Asher spent his early years sat in the back of an army green panel van
driving up and down the east coast of Australia with his Hippy/Bogan
parents. He attended Woodburn public school and when he wasn’t getting into trouble for being the class dick he was exploring the 200 hectare sugar cane farm his family lived near. He attended Mullumbimby High School and ironically was kicked out of Drama class in year 8 for ‘not being serious enough’ not exactly the most promising start in show business. After finishing high school he packed his bags, moved to Melbourne and attempted to enrol in a pilot course for the National Institute of Circus Arts.

At the time Asher had no skills and only managed to weasel into NICA
by pleading that, they needed people like him who were terrible but
wanted a career in the circus to display a wide breadth of applicants.
It was the old, let’s see how well you can polish this turd routine,
somehow it worked and Asher studied at NICA for two years, completing two Diplomas in the carnie arts. After he graduated Asher moonlighted with the world renowned La Clique, (now Le Soiree) in Melbourne and the UK. In 2006 Asher moved to London, there he met comedian Robin Ince and was inducted into the infamous Book Club. There he found himself working alongside comedians like Josie Long, Stewart Lee and Stephen Merchant and in this environment of incomprehensible art wank, he flourished. Asher toured throughout England with Ince’s Book club for the entire year he lived in London and it was during this time that he began his first tentative steps into comedy. Since that time Asher has written 5 solo comedy shows Cellar Door, Open Door, Secret Door, Matador and most recently Troubadour.

He‘s performed at comedy festivals all over Australia and is a regular performer at the Edinburgh Fringe. In 2009 with the assistance of a Moosehead Grant he earned his first critical success with a nomination for the 2009 Barry Award at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. Then in 2010 Secret Door went gangbusters and won him the Age Newspapers Critics Choice Award and garnered Asher a Best Newcomer Nomination at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2010.

Asher’s blend of physical comedy, stand up and his burgeoning sense of socio political satire have made him one of the most fascinating
comics working in Australia today. Not bad for a kid who was kicked
out of year 8 drama for not being serious enough.

www.ashertreleaven.com

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