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Edmund Perfect (born 17 December 1977) is an Australian musician, comedian, writer and actor.
Widely known for his role as Mick Holland in Network Ten's TV series Offspring in which he performs his own music, he has recorded solo albums and written and performed numerous cabaret shows, including Songs from the Middle with the Brodsky Quartet. His biographical musical comedy won the 2009 Helpmann Award for Best New Australian Work, a Victorian Premier's Literary Award and a Green Room Award. Following his songwriting career on Broadway, where he composed Beetlejuice and King Kong, Perfect returned to Australia where he was to star as Franklin Hart Jr. in Dolly Parton's musical 9 to 5 in late 2020, although it was subsequently indefinitely postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia.
In 2007, Perfect appeared in Keating! the Musical playing several characters, including a parody of former Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Alexander Downer.
In 2008, Perfect wrote , a satire based on the life and exploits of Australian test cricketer Shane Warne. The musical had a workshop showing at the Adelaide Cabaret Festival on 17 July 2007 and the piece underwent further workshopping in early 2008 culminating in five work-in-progress showings at The Hi-Fi Bar and Ballroom as part of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. Shane Warne The Musical premiered at the Melbourne Athenaeum Theatre on 10 December 2008 before embarking on a national tour. In 2009 the musical received the Helpmann Award for Best New Australian Work, the Green Room Award and a Victorian Premier's Literary Award. Updated to reflect new developments in Warne's life, the show enjoyed a revival at Hamer Hall in Melbourne in June 2013, directed by Simon Phillips, with Perfect in the title role and co-starring Lisa McCune, Shane Jacobson and Christie Whelan-Browne as Liz Hurley. A cast recording was released in 2014.
In 2010, he performed Songs from the Middle, a song cycle inspired by Perfect's childhood in Mentone, Victoria. Eamonn Kelley in The Australian described the work as "a poignant narrative of adult reconciliation with a place and a past from which he fled at the first opportunity, restless and with no sense of belonging". He played the lead role of Mack the Knife in The Threepenny Opera at the Malthouse Theatre, Melbourne. In 2011 he played the same role in the Sydney Theatre Company's remount of this production. He hosted FOX8's Ultimate School Musical, which he also directed. Later in the year he played the role of Mick Holland in Network Ten's Offspring comedy-drama series. He also presented an award at the 2010 ARIA Music Awards.
His solo show Misanthropology premiered at the Spiegeltent, in January 2011, as part of the Sydney Festival. Mingling satire and homage, with Perfect's arrangements for a three-piece band, Perfect wanted to provide "a kind of social autopsy of cultural rituals." In targeting eco-tourists, self-righteous cyclists, and others including Barrie Kosky, Perfect tried to examine "the qualities that have driven our evolution, such as the urge to conquer and compete, and the urge to procreate, trip us up and reveal us as the animals we really are." Perfect said of the show: "Tonight I invite you to laugh and think and question humanity in all of its wondrous idiocy. Remember, healthy, cynical self-reflection is what separates us from Kyle Sandilands."
In May 2025, he played the title role in the Australia premiere of Beetlejuice the Musical. Beetlejuice Composer Eddie Perfect to Star in the Musical's Australian Premiere
On 28 October 2015, it was confirmed that Perfect would be a new judge on Australia's Got Talent for its eighth season to replace Timomatic.
In December 2019, Perfect wrote a song for Tourism Australia's new advertising campaign targeting British audiences. It debuted prior to the Queen's annual Christmas message.
In 2020, Perfect participated in The Masked Singer Australia as the "Frillneck" and placed third on the second season of the show.
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| "You Make Me Happy" (Clare Bowditch and Eddie Perfect)
| Song of the Year
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Broadway
In 2015, Perfect moved to New York to pursue a career on Broadway theatre, where he met with John Buzzetti, the American agent for fellow Australian songwriter and comedian Tim Minchin, a close friend of Perfect. Since moving to New York, Perfect has written songs for two Broadway musicals during the 2018–19 season; King Kong (which opened at the Broadway Theatre in October 2018, and closed in August 2019) and Beetlejuice (which opened at the Winter Garden Theatre in April 2019, following a pre-Broadway tryout at the National Theatre in Washington D.C. in October 2018).
Return to the stage
Following Perfect's success in New York, he planned to return to the stage to star in the Australian premiere of Dolly Parton's musical, 9 to 5 in the leading role of Franklin Hart Jr. The show was due to begin previews at Sydney's Lyric Theatre on 19 April 2020, before touring to Melbourne's Her Majesty's Theatre from 25 July. However, due to the global coronavirus pandemic, the production was delayed until finally opening in Sydney's Capitol Theatre on 16 February 2022. The show will also play Brisbane (from May 2022) and Melbourne (July 2022).
Other activities
In November 2011, he hosted the Inside Film Awards at Sydney's Luna Park.
Personal life
, Perfect is married to Lucy Cochran (sister of composer and pianist Julian Cochran), and they have two daughters.
Filmography
2002 Stingers Stumpy Episode: "Big Fish" Blue Heelers Mark Lalor Episode: "Broken Dreams" MDA Nigel Newland Episode: "Flight or Fight" Bootleg TV studio floor manager 3 episodes 2004 Kath & Kim Brett's Co-Worker 2 episodes 2010–14;
201660 episodes 2014 It's a Date Jeremy Episode: "Should You Date on Impulse?" Comedy Showroom Eddie Episode: "The Future is Expensive" 2020 Love in Lockdown Ned 6 episodes 2025 Claire Hooper's House Of Games Self 5 episodes
Discography
Albums
Featured on
Awards and nominations
APRA Awards
The APRA Awards are presented annually from 1982 by the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA), "honouring composers and songwriters". They commenced in 1982.
Helpmann Awards
The Helpmann Awards is for live performance in Australia and are awarded annually by Live Performance Australia.
Best Male Actor in a Musical Best New Australian Work Best Cabaret Performer Misanthropology Best Original Score Songs from the Middle
Tony Awards
The Tony Award is for live performance on Broadway theatre and are awarded annually by American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League.
Best Original Score Beetlejuice
External links
Categories: Year Of Birth Missing, 21st-century Australian Comedians, 21st-century Australian Male Actors, 21st-century Australian Musicians, 21st-century Australian Singers, Australian Children's Television Presenters, Australian Male Comedians, Australian Male Television Actors, Australian Musical Theatre Composers, Australian Musical Theatre Lyricists, Australian Pianists, Australian Satirists, Edith Cowan University Alumni, Helpmann Award Winners, Living People, Male Actors From Melbourne, Male Musical Theatre Composers, Western Australian Academy Of Performing Arts Alumni, Comedians From Melbourne, People Educated At St Bede's College
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