Summary

Rod Quantock, born in Melbourne in 1948, became a highly accomplished and influential comedian, performance artist, researcher, writer and political activist. From the 2000s onwards, his work focussed exclusively on political activism, primarily related to climate change and the environmental limits to growth. He was awarded an Order of Australia Medal in 2015.

Details

Rod Quantock's father was a metal-polisher who also worked for a short time as tram conductor; and his mother worked from home as a laundress. Quantock grew up in Springvale and later Coburg, where he attended West Coburg Primary and Moreland High School. He later enrolled in an architecture course at the University of Melbourne where he performed in student revues. Shaped by the "social turbulence of the 1960s", he was politicised by his university experience. When the Australian Security and Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) raided the University, smashing into the student union offices looking for draft resisters, he was alerted to the "desperate ruthlessness of political power". He also engaged in social action to educate university students as to how the "other half lived". (Baer, 2022, p 143) On one occasion, he organised a bus tour for his privileged fellow students to an impoverished housing development on the urban fringe of Melbourne, built with asbestos sheeting and blanketed in the stench of a dog food factory; leaving them stranded there to make their own way out. Thus, Quantock had discovered his forte in theatre and student politics, and eventually abandoned his architecture studies, going on to a highly successful career in entertainment, performing for over 50 years in stand-up comedy, cabaret, theatre, television, and radio.

Quantock performed as 'Captain Snooze' in advertisements for the Australian bedding company of the same name, for two decades. Whilst he viewed this engagement as "not interesting: just a well-paid job" and "public exposure of the wrong kind", it nevertheless provided financial security, and made him very well-known. He was eventually dismissed from this role, with his last advertisement for Captain Snooze taking place in 1996, later reflecting that "you have to be politically neutral in advertising: very few celebrities take sides". ("Interview with Hans Baer: 1"; Baer, 2022, p 145). Unsurprisingly, he turned his comedic skills to political activism, becoming the first comedian in the world to tackle climate change. In the 2000s, he began exclusively to write and perform both on that subject and other issues related to environmental limits to growth.

As of 2022, he was the only comedian to have appeared in all 33 Melbourne International Comedy Festivals. He was appointed to various academic positions at the University of Melbourne, including honorary associate in the Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute and research fellow and honorary research fellow at the School of Culture and Communication. In 2015, He was awarded an Order of Australia Medal for his contribution to the performing arts, the environment, and sustainability.

References:

Baer, Hans (2022) "Climate Change and Capitalism in Australia"
Quantock, Rod (2018) "Interview with Hans Baer: 1"

(See list below for further details)

Resources

Manuscripts

• Semi-structured life history interview questions for Rod Quantock, 2018. PDF Details

Sound recordings

• Quantock, Rod, Interview with Hans Baer: 5, Duration: 42 mins, 58 sec, 23 October, 2018. MP3 Details
• Quantock, Rod, Interview with Hans Baer: 3, Duration: 1 hour, 6 mins, 7 sec, 18 July, 2018. MP3 Details
• Quantock, Rod, Interview with Hans Baer: 4, Duration: 1 hour, 53 mins, 57 sec, 10 September, 2018. MP3 Details
• Quantock, Rod, Interview with Hans Baer: 2, Duration: 1 hour, 3 mins, 48 sec, 6 June, 2018. MP3 Details
• Quantock, Rod, Interview with Hans Baer: 1, Duration: 1 hour, 7 mins, 56 sec, unidentified date, 2018. MP3 Details
• Quantock, Rod, Interview with Hans Baer - 6, Duration: 11 mins 23 sec, [This copy courtesy of Hans Baer], 22 January, 2019. MP3 Details

Online Resources

• Baer, Hans, Climate Change and Capitalism in Australia, Routledge, Abingdon, Oxon; New York, 2022, 240 pp, https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/247087140/version/277606853?. Details