Dan
Ilic

‘Investigative Humourist’ Dan Ilic is one of Australia’s most prolific comedy voices, known for his work across TV, film, radio and stage.

Known for raising hundreds of thousands of dollars to shame the Australian Government’s record on climate action in Times Square, New York City before the Glasgow climate talks in 2021.

Host of the popular podcast and live comedy show A Rational Fear, Dan brings together industry leaders, journalists, comedians and politicians, to use comedy to explore big issues such as climate change, press freedom and the intersection of culture and the internet. A Rational Fear won Best Comedy Podcast at the Australian Podcast Awards in 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023.

Starting his career on TV shows including The Ronnie Johns Half Hour (TEN), Hungry Beast (ABC) The Feed (SBS), Can of Worms (TEN), and Insiders (ABC). He rose to national fame for his satirical comedy fringe show Beaconsfield: A Musical In A-Flat Minor.

He has sold out shows at the Sydney Opera House, entertained with seasons on ABC Radio National, and performed stand-up under rocket fire in Kandahar.

As a journalist, in 2008 Dan scooped the world to the news of Heath Ledger’s death and covered US election for Fairfax Media, In 2015 was appointed the senior satire producer of Al Jazeera’s youth publisher AJ+ and in 2016 he covered the US election while Executive Producer of Satire for Fusion/Gizmodo Media Group in the USA.

He landed back in Australia as the Executive Producer and Showrunner of the daily satirical TV show Tonightly with Tom Ballard (ABC), then more recently, the AACTA nominated At Home Alone Together (ABC), a coronavirus comedy lifestyle show.

He also co-wrote, performed, and directed the narrative comedy series Riot Act for Audible which won a Webby Honouree in 2019, and went on to secure television development funding from Create NSW. He has recently performed in The Office (BBC Studios) and Play Dirty (Amazon Prime).

Dan was recognised by the Obama Foundation in 2019 as an Obama Foundation Leader Asia Pacific for his work in satire and climate change activism and was a 2020 and 2021 Bertha Foundation Fellow.

In 2023 Dan founded Not A Real Media Company Pty Ltd as a vehicle to make smart stupid things. With a focus on creating work with comedians, and science communicators with a point of view. Not A Real Media Company Pty Ltd is currently developing narrative comedy, animation and factual series for web, television, and streaming.