About Me

Who Is Jarryd Goundrey?

I was born in East Fremantle Hospital in the 80s… I like saying that. The 80s!

My life has been varied and eclectic. As a child I was lost in my imagination more that I participated in reality, qualifying as a nerd for most of my upbringing, I enjoyed Star Wars, reading and video games. Puberty exploded out of me like a supernova and made me slightly “cool”… Which looking back on it. Kids are never cool.

As school finished and watched my friends go off to university or get trades, neither of those options appealed to me. I was still working at McDonalds and was lost. So I did what any young man would do…….. I joined the Australian Army. For the next 7 years in between learning to… as my friend Tristan Hardy would say, Shoot & Root. I developed a passion for cooking and that became a focal point for my creativity. I would spend weekends inviting my gruff infantry soldiers around to try some new dish I had learnt and watch them eat Soufflés.

When my time in the military came to an end, It was only logical to jump head first into a career trying to be a wanky chef. I had never perused anything in my life with such passion and vigour, it made me feel alive. In 5 years time I had qualified and was running my first restaurant… A silly amount of time. 2 years after that I had left the industry full time, I had a handful of friends left and I had pushed everyone that loved me away with my pursuit. I was miserable.

In that deep depression and alcoholism I discovered Stand-up comedy. An activity I did once that made me feel alive and gave me purpose again. It was fun, exciting, EXTREMELY difficult and most importantly social. It made me happy. And I was determined to get as good as I could possibly get at it.

And now I have a website. And I travel doing this weird thing that brings me and hopefully you joy.