Peter Helliar

Infobox Celebrity
name = Peter Helliar

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caption = Peter Helliar in his Bryan Strauchan guise during the 2008 Australian Grand Prix Celebrity Challenge
birth_date = Birth date and age|1975|6|16|mf=y
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occupation = Comedian
Television Personality
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website = [http://www.rovedaily.com.au www.rovedaily.com.au]
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Peter Jason Matthew Helliar (born June 16, 1975 in Melbourne) is an Australian comedian, actor, radio presenter, writer and television personality.

Early life

The third of four children, Helliar grew up in Bundoora and attended Parade College. He played in the same Australian Rules Football team as AFL players Daniel Harford and Blake Caracella.Fact|date=January 2008 His mother worked in a bank, his father in administration for the scallop industry.

Early career

Helliar initially worked the Melbourne stand-up comedy circuit in the mid nineties, performing in various venues and the annual Melbourne International Comedy Festival.

In 1998 he became a regular on Melbourne community television Channel 31's weekly variety show "The Loft Live", hosted by Rove McManus and including other well known Melbourne comedians such as Dave Hughes, Kim Hope, and Dave Callan. He appeared as a live on-screen guest as well as scripting and recording skits for live playback.

Commercial Television

In 1999, television station GTV9 signed McManus to host a weekly live program called "Rove", based largely on the comedy/talk show model developed on "The Loft Live". McManus had three sidekicks including Helliar, who he referred to as 'the kids on the couch'. The others were Corinne Grant and Dave Callan. The show received lukewarm reviews, and was discontinued after one season.

Network Ten picked up the show in 2000, and it was renamed "Rove Live". Callan discontinued his involvement at the end of 2000, and Grant discontinued her involvement at the end of 2005, leaving Helliar as a "de facto" co-host.

His role includes appearing in segments such as "My Charader", and other live and pre-recorded 'bits'. "Rove" was revamped for its 2007 season, with Pete now appearing alongside regulars Dave Hughes and Carrie Bickmore. He also presents his very own segment "peteSpace", an obvious parody of MySpace.

Helliar has also appeared in two other programs created by Roving Enterprises:
*"skitHOUSE" (2003-2004), a half hour weekly sketch comedy show
*"After The Game" (2004-present), with Peter Helliar as host, screening before the AFL Football match on Saturday nights. An earlier timeslot was used from 2005, and consequently the program adopted the new name "Before the Game". The program also has regular panel members: Comedians Dave Hughes, Mick Molloy and Lehmo, and sports personalities Andy Maher and Samantha Lane.

In 2006 Helliar was crowned "Australia's Brainiest Comedian" after defeating other notable comedians such as Frank Woodley and Dave Hughes. Helliar said after winning "I think that if I can win this then comedians definitely need to get smarter". In 2007, he announced on "Before the Game" that he would no longer be a regular part of the show starting 2008. Although he no longer appears as a regular panelist, he continues to make guest appearances, mostly in character as Strauchanie.

"Strauchanie"

For the 2005 AFL season, Peter created an alter ego called Bryan Strauchan ("Strauchanie") who debuted on "Before the Game". Strauchan is supposedly the last pick in the 2004 AFL national draft, yet to get a game for his new club (Collingwood), (Helliar is a big Collingwood supporter).

For the role, Helliar dons a blonde mullet wig and becomes a stereotypical Australian bogan footy player "wannabee". The comedy is achieved by self effacing humour, putting Strauchan in situations that highlight his weight, lack of fitness and general inability whilst his egotistical personality and delusions of grandeur mean he is completely unaware of these weaknesses. Since the character has experienced raised popularity and profile, and has arguably become a bigger celebrity than Peter Helliar, Strauchanie has made several subsequent appearances across different media. Helliar is currently considering producing a movie around the character for release in 2010.Fact|date=June 2007

Radio

Between 1998 and 2000 he was a regular guest on the ABC's national youth network Triple J.

In 2002, the Austereo radio network signed Peter Helliar to appear alongside TV colleagues Rove McManus and Corinne Grant on the weekly program "Saturday Morning Rove", broadcasting from Fox FM every Saturday from 10 am to midday after being pre-recorded the day before. In 2004 the program moved to Friday mornings, allowing live phone callers, and was re-titled "Rove Live Radio". It was discontinued at the end of 2004.

In 2004, Peter Helliar was signed to do the breakfast shift on Austereo's Sydney station 2Day FM with Judith Lucy and Kaz Cooke. The program was discontinued after its first year.

Still signed to Austereo, Peter also appeared on the Melbourne based "The Arvo", a daily program broadcast out of Fox FM between 4 pm and 6 pm and networked to other capital cities. It was discontinued in June 2005.

Helliar now does his own show called "Pete's Show" which is on 10 am - 12 pm on Fridays.

He filled in for Merrick and Rosso, along with Rove McManus, for their breakfast daily show on Sydney's Nova 96.9 whilst they were on holiday. Helliar also recently filled in for Kate Langbroek on "Hughesy & Kate" on Melbourne's Nova 100, while Kate was on maternity leave. It was announced by co-host Dave Hughes that Helliar would begin making appearances on the show every Thursday morning.

From 2008, Helliar has been presenting the Triple M Melbourne breakfast spot with Myf Warhurst. [ [http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/story/0,23663,22530647-10229,00.html Comedian Helliar takes on new radio gig] - AAP, "4 Oct 2007"] [ [http://www.theage.com.au/news/entertainment/martins-get-this-gets-the-chop/2007/10/15/1192300688768.html Martin's Get This gets the chop] - The Age, "16 Oct 2007"]

References

External links

*imdb name|id=0375429|name=Peter Helliar
* [http://token.com.au/html/artists/pete/body.html Token Artists management biography]
* [http://petesshow.com// Austereo Today Network Pete's Show]
* [http://www.rovedaily.com.au "Rove" official website]
* [http://www.beforethegame.com.au "Before the Game" official website]
* [http://www.rovingenterprises.com.au "Roving Enterprises" official website]