Synergy
Welcome to "Synergy" with your hosts, Daniel and Alicia!
This is where real talk meets real life.
We’re partners in business and in life, raising kids and building dreams side-by-side. Here, we dive into the heart of what makes relationships, parenting, and business actually work. The mess, the magic, and everything in between.
Each episode, we bring practical tools, powerful conversations, and personal stories to help you create more connection, clarity, and freedom, at home and in business.
Whether you're growing a business with your partner, navigating parenthood, or craving deeper connection in all areas of your life—this podcast is for you.
Let’s talk trust. Let’s talk communication. Let’s talk building a life that feels good and works well.
This is Synergy—where we elevate the human experience, one real conversation at a time.
Synergy
Choose your funny
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You ever find yourself chuckling at a joke so dry, it makes the Sahara look like an oasis? Well, my latest chat with a humor aficionado dives into the crinkles of comedy that make our stomachs hurt from laughing so hard. From the stoic charm of deadpan delivery to the thrill of dark humor that borders on the inappropriate, we explore it all. And let's not forget family, the stories I could tell about my dad's influence on my laugh track. We also debate giving 'laughing yoga' a try, because why not? Laughter's contagious, and we're all about spreading that joy like wildfire.
Remember the days when Robin Williams donned a floral dress and became everyone's favorite nanny? We sure do, as we walk down memory lane revisiting 'Mrs. Doubtfire' and the epic shenanigans of Martin Lawrence in 'Bad Boys II.' Alicia and I share our favourite comedic gems and honour the unsung heroes of humour like Karl Barron. And nothing beats the anecdote of finding unexpected laughs at the Melbourne Comedy Festival's most peculiar venues. Wrapping up on a serious note, we remind you, and ourselves, to keep it light. Because sometimes, the best way to tackle the tough times is with a good old belly laugh. Join us, and let's keep the ha-ha's rolling!
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Choose Your Funny
Speaker 1on record. Welcome back to Synergy. So we did. I say Synergy. Stuttering Stanley. We have decided that everything's been a little bit too deep in the past. Couple of epis Look we're characters, look we are, but we're also fucking fun we have a laugh, and that's what we're doing today we're gonna have a big old lot a big laugh today.
Speaker 2Big laugh, so we're gonna call it choose your funny.
Speaker 1Yeah.
Speaker 2So what does that mean? Like, let me ask you, what is the shit that you find fucking hilarious?
Speaker 1Um, you, I think you're fucking hilarious. I really do. I think you're so funny. Um, I just think, like your dry sense of humor is hilarious. I like dry sense of humor.
Speaker 1Yeah, I like dry humor, yeah, and I love people because I am just like the total opposite of this. I love people that can like tell a joke or like tell a story that's so funny and just keep like a dead straight face the whole time, yeah, and like you're pissing yourself laughing and they're just sitting there like cold. They know it's funny, do you know? They know it's funny but they're like not laughing. You know those people because I'm like I can't even tell a fucking joke or a story because I'm like pissing myself laughing.
Speaker 2So there's been times where I've like question like why do I love humor so much? Why is it such a high value to me? And and it wasn't too long ago, recently, I saw my dad sitting on the couch at home. Your dad loves a good joke and he sits there and he scrolls through whether it be YouTube or some comedy thing that he's found and he'll just be sitting there to himself like going up laughing like I'm trying not to laugh, because then my mom's like what the fuck? What are you laughing?
Speaker 1about. She's like Graham.
Speaker 2It was. It was one of those things to me. I was like okay, that's where I get my. That's why I like humor. So much yeah but my funny like I love dark humor. Yeah, you do, don't you. I find it like the more that I shouldn't laugh. And I laugh. It's like this is so fucking funny and in my mind I'm like I shouldn't be laughing at this. But it's fucking hilarious.
Speaker 1Yeah, really I didn't. I didn't actually know that about you.
Speaker 2Yeah, I just think everything's funny. Yeah, like I'm the person that you are, a laugher though. Yeah, I'm the person that you want in the front row.
Speaker 1Yes, like when you're a comedian.
Speaker 2Yeah, when you're starting out On your first night, you just want to roll with relations.
