Cal Wilson: ‘I had terrible taste in men in my 20s. I was attracted to the bad boys’
By Jane Rocca
Cal Wilson is best known for her stand-up comedy career. The 52-year-old opens up about her love of books, her terrible dating history and how she finally met her now-husband, Chris.
Cal Wilson grew up never expecting to be any less because she was a girl.
My maternal grandfather, Eric, was very present in my life. We would regularly holiday at his house in Oamaru, New Zealand, a 3½-hour drive from our home in Christchurch. There was always lemonade on the kitchen bench and strong peppermints in the dish by Pop’s chair.
Pop was always at the golf club with Nan [known as Pud]. He made a putting green on the back lawn – the grandchildren would putt around, except for me. I’d collect the balls and sit on them like a hen.
My dad, Graeme, was an engineer. He was a gregarious person and very handy. He built me a doll’s house for Christmas as a child, with furniture inside it. His dad was also a carpenter. Dad met Mum, Barbara, who worked as a primary school teacher, at a social event playing badminton.
Dad instilled in me a love of books. We used to play a 1920s game, Winkle’s Wedding. You had a story to read which had word blanks; that’s when I realised words could be funny and bring delight. The game helped me become quick-witted, and while I couldn’t beat my brothers physically in a fight as a kid, I developed a quick brain to get back at them.
I have two older brothers – Richard, who’s a civil engineer and Sean, a physiotherapist. There are three years between us all. It was all-out war until we were in our 20s; I was the annoying little sister who had crushes on all their friends. As an adult, I got to know them as people. I reconnected with Sean in France in 1992. We went on a bike ride together and it felt like the start of our adult friendship.
In an era when there was lots of sexism, Dad was a champion of the women who worked for him. He was raised by a strong mother.
CAL WILSON
I was never expected to be any less because I was a girl. Dad and Mum had the same expectations for me: that I’d get an education, go to uni and be what I wanted. In an era when there was lots of sexism, Dad was a champion of the women who worked for him. He was raised by a strong mother.
My first kiss was at three. My parents had friends over for dinner with their youngest son. I asked him if he wanted to kiss like they do on TV. We didn’t realise our older brothers were watching and mine tormented me for years about this.
I met my first boyfriend at 15. He was 19. He would visit me at my family home but my parents wouldn’t let me leave the front gate, so I could only talk to him from the yard. It was very pure and innocent and didn’t last long.
My drama teacher at high school was a big influence. He taught a subject I loved, and we struck up a friendship. He was a beautiful, encouraging man. My English teacher was another energetic and good man who made me think; I loved the way he taught.
I had terrible taste in men in my 20s. I was attracted to the bad boys and finally realised they are arseholes!
I moved to Melbourne in 2003 and met my husband, Chris, at a bar in Northcote. I was getting over a bad relationship at the time and we met at a mutual friend’s gig. I overheard Chris say he was heading overseas in five weeks and I thought, “He could be a great fling.” Twenty years later we are still together with a 14-year-old son.
We got married in 2008. We only learnt later that our mutual friend at the gig had set us up when she heard that I thought Chris was cute.
Chris is a kind human and a man of his word. He will fill up the car with petrol to make life easier when I am stressed. When Chris couldn’t stay at the gig one night, he told me he had to leave as he wanted to see one of his students run a cross-country. I thought, “Wow, here is a man who has chosen to be a teacher not for the money but because he genuinely loves it.”
Cal Wilson co-hosts Who the Bloody Hell Are We? on SBS On Demand.
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