People of Bondi: Mark Swivel
People of Bondi | Mark Swivel
Bondi Fresh Daily caught up with Mark as he was driving back down to Sydney for the Cole Classic and then his show, Dad.Joke.2017, which is on at the Pav this coming Friday as part of the Surf’s Up @ the Pav series of events.
Mark’s life has revolved in and around Bondi for so many years that, even though he is now living in Mullumbimby, we still think of him as a bit of a Bondi local.
“I first lived in Bondi from 1995 to 1998 when my son was a baby. Then it was all about the playground near the surf club and the pool at the north end (we loved the Bronte train, too!). I moved back in 2007 and lived there until 2013 - life revolved around the Icebergs, swimming the Bay most days, having a sauna with mates and the inevitable Russians, and coffee at the Crabbe Hole. I then moved to Mullum when I remarried and the Icebergs gang is the one thing I really miss. But don’t cry for me Argentina, cos I get back every month, still have my place near the Tama post office and always head for the water the first chance I get. And Andrew, mine’s a double espresso. Two.
I went to the Mullum Music Festival in November 2012 and never left. Kathryn and I had known each other at school - we ‘went round’ for a while - and everything unfolded beautifully and ridiculously quickly. We got married a couple of years later and we’re now a blended family. I still practice a little law, work for a renewables energy retailer, sing with Dustyesky [ed. fabulous!] - Australia’s leading Russian male voice choir, play football and cricket for Eureka FC and sit on the board of Spaghetti Circus. The move has worked for me. Some said: 'it’s career suicide’. To which I said: 'Get a life’ … so I did.
Dad.Joke. played at the Mullum Music Fest last November, and it seems to hit a nerve among Gen X parents. We’re all heavily into engaged parenting but is it 'evidence based’? Maybe we’re just annoying our kids. And while we’ve been investing in our kids, furiously, with so many classes and courses - my son drew the line at 'mindful derivatives trading’ - what state have we left the world in? Remember I wrote this show before the US election. The show is based on my attempts to write a speech for my son’s 21st, as the tide of oestrogen rises within me, as I angst about his decision to take a year off - 'from what?’ I ask and so much more. This sends me off into my experiences with my enigmatic father and powerhouse mother - 'mum was a fact, dad a hypothesis’ … so the audience shares a ride through growing up in Little Bay in the 70s, full of Gough, Countdown and singing La Marseilleise on Bastille Day at La Perouse Primary School. It’s funny, warm and asks a few questions along the way.”
If you can’t get to Friday’s performance, see HERE for more dates and venues.
