Dan Ilic

Born on November 20, 1981, in Australia, Dan Ilic started his performing career with the Cumberland Gang Show at the age of 13, where he spent 11 years both performing and producing. He later became a regular in Sydney’s amateur musical theatre scene. During his time at Macquarie University, Ilic performed in various shows, including “The Beatification of Newt Berton” and “The Great Viagra Robbery,” which toured the Melbourne International Comedy Festival in 2003. He was also a part of the university sketch comedy group The 3rd Degree, which became the foundation for Network Ten’s “The Ronnie Johns Half Hour.” On this show, Ilic served as a cast member, writer, animator, and producer of several sketches. In 2007, he founded the Sydney sketch comedy club night Comicide and subsequently toured “Comicide: Death by Funny” to the Melbourne International Comedy Festival in 2008.

Ilic’s career in television continued with his role as a reporter and presenter on the Andrew Denton-produced show “Hungry Beast” on ABC1, and as a writer and performer on “Can of Worms” for Network Ten. After “Hungry Beast” concluded its second season in 2010, Ilic was among nine team members chosen by Denton to develop online content for Zapruder’s Other Films. He also directed The Comedy Channel’s satirical news program, “The Mansion,” in 2008. In 2011, Ilic wrote and directed “Y2GAY,” a short film that became a finalist at Tropfest and was screened at over 20 film festivals globally. His work in media expanded when he took on the role of Senior Satire Producer for AJ+ English, Al Jazeera’s digital platform, in 2015. Later that year, he returned to Australia to develop digital video strategy for Fairfax Media’s news products and was recognized as a “digital disruptor” by Fairfax Media’s Green Guide.

Ilic further demonstrated his commitment to satirical commentary at the COP21 climate change talks in Paris, where he hosted and produced “Fossil Of The Day,” a daily satirical program on climate negotiations. He has also had an extensive radio career, starting with “Up For It” on FBi Radio, and later hosting programs on Triple J and Radio National, as well as regularly filling in on 702 ABC Sydney. As a comedian, Ilic has performed internationally in cities including New York and Edinburgh. He co-founded the Sydney improv show Full Body Contact No Love Tennis and the live satirical radio program “A Rational Fear” (FBi Radio / ABC RN). In 2014, he successfully crowdfunded over $50,000 to adapt “A Rational Fear” into a successful web series, which then partnered with The Guardian Australia, sold out two shows at the Sydney Opera House, and received a Walkley Award nomination for journalism. His production “Beaconsfield: The Musical” premiered in Melbourne in late 2008, chronicling the media’s coverage of the 2006 Beaconsfield mine disaster, a story he later shared at the Sydney Opera House for The Moth Radio Hour.