Jonny Hawkins
About
Jonny Hawkins, AKA Aunty Jonny, is a prolific multidisciplinary artist whose work is described as mesmerising, heartfelt, high octane, joyful and totally unpredictable.
Jonny is a mainstay of Sydney’s nightlife, live performances and artistic landscape.
As an actor, Jonny is a graduate of The Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts. Their appearances across Film and TV include Mr. Inbetween, God's Favorite Idiot, The Other Guy and Celeste Barber’s Wellmania. Their career has seen them work with screen legends like Melissa McCarthy and fellow Australian Sarah Snook.
They’re a recipient of the Burton Award for Best Shakespearean Performance, Sydney Theater’s Best Newcomer Award, Cinifest’s Out Standing Performance and were nominated for The Green Room Best Performance Award.
As a writer, Jonny has written for stage, television and live performances. They’re regularly engaged for film and television concept developments and writers rooms. Their award-winning short film Joy Boyscreened at Cannes and other international festivals, as well has being screened on SBS’s Queer for Short project. Their one person show, Maureen Harbinger of Death premiered at Sydney Festival and went on to tour international arts festivals, including Rising (Melbourne), Adelaide International Arts Festival, Wanaka’s Festival of Colour and, supported by House of Oz, Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Their writing work has been supported with funding and residencies by Brand X, Create NSW, SBS, The Ethics Centre (NSW), The Bundanon Foundation and Spain’s Fundación Valparaiso.
Their career as a DJ began as an experimental collaboration, searching through Sydney’s record store dollar bins for underappreciated Funk, Soul and Disco records. The Dollar Bin Darlings fast became a hit DJ act in Australia, and saw them running parties and playing major cultural events like Sydney Festival, Vivid, Adelaide Cabaret and Fringe, Melbourne’s White Night and Fringe Festival, and music Festivals like Yours and Owls, Secret Garden and Mardi Gras’ major party at the Hordern Pavilion.
The Dollar Bins represented liberated dancing, unbridled joy and adults at play. Their signature parties included the Cool Mums Party at Oxford arts and the Winter of Our Disco Tent for The City of Sydney.
When Jason Winston joined in the DBD fun, they started iconic Show Us Ya Tips, a party to raise money for sex workers through the joy of professional and amateur strip teases.
Since going solo, Jonny has been given a yearly month long residency at Sydney’s most notorious underground club, Club 77. Hosting club greats like Theo Parrish, Marcellus Pittman and Ron Trent, along side a fine selection of Sydney’s local talent. Jonny has played alongside Australian heavy hitters like Late Night Tough Guy, Annabelle Gaspar, Jonny Seymour, Barney Kato (Sterogamous) and Matt Vaughn.
Jonny has played music festivals including Ireland's Body and Soul, Another Love Story, The UK’s Latitude Festival and iconic Australian parties such as Loose Ends, Mardi Gras and Bad Dog.
Their recent show, Dancefloor Conversion Therapy, about the importance of Dancefloor culture and the wisdom of the folks your mother warned you about received huge praise and 5 star reviews at Edinburgh and Sydney Fringe Festivals.
As a live performance maker, their fake television show Don’t Go To Bed, presented from Griffin Theatre in a cardboard cutout television, delighted audiences with games, interview and comedy segments, notable guests included Clementine Ford, Bonita Collings, Paul Capsis, Tanya Plibersek and Maeve Marsden. Their comedy gameshow Big Vibes saw contestants battling through elaborate hypotheticals set in Sydney’s nightclubs, Dungeons and Dragons style. Their recent collaboration with Hannah Reilly, I’d Like To Say a Few Words, asks guest writers and performers to deliver fictional speeches without giving the audience any context. I’d Like to Say a Few Words premiered at Sydney Writers Festival with Michelle Law, Jane Caro, George Haddad and Nina Oyama.
Brolga: A Queer Koori Wonderland, Liveworks 2024