Sammy J

Samuel Jonathan McMillan (born 2 July 1983 ) is an Australian musical comedian, satirist, writer and radio presenter who performs under the stage name Sammy J.

He embraces a variety of media in his comedy, including the use of video and self-composed music, and frequently collaborates with fellow Australian puppet comedian Randy Feltface.

He was a member of United Nations Youth Australia and was editor of its newsletter in 1999 and 2000.

He says he was more interested in writing jokes than studying, and halfway through the course decided to drop out.

The first time he publicly used the stage name was during a performance on Hey Hey It's Saturday's "Red Faces" segment in 1999.

He subsequently graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (Media and Communications) in 2006 and began to pursue a full-time comedy career.

He performs under the stage name "Sammy J", an old high school nickname and contraction of his full name, Samuel Jonathan McMillan.

In 2006, McMillan took the Best Newcomer award at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival for his debut solo show, Sammy J's 55 Minute National Tour.

In 2008, McMillan collaborated with puppeteer Heath McIvor on a musical, Sammy J in the Forest of Dreams.

The show, which starred McMillan and 14 foul-mouthed puppets operated by McIvor, was an adult fairy tale parodying the format of Disney children's movies.

Forest of Dreams was well received by critics in Melbourne, earning a nomination for the festival's Barry Award for the most outstanding show and winning The Age Critics Award for the best local act.

Following a successful Edinburgh season, the show toured the UK and played at the Leicester Square Theatre in London.

In 2009, McMillan created a one-man musical comedy show inspired by his schooldays titled 1999.

In 2010 he began working with Randy Feltface to create Ricketts Lane, which won the Barry Award for Most Outstanding Show at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival.

It then played at the Sydney Opera House.

In 2011 he featured in an episode of ABC TV's Comedy Warehouse series, and in 2012 headlined the inaugural Jakarta Fringe Festival alongside Bill Bailey.

The two debuted the sequel, Bin Night, in 2011 at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival where they performed the song "Secrets", and later that year became regular cast members on the sketch comedy show Good News World, earning a national television following through their weekly songs and sketches.

In 2012 the duo debuted The Inheritance, which played in most Australian capital cities and received five star reviews in Edinburgh.

The same year, Sammy J and Randy hosted the Melbourne International Comedy Festival Gala, creating an original opening musical sequence in which they set about kidnapping the "real" host, Adam Hills.

In November that year, they were commissioned by radio station Triple J to create a musical tribute to Australian music.

The duo also appeared on the final episode of ABC's Q&A singing a song about the year in politics, and finished the year performing at the Falls Festival in Marion Bay, Tasmania.

In 2013 he hosted Wednesday Night Fever, a satirical sketch show on ABC television, conducting interviews and performing songs based on the week's news.

In December 2013, McMillan and Randy debuted Sammy J & Randy's Difficult First Album which is a live recording of one of their Brisbane performances of Sammy J & Randy: The Arena Spectacular.

During the 2016 Australian federal election, McMillan created and hosted Sammy J's Playground Politics, a series of political satire shorts on ABC iview in the style of Play School, which became a recurring segment on his own show Sammy J's Democratic Party that premiered in May 2017.

From 2016 to 2017 he went on a national tour of Australia and licked every state parliament building, ending the tour by licking Parliament House, Canberra.

In 2017 his solo show Hero Complex toured Australia, telling the story of his childhood love of The Phantom.

The show won Best Comedy at the Melbourne Fringe Festival and McMillan was nominated for Best Comedy Performer at the 2017 Helpmann Awards.

He has appeared on various Australian television shows including Spicks and Specks, Good News Week and Talkin' 'Bout Your Generation, and wrote and performed on The Comedy Channel's satirical news show The Mansion.

In 2018, McMillan inherited the Clarke and Dawe time slot on ABC television, performing a weekly satirical sketch before the news.

Popular characters from this series include the "Government Coach" and "National Yoga".

His comedic responses to the COVID-19 pandemic have attracted millions of views online.

McMillan is an ambassador for both Oxfam Australia and the youth mentoring organisation Big Brothers Big Sisters Australia.

In April 2018, he released his first book, The Long Class Goodnight, under his stage name Sammy J.

He has released several CDs and DVD compilations of his work; most recently the album Symphony in J Minor which was nominated for Best Comedy Release at the 2019 ARIA Awards.

He has performed at comedy festivals in Australia, Edinburgh and Montreal, and has appeared on various Australian television shows, including Sammy J & Randy in Ricketts Lane, a sitcom based on the duo's touring show of the same name.

He currently produces a weekly political sketch for ABC Television, satirising the news through various characters, and is the Breakfast presenter on ABC Radio Melbourne.

Born in Mornington, Victoria, McMillan studied law at the University of Melbourne for two and a half years, where he directed and appeared in the Melbourne Law Comedy Revue.

In November 2019, the ABC announced that McMillan would host ABC Radio Melbourne's Breakfast show from 20 January 2020 replacing Jacinta Parsons and Sami Shah.

In May 2020, McMillan's song "Pink Clouds" was announced as the winner of the International Songwriting Competition, in the comedy category.

Some of McMillan's influences include Lano and Woodley, Tom Lehrer, Tony Martin, Shaun Micallef and Adam Hills.