Kevin Bloody Wilson performed in Hay on February 21, as part of a large Australian tour.

This man is an Australian comedy icon, singer and songwriter of tracks such as D.I.L.L.I.G.A.F., Living Next Door to Alan, Hey Santa Claus, amongst adults-only humour tracks.

Not quite sure what to refer to him as, I called him Mr Wilson, and he replied in shock with an expletive and said he had never been called that before.

“We went to Hay years ago, it is a wonderful place,” said Kevin.

Kevin refers to himself as a professional hobbyist. “I love what I do,” he said.

“I considered myself retired at the age of 37.”

Earlier on in his career, he was arrested four times and ended up in court three times.

“Being arrested didn’t worry me,” he recalled. “Turns out you couldn’t say f*** on stage.

“I was in the back of the wagon, and there were two detectives and the police officer who was driving the car. One of the officers piped up, “You’re a funny little **** aren’t you?”

“They said they sat there and watched half the show, and then did what they had to do, so arrested me, when it was finished.”

His six-way bypass in 2023 did not slow him down at all, in fact it had very little impact on his life.

“I have always loved life and that is something which will never change.

“So, the experience did not give me a surge of happiness or a new lease on life, I just got well again and carried on with things as normal.”

There have been infinite funny things happen over the course of Kevin’s life and his career, and he says he just takes everything in his stride.

“All parts of life can be funny, and funny moments turn up when you least expect them,” he said.

“I have been to funny funerals.

"A man I knew named Lenny passed, he played darts at the Kalgoorlie Pub where my band and I played.

"All the darts players showed up graveside to pay their respects with their shirts on.

“When it came time to toss the traditional sod onto the coffin, one man leaned in to do so and his pack of smokes dropped onto the coffin.

“One of the other men said, ‘Geez you’re trying to kill him’.”

After Kevin finishes his Australian leg, he will be off to New Zealand performing for a month, and then the UK for a month.

The massive trips filled with almost daily performances do not worry him.

“Like I said before, I love what I do, and my family comes with me. So we all get to see the world together, and be together.”

Kevin’s wife has a background in accounting, so the team is well rounded.

His daughter, Jenny Talia volunteered to be his support act.

A successful country artist in her own right, she had three albums up her sleeve, and was a popular presence on the Tamworth scene.

Eventually, Jenny Talia moved to Nashville to the country scene there, and is married with two children.

Kevin was set to start touring England, which was a three-month tour with very little breaks; 75 dates over 90 days, solo.

“She called me, and told me I needed a support act,” he said.

“I had been thinking for a while I would like a female support act, to kind of level things out.

“She told me she could be my support act, and I said no you can’t you have a lot going on and a successful career as it is, and she was emphatic she could.

“So, I told her to put 10 songs together on an album and come back to me.

“She did, most of which she wrote herself and some of mine she regendered. And the rest is history.”

His son Travis was in a band with his daughter but then decided he would like to pursue a career in aviation, and is now a pilot for Qantas.

“One time we actually got to fly on a flight Travis was piloting, so we were all on the same plane together, although Travis was on the pointy end.” Kevin’s favourite places to perform are where he lives, Perth, and Gallway Ireland.

“I performed there in 2024, and they have this snake-like winding cobble stoned main street,” he said.

“Everywhere you turn there are buskers, entertainers, musicians, and this bright, happy, chirpy slightly insane energy, I really love it.”

Kevin loves what he does, genuinely. “I get to travel the world doing what I love, and taking my family with me,” he said.

“We get to see some of the best parts of the world together.”

He said it has been a long road since he started out, and he never thought it would become the long-lasting success it has been.

“My mates got me into it, telling me what I was writing was really funny and I should make recordings,” he said.

“And I did, and they bought them.

“Next thing I knew I had record companies bashing down my door, wondering who I was and why I had knocked the likes of Jimmy Barnes and Dire Straits off the number one spots on the charts.

“The radio stations were not even playing my stuff, this was on record sales only, and those records I delivered to the shops myself.”