IT’S always nice to be reminded that there’s someone doing crazy better than you.
In this regard, former Maleny student and debut author, Andy Kay, has taken a bullet for the team, releasing his memoir, ‘The Adventures of Little Andy’ last month.
Little Andy, as he is better known, hightailed it out of the hinterland town for the dreary but exotic lights of London just days after graduating from Maleny State High. It was a move to find himself after struggling through his parents divorce and questions about his own sexuality.
What followed was years, turning into decades, of typically weird, sometimes awkward, often insane encounters, from his accidental stumbling into his role as a highly successful bingo caller, to finding himself in dire straits during an Ellen DeGeneres interview.
On leaving Australia, Andy said it was the best thing he could have done for his own sanity.
“I felt like I just needed to get away and find myself,” he said.
“I had the space and the freedom to be who I wanted to be.”
Andy said he is regularly drawn back to Maleny and carries fond memories of his teenage years, growing up in the 90s without technology and the outdoors of a village atmosphere.
“Going down to the Obi Obi creek and all that kind of stuff brings back a lot of memories because I spent pretty much a lot of my time swimming down there and everything like that with friends,” he said.He has especially fond memories of the Maleny Chocolate Factory.
“My god is that some of the best chocolate I have ever tasted in the world,” he says.
After years of sharing his pearls of comedy gold at family barbeques – and countless people saying ‘you should write a book’, Andy finally took the plunge. While not convinced he had an entirely cohesive story – or one worth telling – it took the pandemic and some serious alone time to find the mindset to start writing. “I was quite strict in terms of the writing process, like after work every day I would write in the evenings, it was like a second full time job for me,” the Nova radio producer said.
Andy said his aim with the memoir was not only to capture his life to date but offer an escape for people to enjoy.
“If I can share stories with people and just give them a bit of a reprieve from their life whether they’re going through a tough time or they just need to have a bit of a laugh, that’s what I want,” he said.
