an international commercial negotiator for multinational RTZ (Rio Tinto Zinc), mainly in Britain and Germany. Performing In 1976, while at Melbourne University, Vizard appeared in the Archi (Architects') Revue and the following year he and fellow university students established, wrote and produced the University's inaugural Le Law Revue. After being spotted in the revue, Vizard wrote material for the inner Melbourne comedy scene. Between 1976 and 1982, while still studying at Melbourne University, Vizard wrote and performed in over a dozen productions, working at such theatres and cabarets as The Last Laugh and the Flying Trapeze with a variety of local performers including Rod Quantock, Wendy Harmer, Glenn Robbins, Peter Moon and Paul Grabowsky, who would later work with Vizard as the band leader on his Tonight Live show. From 1979 to 1985, Vizard was the voice-over man for the racing show Punter to Punter, starring Trevor Marmalade, Dr Turf and Con Marasco, on community radio station Triple R. In 1985 Vizard co-wrote and produced a feature film, The Bit Part, starring Nicole Kidman, for which he was nominated for a Writers' Guild award for Best Feature Film Screenplay. In 1987 he was the head writer and a performer on a television sketch comedy show, The Eleventh Hour, which kick-started the television careers of Vizard, Mary-Anne Fahey, Mark Mitchell, Glenn Robbins, Ian McFadyen and Peter Moon. In 1987, Vizard performed in the first Melbourne International Comedy Festival, launched by Peter Cook, and was one of the hosts of the Comedy Festival Gala in 1991. In 1989, Vizard established, wrote and produced the primetime sketch comedy series Fast Forward. The series was Australia's highest rating comedy series. Fast Forward, and its successor programme, Full Frontal, ran for 10 years and won multiple Logie Awards. Vizard's characters on Fast Forward included advertising guru Brent Smyth (with Peter Moon), Darryl (the gay airline steward, with Michael Veitch), "Fakari" rug salesman Roger Ramshett (with Peter Moon), and newsreaders Dirk Hartog. He also performed impersonations, most notably of Derryn Hinch, Richard Carleton, Don Lane, Ian Turpie, George Donikian, Geoffrey Robertson and even Gough Whitlam in one instance. Between 1990 and 1993 Vizard hosted his own high rating nightly national talk show, Tonight Live with Steve Vizard. He interviewed over a thousand guests, from entertainment legends including Bob Hope, Audrey Hepburn, Mickey Rooney, and Kirk Douglas, to musical stars including Phil Collins, Bob Geldof, Peter Allen,