Controversy tends to follow Aussie comedian Dave Hughes.
It's part of his schtick, granted. He's based his career on being outspoken, whether it's part of his stand-up routine or as a panellist on The Footy Show.
This week he has been making headlines for his comments about the federal government's budget and capital gains tax.
Hughes likes to push boundaries. To poke the hornet's nest.
And comedy is, of course, subjective. His brand of comedy is blunt, abrasive and rapid-fire, delivered with a nasally "ocker" twang that's not for everyone.
Others love it.
But love him or hate him, everyone knows of "Hughesy". He's been a mainstay on Australian television for the past three decades.
He graduated from Christian Brothers' College, Warrnambool, in 1988 as dux and went on to study at university, dropping out to pursue comedy as a career.
He made his television debut on Hey Hey It's Saturday in 1998, and his stand-up set was the only comedy spot replayed on the 50-year anniversary Hey Hey It's Saturday Reunion Show in 2018.
Hughes appeared on ABC's The Glasshouse from 2001 to 2007 and co-founded the popular AFL comedy show Before The Game. He had a Hughesy Loses It segment on Rove Live before joining Channel 10's The Project in 2009, staying for five years.
In 2015 he hosted Australia's Got Talent and joined The AFL Footy Show, and in 2017 he produced and hosted Hughesy, We Have A Problem for its five-season run on Channel 10.
The Masked Singer Australia followed, as well as I'm A Celebrity, Taskmaster Australia, and Talkin' 'Bout Your Generation.
In 2025 his life journey featured on ABC TV's Australian Story.
Hughes was also a daily radio host for many years and, at the same time, continued his stand-up comedy career both in Australia and overseas.
He's scaled back his radio and television commitments to focus on stand-up, and is a prolific user of social media - which is where many of his famous "rants" translate into news headlines.
Talking to him last week, I ask how he feels about making news and being such a polarising figure.
"I don't look for it, but I'm happy to be a public figure, and it comes with the territory," Hughes replies.
"I cop it but I also get a lot of praise as well.
"I used to care, but now I honestly don't. I realise that other people's opinions don't mean anything, my opinions don't mean anything, nothing means anything, to be honest.
"I genuinely do laugh my way through life but I'm also prepared to say stuff and cop stuff because I know it doesn't matter."
In terms of "saying stuff", Hughes has had plenty to say over the past week about the Labor government's new budget, in particular, its proposed changes to capital gains tax (CGT).
And he didn't hold back this time, either. Many an F-bomb landed over the ensuing five minutes.
"This capital gains tax issue, it means people won't take risks in this country, and that means we're f---d," he says.
And then he was off, telling me "you cannot tax your way to prosperity" and that the government was taking away people's incentive to "have a go".
"And I voted for them! I know I sound like a capitalist, but I grew up with no money, and I worked hard. There is going to be a huge crash in the housing market here. It's a f---ing house of cards."
Hughes is a passionate man, whether it's politics, the economy, or footy.
"I'm not here to lecture people, and my stage shows aren't political rants, but I do try to find the humour in what's happening," he says.
"I tell my kids there's nothing to worry about, everything is fine, and they're like 'Well why are you raving about it all?'. I've gotta take the emotion out of it, I think. I can make my points without emotion. I need to try that."
Hughes has been touring the country since January with new stand-up show Cooked. It's based on a charity AFL Legends game he played at Docklands last year, where he kicked a goal despite having five broken ribs and a punctured lung.
Clearly in pain and struggling to breathe, the 54-year-old finished the game and celebrated afterwards, only visiting the hospital at the insistence of his wife.
Weeks later he returned to hospital with fluid in his lungs.
All-Stars coach Shane Crawford jokingly told his team to target Hughes in a televised pre-match speech.
"Cooked is about me looking cooked on the night of the game. It's a term used to describe people that look shredded, drug affected, or just at the end of their tether," Hughes says.
"Turn him over, he's cooked, you know? Stick a fork in, he's done?
"I was certainly done on the night but I kept playing, with five broken ribs and a punctured lung in a charity game.
"But look, I wanted to kick a goal, so I kicked the goal, with 30,000 people laughing at me and an opposition team bashing me, and I put the ball straight through the middle.
"I've been mocking professional footballers for missing goals over the last 50 years and when I kicked that goal I realised I was right to mock them - it's easy, you just focus and f---ing do it. I don't know what's wrong with these f---ers."
He says the game, and his injury, became a news story and "crossed the divide between the codes", that is, AFL and rugby league. He heard from current and former players from both codes after the game and thought the story would translate well onto the stage.
"Getting five ribs broken and a punctured lung after the opposition coach spends his entire pre-match speech telling the team to bash me in a charity match, well, there's a lot of humour there, especially when you're the oldest person on the field and one of the only non-professional sportspeople."
Hughes is loving being back on the stage. His 36-date Cooked tour is taking him to major cities as well as smaller regional towns.
"I'm having the most fun I've ever had performing. The show takes so many side turns, the time just evaporates," he says.
"It's just a joy.
"I'm on stage just about every night at the moment, which I haven't been able to do because of radio and TV commitments in the past, but they're not there now, which is a godsend for me.
"Almost every night I get someone tell me 'Mate, I got dragged along to this because I didn't think you were funny, but now 'I think you're really funny'. I'm converting people, one night at a time.
"I treat my shows like conversion therapy for non-believers. They walk in as non-believers and walk out having had the night of their lives, and then they change their perspective of me, and maybe slag me off less on the internet."
He's also enjoying exploring each town he visits on tour, and meeting the locals.
"I'll walk around and find things to laugh about and bring them to the stage. That's part of the joy of touring," Hughes says.
"One bloke told me to go to a whisky festival and I said 'I don't drink, mate', and he said 'Oh, well, you can have a beer' and I'm like 'That's not how it works mate'.
"I know I look like I drink, I look like I'm drunk, I look like I'm hungover. People think I'm drug-affected and on ice ... I'm not, by the way, but I am on ADHD medication which my wife got me on and now she tells me it makes me look like a meth-head.
"I understand the joke of life and I am a big part of that joke.
"I'm really happy for people to laugh at me or with me, just f---ing laugh, I don't give a shit. Come along to the show, you'll have the time of your life."
