Tim Ross

Timothy Jonathon Ross (aka Rosso) is an Australian comedian, radio host, design enthusiast and television presenter.

Ross began his career performing stand-up comedy as part of the comedy duo Merrick and Rosso with Merrick Watts. More recently he is best known for his passion for architecture and design, presenting the award winning ABC tv series Streets of Your Town.

Ross studied drama at La Trobe University, being awarded a Bachelor of Arts.

Stand up

Ross began his career in comedy and first came together with Merrick Watts when they teamed up for a one off comedy show in 1996. They had many stand up shows and comedy tours across Australia and appeared at many comedy festivals. They also published the comedy books "Merrick and Rosso, The Book" and "Merrick and Rosso, The Book Volume 2". I Tim Ross fronts comedy band Black Rose, who opened the Vivofit festival in Melbourne and Sydney in 2009.

Radio

Ross began hiscareers with Merrick Watts at Triple J performing a weekly guest spot on the drive-time program on Triple J radio in 1998 as Merrick and Rosso. They became full-time presenters and then in 2001 they moved to newly launched commercial radio station Nova 96.9 for the breakfast radio shift. Co-hosts on the breakfast show included Katrina Blowers, Sami Lukis and Kate Ritchie. Ross left the successful radio program in 2009. At the end of 2011 Ross rejoined breakfast radio, signing for Sydney commercial radio station Mix 106.5 with co-host comedian Claire Hooper.

In December 2012, Mix 106.5 announced that Ross and Hooper would be replaced by a new breakfast show with Sami Lukis and Yumi Stynes in 2013. Tim was appointed drive presenter on the Mix Network with anchor Matt Baseley.

Television

The first television series hosted by Merrick and Rosso was Planet Merrick and Rosso (later known as Super Planet Merrick and Rosso) on The Comedy Channel. They had a guest role on top rating Australian drama series All Saints in 2003. In 2003 their television show Merrick and Rosso Unplanned debuted on the Nine Network followed by The B Team on Network Ten in 2005. In 2008, they returned to the Comedy Channel with an original format entitled 'The Merrick & Rosso Show'. In 2009, Ross became a guest entertainment reporter for Nine's Today.

In 2010, he hosted Uncharted, an unsigned band competition series on MTV Australia and became the host of television series Australia Versuson the Seven Network. In 2011, Ross joined Weekend Sunrise as a Weekend All Star replacing Paul Murray. He also hosted the third season of No Leave, No Life.

As of 2012, Ross has been a regular contributor to entertainment and lifestyle website Live4.

In 2016, Ross presented Streets of Your Town, a two part television documentary series about Australian modernist architecture.

Architecture and Design

Ross has a long-standing passion for architecture and design.

Over the last six years, he has performed his live "Man About the House" show exclusively in architecturally-significant buildings and homes that he turns into temporary theatres. He has performed to literally sold-out houses across the country in buildings designed by a Who’s Who of Australian architecture including Harry Seidler, Robin Boyd, Glenn Murcutt, John Wardle, Clare Cousins and Roy Grounds.

The show, performed with Ross's best friend and talented musician Kit Warhurst, won a National Trust Heritage Award in 2014.

Internationally, the show has performed for Modernism Week in Palm Springs, in venues designed by John Lautner and Harold Levitt.In London, as part of the London Festival of Architecture, they have performed at BT Tower, Isokon Building, Trellick Tower, Futuro House and Australia House, where it was included in the ‘must see’ events by the New York Times.

Ross has passionately supported the architecture industry, with particular focus on fighting alongside the community on the ‘Save Our Sirius’ campaign. In 2018 Ross was awarded the National Trust Heritage Award for Advocacy, for his activism on modernist architecture and promoting its conservation.

Ross's interest in architecture has led to speaking engagements at The 50s and 60s House Symposium (Museum of Sydney), Home Series talks (Government House), Sydney Design Week, and he is an ambassador for Sydney Open. In 2012 Tim became a member of the Creative Services Advisory Committee for Sydney Living Museums. Ross recently spoke at the opening of the London Design Museum, gave the Heritage Council Address in 2018 in Melbourne and was a keynote speaker at the Culture of Lates Symposium in London.In December 2018 he launched the "Home: A Suburban Obsession" exhibition at the State Library of Queensland.

He has written on architecture for various publications including Real Living, Habitus, The Saturday Paper, The Smith Journal and The Guardian. In 2017, Ross launched his second book, The Rumpus Room, capturing nostalgic short stories about life in Australia’s suburbs in the 60s, 70s and 80s. The Rumpus Room is now in its third print run.

Ross's two part series on Australian Architecture, Streets of Your Town premiered on ABC TV in November 2016 to rave reviews, and quickly became the most watched arts program on the ABC for the year.

In 2018, Tim partnered with the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney to curate his first exhibition, Design Nation. Bringing together design objects from the mid-1960s to late 1980s, and casting a spotlight on Australia’s rich manufacturing history, the exhibition looked at a golden age of innovation in Australia. This led to a nationally touring talk in which Tim used his trademark wit to ask us to rediscover these ubiquitous, everyday objects of Australian design through previously untold stories, personal anecdotes and design narratives, revealing how our unique design histories have helped shape our national identity.

MOTEL is the latest live show by Tim Ross and Kit Warhurst. A nostalgic, thought provoking and funny exploration of Australian holidays of the past, the show uses storytelling and song to take the audience on a sentimental motel journey. Premiering in Sydney in March 2019, the show will tour nationally over the coming year. "Motel. Images of Australia on holidays" is his new book inspired by the live show.

Awards

1999 - ARIA Award - Teenage Mullet Fury - Nominated Best Comedy Album

2003 - ARIA Music Awards for Best Comedy Release - From Us to Youse - Merrick and Rosso

2003 - GQ Man of the Year - Tim Ross

2003 / 2004 - ACRA Award for Best on air team - Merrick and Rosso

2005 - TV Week Logies - Merrick and Rosso Unplanned - Nominated most popular light entertainment program

2009 - ASTRA Award for Best Male Talent - Merrick and Rosso

2009 - ACRA Award for Best Comedy - Tim Ross

2014 / 2015 - ACRA Award for Best Multimedia Execution - Tim Ross

2014 - National Trust Heritage Award Conservation Landscape Community / Individual - Man About the House

2017 - Australian Writers Guild Award for Best Documentary - Streets of Your Town

2018 - National Trust Heritage Award for Advocacy - Tim Ross

2019 - National President's Prize - Australian Institute of Architects - Tim Ross

Ross is married and has two sons.