Speaker 1Well, it's actually me and my sisters, because so we had this. So the school that Tanya was my youngest sister's a teacher and the school that she was teaching at, they'd have this like mind you, it was a school that we used to go to and the teacher that ran this program for the the comedy thing at the end of the year was our teacher, like my teacher.
Speaker 2Yeah, so it's like 149 now.
Speaker 1Yeah, but he's like freaking, hilarious like that. He writes these jokes and it's not for the kids, it's for the, it's for the like all the um parents.
Speaker 2So it's kind of like Madagascar when they're landing the plane. Yeah, yeah, kiss it. Kiss it like you're kissing your sister.
Speaker 1Yeah, like all those little, I like the kids are up there saying the things and we're like pissing ourselves laughing. But the first year that Tanya was there, we were. She's like, oh, my sisters are coming. He's like, yeah, great, no worries. Like, and we were all sitting there and we were pissing ourselves laughing at like every line because he's so funny and it's so well written and it's like this like primary school, like we, like just a small primary school in the south, like you wouldn't think. But we were like dying laughing, me and Melissa right and then and my mum's a laugh or two.
Speaker 2She loves it.
Speaker 1Walt Disney production in the south of Adelaide and um, and he was like the next year. He's like are your sisters coming? I need them to come, I'll pay them to come. I'm like, oh, we're not going to be paid to come, but we'll be there for sure, like pissing it.
Speaker 2And then he made a event or something and something funny happens. I can like guarantee you can hear this hyena from the crowd and it's like yeah, that's my partner.
Speaker 1Yeah, it's me, it's so funny, but like it's contagious, yeah, it feels good, okay. So Melissa and I used to do these things. We would drive in the car it's so fucking weird and random. But we would be driving and I'd be like just start laughing. And she would start laughing. I'm like what are you laughing at? She's like I don't know, what are you laughing at. And then we would just I'm, I'm not shitting you like not just like ha ha ha. Like we were, were in hysterics, like crying, laughing, and we didn't even know what the fuck we were laughing at. We were just laughing at each other.
Speaker 2So how's this right? I was at an event once and there was this thing. I didn't even know it was a thing it's called laughing yoga, Right? Oh my God that's cool and it's what you're talking about. It's like that. It's like when you fake, start laughing and then all of a sudden, the real laugh takes over and it's contagious and everyone is like pissing themselves laughing.
Speaker 1We should do it and we should film ourselves doing it.
Speaker 2So I never forget about this event. And this guy was there and he sort of ran the cloud?
Speaker 1Who? Who was it?
Speaker 2It was a long time ago. Was that one of the K2 events?
Speaker 1Yeah.
Speaker 2It was one of the crewing things actually.
Speaker 1Oh really.
Speaker 2He ran this laughing yoga class. So and I never forget, there was three of us. We could not. When it finished, we couldn't stop. We couldn't stop laughing. That's the best and it was the best feeling afterwards. It's like there's nothing like a good fucking laugh.
Speaker 1Oh right, yeah, it's the best. I'm trying to think who I like, who I laugh the most with. Like, but probably Melissa.
Speaker 2Yeah.
Speaker 1We like she's probably the one that we've like. I've had hysteric, like couldn't hold my stomach crying, laughing.
Speaker 2I think I've only like I've had that a couple of times like where you're like abs fucking hurt.
Speaker 1Yeah, like laughing becomes a workout. Yeah.
Speaker 2And there's been a couple of times I'd speak about this, one time with my friend Jen. We were younger and we were talking at night on the phone and till this day we don't know what we were talking about, but it was so fucking funny and we reflect on it all the time. It's like I would like pay so much fucking money to know what the fuck we were talking about, because it was so funny. I was like almost waking up the whole house. I was shoving my fucking pillow in my mouth to try and stop fucking laughing.
Speaker 2That sounds really bad. I swear I was just laughing. You're an idiot.
Speaker 1Your humor is sexual innuendo.
Speaker 2Oh it is, it is, I just remember it because you said that, yes, I always.
Speaker 1I like a lot of that, a lot Like 98%.
Speaker 2Yeah.
Speaker 1Yeah.
Speaker 2People find that shit funny.
Speaker 1Oh my God. But like some people don't, and it's hilarious.
