Jono Duffy is an Australian Born Comedian, Actor, Filmmaker and Writer.
Born Jonathan Harland Duffy in Brisbane, Queensland on December 16 1985, Jono commenced acting tuition at the age of eight.
Jono transitioned to the role of filmmaker in 2011 with his first feature Documentary, “The Doctor's Wife.” The film was an autobiographical story following Duffy and his then partner, Dr Vincent Cornelisse as they made the move from the Metropolis of Brisbane to the central Queensland town of Mundubbera as an openly gay couple.
The film was well-received and had a successful festival run. The Doctor's Wife went on to win Jono the Award of Excellence in Filmmaking at the Canada International Film Festival in 2012; as well as a distribution deal with leading LGBT production house and distributor Guest House Films.
In 2012, Jono also became one of the male faces of Australian eyewear designer Fritz Frames. He also lent his voice to the characters of “Thurber” and “Roger” in the short film “Pickman;” as well as the lead in the musical short "Life is Crap."
Jono ended 2012 as a speaker at TedX Southbank Women. He was one of only two men to speak at the event.
In 2013 he moved to Melbourne, Australia. Jono appeared in a number of theatre productions including "Playing Rock Hudson," "Dorian," and the comedy festival show "And what's your freeking problem?".
Jono co-directed and edited a short documentary series, "Finding Your Niche," along with Ryan Coonan. The film is an exploration of the work done by Daniel Witthaus, an Australian Anti-Homophobia Educator and the founder of the National Institute for Challenging Homophobia Education (NICHE). The short screened at the Melbourne Queer Film Festival.
Jono also directed, edited and shot the NICHE “Your Story” campaign, which Launched on IDAHO Day 2012. The web-based series features live-drawn animations of LGBTI people’s stories from rural, regional and remote Australia. The series has been watched by thousands around the world and featured online by; The Huffington Post, SameSame, DNA and many others.
In 2013, Jono premiered his first ever solo comedy show, "You're Just Loike Moi," in Shepparton, with all proceeds going to GV Pride to assist with the Out in The Open Festival.
In 2014 Jonathan premiered a new show, "Without me, I'm Nothing," as part of the Midsumma Festival. During the festival he also hosted "How I Found My Niche," the launch of Daniel Witthaus' long awaited second book.
Jonathan later teamed up with Dean Arcuri for the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, their show #Hashfagz, a duo comedy looking at the app based world we now live in. The show played to sell out audiences.
In 2016 he teamed up with Icelandic national treasure, cartoonist and comedian Hugleikur Dagsson. Their show Icetralia ran for the summer of 2016 and then turned into a podcast with the same name. Icetralia is currently the most listened to English language podcast produced in Iceland.
Jono went to Stockholm in May 2016 for the Eurovision Song Contest. He was the creative director for Iceland's entry into the contest (Greta Salóme - Hear Them Calling).
Later in 2016, Jono be spoke at TedXReykjavík and premiered a new cabaret show 'Australiana.'
In December Jono visited Australia where he premiered the final show in the trilogy he started in 2014. ‘Miserable’ has been his most revealing and intimate show to date.
He then returned to Iceland and co-created the first gay comic strip in Icelandic history. Bruce the Angry Bear comes out every Thursday on gayiceland.is.
In 2017 Jono also hosted Iceland's first Lip Sync Battle, for Unicef's Red Nose Day and later this year he returned to TedXReykjavik as a host.
Jono has become known in Iceland for his irreverent story telling style stand up comedy. His take on living in Iceland as a foreigner and attempting to learn one of the oldest spoken languages in the world have made him a recognised personality. Among his recent achievements Jono had one of the most popular shows at the Reykjavik Fringe Festival in 2018 with ‘I wouldn’t Date Me Either.’ He was instrumental in the awakening currently thriving drag scene in Reykjavik and has regularly hosted the monthly showcase ‘Dragsúgur’ since 2015. Along with the music video for Gegnum Dimman Dal for Pál Óskar, Jono also directed þá meteor þú til mín. He has also directed music videos for Hera Björk (the Queen of Effing Everything) and Bjartmar (Hollow and New Today).
In 2018 Jono Made history by having the very first chat show in Icelandic history the be presented in English and hosted by a foreigner. ‘An Evening with Jono Duffy’ is available to stream for free online.
Jono continued performing and touring for most of 2019. He began the year accompanying Hugleikur Dagsson as the opening act for his ‘Son of the Day’ tour of Europe. Jono also premiered a new show ‘Jesus Year’ at the Reykjavik Fringe Festival. He also debuted a bunch of one off comedy evenings as well as trips to mainland Europe and the UK.
In 2020 Jono won ‘Audience Choice’ ‘Outstanding Performance’ and ‘Artist Pick’ at the Reykjavik Fringe Festival with his show ‘I’m Tired.’
He is currently living in Normandy, France devoting his time to learning French, running in fields with cows, and writing lots of jokes so that when COVID is over he can still have a career.