‘It feels surreal’: Behind the News reporter Kushi Venkatesh on stand-up and storytelling
Twenty-year-old Kushi Venkatesh is no longer in the running to reclaim the mantle of South Australia’s Funniest Teenager, but the comedian and Behind the News presenter is still down to clown as the youngest addition to OzAsia’s Special Comedy Comedy Special.
After performing a speech that made the entire school laugh and successfully saw her elected as school captain at Marryatville High School, Kushi Venkatesh decided to give comedy a crack.
Since then, the 20-year-old has been a two-time RAW Comedy State Finalist, and was named South Australia’s Funniest Teenager in 2023 through the Class Clowns competition, going on to perform at the Class Clowns national grand final at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. Venkatesh’s comedic talents also saw her take out the 2023 National Edstart Achievement Award for Performing and Visual Arts.
Here, the rising star gives InReview an insight into her upcoming OzAsia Festival show, as well as her role as a reporter on the ABC’s Behind the News, and her future ambitions in the world of comedy.
Tell us about your upcoming OzAsia appearance in The Special Comedy Comedy Special: Greatest Debate.
It’s a show that brings together two debate teams of three comedians each, led by a moderator and at the end, it’s the audience who decides which team wins. I watched last year’s debate, where it was Indian versus Chinese food, things got so heated but were hilarious, so I expect this year to be very similar.
They mix up the topic each year, with this year’s topic being ‘The new Australian dream is never moving out’. I’m a huge fan of everyone on the line-up. There’s Michael Hing, Lawrence Leung, Sashi Perera, AJ Lamarque, Alex Lee and Jason Chong, so getting to be part of it is such an exciting experience. Since everyone is a comedian, I know for a fact that audiences can expect a lot of laughs and a heap of unexpected arguments. I think I’m the youngest on the line-up and possibly the only one still living at home with my parents, which I think actually gives me a bit of an advantage, no matter which side of the argument I’m on.
What do you love about the OzAsia festival – why is it so important to the SA cultural calendar?
What I love about the OzAsia Festival is that it gives space for Asian voices to be celebrated on a big stage, and as a young South Asian artist myself, it’s so important to see different cultural stories front and centre in South Australia’s cultural calendar. There’s also a real warmth to the festival, with the lights, lanterns, and crowds, it brings its own energy and sense of life to the city for those few weeks.
How did you first break into comedy?
My first time doing comedy was in RAW Comedy in 2023. I entered one of the Adelaide heats only because I had my Class Clowns Competition coming up and I wanted a bit of stage time. I was 17 and it was my first time on stage, so it was pretty nerve-wracking, but it surprisingly went well, and I ended up making the state finals.
What work have you done since then as a comedian?
I’m still very new to the comedy scene and haven’t toured or done too much. There are not many places in Adelaide to gig very regularly compared to other states so most of my time on stage is during MICF and Adelaide Fringe where I’m running around doing different spots. I recently got called back to feature at the Class Clowns national grand finals this year in Melbourne Town Hall, that was a pretty cool experience.
Subscribe for updates
What do you love about being on stage and making people laugh?
I just love telling stories that make people happy and feel seen, it makes me really happy.
Tell us about a moment you’ve loved on stage – and a moment you’ve bombed.
One of my favourite moments for sure was performing in the 2024 Special Comedy Comedy Special as part of OzAsia last year. It was the biggest crowd I had ever performed in front of and doing it alongside some my comedy idols was pretty surreal.
You also work as a reporter for the ABC’s Behind the News? How did that happen?
The executive producer of BTN at the time, Ben D’Arcy, reached out to me, and a few days after my final year 12 exams I started an internship. I’m so grateful to Ben for that opportunity, I’ve learnt more from the team than I ever imagined. Even now, it feels surreal getting called in for work. I used to watch our BTN series producer Sarah Larsen when I was in school, so I still get a little starstruck when she comes over to go through my scripts.
What are your career aspirations? Journalism? Comedy? Both?
I haven’t really looked too far in the future yet. But I do know I’d really love to do something in the media whether that be in journalism or radio, because I enjoy telling stories and connecting with people.
What are you looking forward to seeing/doing at this year’s OzAsia?
I’m looking forward to eating the amazing food for sure, my OzAsia diet is basically just dumplings and pad Thai from the Thai Guy, so I’m so ready to commit to that lifestyle again. Other than that, I can’t wait to be surrounded by so many brilliant Asian Australian artists, as a young artist who has kind of just stepped into the industry, it’s really inspiring to see.
Kushi Venkatesh appears in The Special Comedy Comedy Special: Greatest Debate on November 8 as part of OzAsia Festival, October 17 – November 5.