Speaker 2When you land that type of humor with somebody, that's like Because you're used to getting a laugh right.
Speaker 1I've witnessed it multiple times. I think it's fucking funny Wrong crowd.
Speaker 2Yeah, yeah, tell me a time please.
Speaker 1And you'll say something.
Speaker 2Because inside I'm laughing, on the outside I'm like, oh fuck. And I've seen it happen multiple times where the person either just doesn't get it Because you know those people that just don't get the slide, like their mind's just not wired in a dirty way whatsoever.
Speaker 1No, so and then? You see, them and you're like, I'm like sitting here staring by the way, and I'm like standing there watching Daniel and he's like, oh OK, it just removed myself from the situation Sitting there like pissing yourself, talk about what about with kids that I can't stop laughing.
Speaker 2You know what? Yeah that stuff. And trying to discipline simultaneously, Trainwreck, Trainwreck, Absolutely how many? You are the worst. I'm trying to think of an example because it's happened a couple times recently where the kids have done something and oh, it happens often and you just crack and start laughing.
Speaker 1No, but I turn around and I laugh Because I don't know.
Speaker 2Your subtle laugh isn't subtle at all. It's like this. It's like all this energy with somebody with a muzzle on trying to laugh. So every other body part is like doing this. I wish you're going to have to jump across the Instagram to watch what I was doing, but every other muscle and body part is basically having an epileptic fit while your mouth's closed.
Speaker 1Oh my gosh, so funny, oh yeah, oh yeah, it's tough.
Speaker 1But, life's so much fun, though, and this is the thing Like, I always think about people I surround myself with. Like, when I say dry humor, like I think about my closest friends, like I would say who's the driest person? Malice is so dry, oh yeah, but she's so fucking funny. But she doesn't know how funny she is. She'll say things that she doesn't think is funny, and I'm like, and she's like, like, she's like, oh, it was funny. Ok, she just doesn't Do. You know what I mean? What about when she was? So? We have a friend in K2 and she got on stage and I thought she was so funny. Who, when Malice, did that?
Speaker 2Oh, when Malice went on stage.
Speaker 1Yeah, when Malice went on stage and she did this, she did. I think she was like introducing somebody, but it was so funny. But she's that person, she'll say something and you'll piss yourself and she'll just sit there like and she'll just carry on and she'll just keep talking and I'm like I love that. I wish I had that skill. If I was up there and I said something funny, I would think it was hilarious and I could not stop, and then everyone probably stopped and I'd still be still laughing. So when I was at school this used to happen all the time. Oh, alex, you haven't met my friend Alex.
Speaker 2No, it's a myth.
Speaker 1Oh yeah, Is she real? Yeah, OK.
Speaker 2So when we were at school, I remember when we were in mini ponds and you had photos of people on our like front of our TV and like because we were doing long distance and I'm like who the fuck are?
Speaker 1these people, and I've known them for like 25 years.
Speaker 2Yeah, like I've never even met these person and I wake up and I've got to look at them every day.
Speaker 1OK, so Alex is like she's so funny too, right, so we would be at school and we would be in this serious English lesson.
Speaker 2At the time when I first met what's your friend's name? The one with the four kids, rachel, right with the first, because I knew Rachel for a good three years before I met Rachel, because she used to sit in front of the TV and I was like, oh Rachel, I know you in a picture frame in front of the TV.
Speaker 1She's so funny to yeah.
Speaker 2What were you saying?
Speaker 1OK, so Alex, alex would be her and I would be at school. It's like year three and we'd be in this series. Oh, no, sorry, it was like year seven or something. We'd be in this serious English class, like having to read, and you know how they go around. I fucking hated this. Like they go around like everybody read a line and I'm like, oh, and then I'd like go to the line, I'd like pick the amount of people and I'd be like, ok, what's my line? And like rehearse it. And she would just say something funny like before, just before. And you know what I'm like when I laugh, like, and especially if it's not, if I'm not allowed to laugh, it's like even funnier. So we would sit there pissing ourselves like, but doing that like silent laugh, where your body's like laughing and contorting, and they just be like get out of the classroom. I'm like, oh, my God, thanks so much, so much good time.
