cleverly matured into the most immature performer in Australian comic history” The Courier Mail
“He [Woodley] is undoubtedly one of the best physical comics in Australia.” ★★★★ The Adelaide Advertiser
“Comedy doesn’t come much better than this. Seriously.” The Herald Sun
“As universal as it is timeless” The Guardian, UK
“A unique brand of larrikin absurdity that is never less than clever and frequently brilliant” Sydney Morning Herald
