David Michael Smiedt (born 2 August 1968), is a South Africa-born, Sydney-based

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

, author and

comedian A comedian (feminine comedienne) or comic is a person who seeks to entertainment, entertain an audience by making them laughter, laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting foolishly (as in slapstick), or employing prop c ...

. He has written seven books, including ''From Russia With Lunch: A Lithuanian Odyssey'', ''Are We There Yet: Chasing a Childhood Through South Africa'' and ''Boom Boom: 100 Years of Australian Comedy''. Davidsmiedt

Early life

David was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, and grew up in the

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...

s of Parkwood and

Saxonwold Saxonwold is an affluent suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa. It is situated in what was once the Sachsenwald Forest in the early 20th century. It is located in Region E of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality. History The suburb ...

. David is the youngest of three children to father, Sidney Ronald "Ronnie", and mother, Renecia, with whom he emigrated from South Africa to Australia in 1986. Having completed

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

in Johannesburg, David received a Bachelor of Arts (Communication) at Sydney's

Macquarie University Macquarie University ( ) is a Public university, public research university in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Founded in 1964 by the New South Wales Government, it was the third university to be established in the Sydney metropolitan area. ...

before undertaking a Diploma in Journalism at Macleay College.

Early career and journalism

He began his

journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree of accuracy. The word, a noun, applies to the journ ...

career at ''

Penthouse Penthouse most often refers to: *Penthouse apartment, a special apartment on the top floor of a building * ''Penthouse'' (magazine), a British-founded men's magazine *Mechanical penthouse, a floor, typically located directly under a flat-roof, tha ...

'' magazine and has since worked across a number of

lifestyle Lifestyle is the interests, opinions, behaviours, and behavioural orientations of an individual, group, or culture. The term "style of life" () was introduced by Austrian psychologist Alfred Adler in his 1929 book, ''The Case of Miss R.'', w ...

titles, including ''

Cleo Cleo may refer to: Entertainment and media Film and TV * ''Cleo'' (2019 Belgian film), a drama * ''Cleo'' (2019 German film), a drama * '' Snowtime!'', released as ''Cleo'' in the United Kingdom, a 2015 Canadian animated film * ''Cleo'' (TV ser ...

'', ''

Cosmopolitan Cosmopolitan may refer to: Internationalism * World citizen, one who eschews traditional geopolitical divisions derived from national citizenship * Cosmopolitanism, the idea that all of humanity belongs to a single moral community * Cosmopolitan ...

'', ''Madison'', ''

Men’s Health ''Men's Health'' (''MH''), published by Hearst, is the world's largest men's magazine brand, with 35 editions in 59 countries; it is the bestselling men's magazine on American newsstands. Started as a men's health magazine by Rodale, Inc. in E ...

'', '' GQ'', ''Sunday Life'', ''

Elle Elle may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Elle (magazine), ''Elle'' (magazine), a fashion publication ** Elle Style Awards * Elle (India), ''Elle'' (India), the Indian edition * Elle (film), ''Elle'' (film), a 2016 French film * ''Elle: ...

'', ''

Home Beautiful Pacific Magazines was a magazine publisher operating in Australia owned by Seven West Media. In March 2020, it was acquired by Bauer Media Australia in April 2020. In June 2020, Mercury Capital acquired Pacific Magazines as part of its purchas ...

,'' ''Voyeur'' and ''The Rake.'' He claims to be the only journalist in history to have had concurrent articles in ''

Ralph Ralph (pronounced or ) is a male name of English origin, derived from the Old English ''Rædwulf'' and Old High German ''Radulf'', cognate with the Old Norse ''Raðulfr'' (''rað'' "counsel" and ''ulfr'' "wolf"). The most common forms are: * Ra ...

'' and ''

Your Garden Pacific Magazines was a magazine publisher operating in Australia owned by Seven West Media. In March 2020, it was acquired by Are Media, Bauer Media Australia in April 2020. In June 2020, Mercury Capital acquired Pacific Magazines as part of i ...

'' magazines.

Comedy

Described by comedian

Adam Hills Adam Christopher Hills (born 10 July 1970) is an Australian comedian, radio and television presenter. In Australia, he hosted the music quiz show '' Spicks and Specks'' from 2005 to 2011, and again in 2021 onwards, and the talk show '' Adam Hi ...

, host of ABC TV's '' Spicks and Specks'' as "a living breathing joke machine", David started his

stand-up comedy Stand-up comedy is a performance directed to a live audience, where the performer stands on a stage (theatre), stage and delivers humour, humorous and satire, satirical monologues sometimes incorporating physical comedy, physical acts. These ...

career at the Local in St Kilda in 2006 and has since gone on to perform at

the Comedy Store The Comedy Store is an American comedy club opened in April 1972. It is located in West Hollywood, California, at 8433 Sunset Boulevard on the Sunset Strip. An associated club is located in La Jolla, San Diego, California. History The Comedy ...

in Sydney, the Harold Park Hotel, the Roxbury, the Friend in Hand, the

Melbourne International Comedy Festival The Melbourne International Comedy Festival (MICF) is the largest stand-alone comedy festival and the largest international comedy festival in the world. First held in 1987, it takes place annually in Melbourne over four weeks, typically starti ...

and

the Comic Strip The Comic Strip are a group of British comedians who came to prominence in the 1980s. They are known for their television series ''The Comic Strip Presents...'', which was labelled as a pioneering example of the alternative comedy scene. The c ...

in New York City. He MCs one of Sydney's most popular comedy nights at the Marble Bar in Sydney's

Hilton Hotel Hilton Hotels & Resorts (formerly known as Hilton Hotels) is a global brand of full-service hotels and resorts and the flagship brand of American multinational hospitality company Hilton Worldwide. The original company was founded by Conrad Hi ...

every Tuesday night.

Books by David Smiedt

* ''Boom Boom: 100 Years of Australian Comedy'' (Hodder Headline, 1999) * ''Delivering The Male'' (Penguin, 2000) * ''Girls' Night In: Gentlemen By Invitation'' (anthology) (Penguin, 2001) * ''Girls' Night in 2: Big Night Out'' (anthology) (Penguin, 2002) * ''Prince Charming: Spot The Stayers From The Players'' (Landsdowne Press, 2003) * ''Are We There Yet? Chasing A Childhood Through South Africa'' (UQP/Penguin, 2004 and Random House UK 2006) * ''From Russia With Lunch: A Lithuanian Odyssey'' (UQP, 2008)

References

External links

David Smiedt's official website

David Smiedt's comedy website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smiedt, David Michael Writers from Johannesburg White South African people South African expatriates in Australia Australian people of South African descent South African male journalists 1968 births Living people