Speaker 2laughing happens in high school. Oh, my God, I remember like a couple of things that I used to find fucking hilarious, and saying them now it's probably not that funny, but at the time you know, as a kid you're funny, so funny Like we used to get thumbtacks and put them on people's chairs, but when they come back in from lunchtime and just hang at the back and wait for someone to sit down, and sit on a thumbtack and watch them like spring off.
Speaker 1Oh my God, you did that sort of shit, Did you were you one of those?
Speaker 2I was one of those.
Speaker 1Oh my God, You're like a prankster one.
Speaker 2I never forget when I saw, when I first saw, the movie Superbad, and at the end of the movie there's all these. He's drawing these magnificent dicks. Right, it's just draw drawing them. And it just took me back to year nine, year 10, where you would open my school diary, Year 10, you play with the girls.
Speaker 1bloody had those Sorry.
Speaker 2I didn't raise them Christmas.
Speaker 1The girls have those charks. And we were at Mummy and Dad's and they were like, and they're like, draw on the concrete, don't draw on the concrete.
Favorite Funny Movies and Comedians
Speaker 2And then my brother-in-law was the one in there, so I've just drawn this dick and wrote next to it Jordan was here, like he did it. And my schoolboy moment.
Speaker 1Oh gosh, ok, Funniest movie.
Speaker 2Funniest movie. Look lately it's really been Mrs Doubtfire, because we're my gosh.
Speaker 1Yes, I love.
Speaker 2I absolutely love that movie and I just find we were saying this when we watched it recently the more you watch it, there's so many subtle lines in that movie that are just fucking hilarious. The first three minutes of that movie is I know you pick up a new line every time you watch it.
Speaker 1Ooh, the sad way for a bird tonight. Okay, we did this thing with Ooh, look at this big concert. We did this thing where we were at our house because we just watched Mrs Doubtfire and my sister's love Mrs Doubtfire too, so we did reenact this entire scene. We should do it and put it, make it a reel. That would be so funny.
Speaker 2But okay mine that's such a good movie.
Speaker 1What about you? Okay, I love Mrs Doubtfire too. I forgot about that one. But Bad Boys Two. Is it Bad Boys two? Yeah?
Speaker 2that's two.
Speaker 1I cannot get enough of that movie.
Speaker 2Yeah, Martin Lawrence fuck, or his movie's hilarious.
Speaker 1Yeah, yeah, he's the best.
Speaker 2What's your best line in Bad Boys two? I know I'm putting you on the spot here.
Speaker 1Uh look, mike, they fucking just like us. You know what?
Speaker 2mine is. It's a nice fucking fish, Big fucking eyes, but a nice fucking fish yeah that's a good one too.
Speaker 1That is a good movie, you know what I'm saying. There's so many lines in that one you used to love.
Speaker 2It's not hilariously funny, but I appreciate the humor in it. The mask, jim Carrey. I have not seen the mask, what?
Speaker 1No, I haven't. No, no, I just Smoking. I never really. Melissa does that really well. By the way, I've never really like been into Jim Carrey, but I think since he's like-.
Speaker 2Some of his movies. I find hilarious that me myself and Irene See.
Speaker 1I fell asleep but I think it's funny. But I've never seen it before. Fell asleep but think it's funny, I was really tired, that's an offense to comedy.
Speaker 2Okay, so who's?
Speaker 1your favorite stand up.
Speaker 2Oh, that's a good one because I've seen, I've seen a lot, because I love comedy, the one that I definitely laughed until and that, when I was saying about, laugh to your abs hurt. This was this one time. There's this guy. If, please, if you're listening, look him up on YouTube. You'll have a great laugh. His name is Pablo Francisco and oh yes, he's really good. He does these imitations of, like Arnold Schwarzenegger and all these different voices.
Speaker 1Yeah, he's really good and seeing him live Like-. Oh, did you see him live yeah?
Speaker 2he came. He was at Crown in Melbourne.
Speaker 1Really.
Speaker 2And a good mate of mine, dave, went to see him and we we used to always send each other clips about this guy and when we went to see him live, we were like 12 year old girls just pissing ourselves laughing. Yeah, that was, that was one. The other one I really like, because it's that whole blank face humor, is Karl Barron. Yeah, he's a-.
Speaker 1He-.
Speaker 2Yeah.
Speaker 1How about that one that? So we went to the comedy there's a soft spot there because Dad and I really like it. Oh, you can name over that.
Speaker 2Yeah, we would sit there and watch the same DVD a hundred times over and piss ourselves at the same joint.
Speaker 1Yeah, that's cute Comedy Festival, Love it. I love living in Melbourne for that, like for that reason, Comedy Festival is the best. How so we went to this one time. It was the first comedy festival we went to that guy.
Speaker 2Yeah.
Speaker 1So we went to this amazing I've no idea what his name is and it was like we were like, oh, you know how you go there and it's just like random and we're like, let's just go to this one. And it was like in this dingy like pizza shop, but upstairs, remember.
Speaker 2Yeah.
Speaker 1And was that the one? Yeah?
Speaker 2There was that one, there was another guy. I don't know who these acts are.
Speaker 1Yeah, we have no idea who they are, but he was there was another guy that was really crude remember. Yeah, and everyone got up and walked around. Everyone got up and left and I was like how are people eating?
Speaker 2This is so fucking funny.
Speaker 1He was really like next level, crude, though like offensive, so people-.
Speaker 2Wrong crowd, except for me.
Speaker 1But he like full, called it out too. That was a funny. That was even funnier. Anyway, mine is. I don't think-. Do you know what I love about the comedy festival?
Speaker 2Well, you can go out and have a great night for 40 bucks.
Speaker 1Yeah, and you can go live. Have a laugh, you know cheap shows.
Speaker 2The humor and the talent is incredible A lot of the times the big acts. What I found is you see a lot of their-. Yeah, you've seen it already On. Youtube or TikTok or something like that, Whereas these up and coming talent, I guess-.
Speaker 1Although there was one that was horrendous. And if I can give anyone a tip, if they're going to go to the comedy festival or anything, don't sit on the end lane where you actually can't get out at all.
Speaker 2Do you remember that one? It?
Speaker 1was like this entire. It was like four of them.
Speaker 2And I was pregnant at the time and I needed to it was like a theater act and it was horrendous. It was like the furthest thing from comedy.
Speaker 1Yeah, it was so and it was weird Like I was like-.
Speaker 2At what point is this going to get funny?
Speaker 1Yeah, and I was right at the end. Remember there was Rose and then on the, I was on the right hand side and then the left hand side was where the door was, but there was so many people and it was such a small room and the door was closed Like no one's leaving. Maybe they did that on purpose. Yeah, let's put them in that room. Yeah, yeah, no, okay, my, I don't think you know this chick, but you would know if you saw her. Her name's Michelle Bato. No sorry, she's so funny.
Speaker 2Stand up.
Speaker 1She's a stand up, but she's. I think she was a stand up first, but she's also an actress and she's in a whole bunch of movies. She's so funny. I found her first in her movies and then I saw her on Netflix, so she had a stand up. I was watching her one time. She's like the bigger lady, she's got real curly hair and she's like We'll have to review it.
Speaker 2Oh my God, so funny. You're trying to trigger my memory. Yeah, yeah, she's so funny.
Speaker 1Oh, just can't get enough of her. I think she's hilarious. Good laugh, good laughs.
Speaker 2Your dad's pretty funny, oh, you think. I reckon Okay, Cause I think it's he loves laughing too. Yeah, he does love laughing, you know what? And I think you know family time and laughter the best.
Speaker 1The best Good times. Yeah, I find okay. So siblings if we talk about siblings, like your brother's hilarious.
Speaker 2We spoke about this before.
Speaker 1All right, let's go there, your brother, and Tanya.
Speaker 2Yes.
Speaker 1Hilarious.
Speaker 2Put them in a room together. It's only happened a couple of times. So funny though, but hilarious.
Speaker 1Yeah.
Speaker 2Yeah, so I really started to, I guess, appreciate how my brother goes about humor and being like a professional MC and on the news he's like public speaking and stuff like that is comes natural. So oh, he's well trained, yeah, but the way he's worked his personality into that profession seeing him at my cousin's wedding- he was the MC at your cousin's wedding. And I mean, it was what half an hour total of the whole thing. But fuck me.
Speaker 1Yeah, he was so funny.
Speaker 2And I think that was a little bit of wrong crowd at some point.
Speaker 1Oh, that was definitely wrong. I think lucky me and Melissa were there, is all I can say. Yeah.
Speaker 2Everything makes it okay when you've got your laugh. Yeah, yeah, yeah, 100% Okay.
Speaker 1So, speaking of your cousin, I need to speak speaking of your cousin Simone. So Simone is oh, this is what we should do next week. Just tell me just future pacing. We should talk about how we first met next week. Anyway, aside from that, Simone, when we first met your cousin Simone, so we went to Nayla and Scala which is a business thing and we met Simone. Me and my sister met Simone and she was there by herself and we happened to be just staying at the same place and you know, you're talking about the nights where you piss yourself laughing, can't stop laughing. Don't know what you're laughing at. We were all in the same room and there's these and they're little, like pockets of rooms. They were like I don't know, you know that shit place that we usually stay at Like a, like a, oh, like a hostile type Like a hostile style.
Speaker 1So everything's like real open. You can hear everything and the amount of knocks on the door we had that night like shut up, I don't make us laugh even more. We're like stop doing that. But we just hit it off like us three we were just losing it, laughing so fun. And I think this is really what we connect on, what Our family is very much like put humour as a high value. Both of them, both families.
Speaker 2Yeah, I was just thinking, I was reflecting on all the other things, but I think, yeah, when you get our families together and and there's laughter involved, just makes a great experience. So good, so good, oh, so good.
Speaker 1Oh my God, what are you doing? Just thinking about?
Speaker 2it.
Speaker 1Oh gosh. Well, I hope you enjoyed.
Speaker 2I was just thinking about the joke at my cousin's wedding when mum was doing a speech and and dad was like holding the mic up to her phone, and and mum's like we'll have to pre frame this, my brother was saying how there was a reason. That I didn't have a microphone and that I was doing the DJing at the wedding is because I couldn't be trusted with a microphone. So mum's in the middle of doing a speech and dad moves the mic up to her face and she's like don't put it in my mouth. And I just, and I just.
Speaker 1I just saw that was wrong crowd moment. Yeah.
Speaker 2I just saw a runway and it's like, oh good.
Speaker 1It's my time to shine.
Speaker 2Literally. And then from the back DJ booth, all you've heard is like Graham, save that for later.
Speaker 1And I think your brother commented on it too. And then we I think me, your mum, your brother, your dad and me also, were the only ones that were laughing.
Speaker 2Oh yeah, oh, that was quite funny.
Speaker 1No, a couple of other people thought it was funny.
Speaker 2But yes, some of that humor resonates, some doesn't.
Speaker 1Well, you know the thing, the takeaway for this.
Speaker 2Oh, I think this has been great for me. Yeah, I've loved it. Love a good laugh. I love a good laugh too. It does Lighten the fuck up.
Speaker 1Yeah, I think that's kind of like. The takeaway for this is like I feel like the world is not the world, but like where we are currently.
Speaker 1I would speak on behalf of every fucking game in the globe right now, Literally sorry guys, but, like majority of people are a little bit down in the dumps at the moment, I feel energetically, yeah. So I think it's really important. Take away is to just lighten, like, just to have a laugh. I think even if whatever that looks like for you, like even if you need to chuck on a comedy movie or need to look up, watch a stand up on Netflix there's so many good ones, or whatever that or hang out with the people that make you laugh, like how long has it been since you hung out with the people that make you laugh?
Speaker 2Yeah, you know I want to acknowledge sometimes you just don't feel like it.
Speaker 1Yeah.
Speaker 2There's some life circumstances that aren't funny and people are in the mood for it, but I think there's also a huge category of people of perceived challenge, perceived pain that lightening the fuck up a bit would definitely help 100%.
Speaker 1So go lighten the fuck up, yes.
Speaker 2Message for today Lighten the fuck up. Lighten the fuck up.
Speaker 1Anyway, I hope you enjoyed that. I hope you got a bit of a laugh out of it, because team, we are out oh bye.
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