Thomas Colin Ballard was born in 1989 or 1990 in Warrnambool, Victoria, and grew up there. He was a three-time Class Clowns national finalist in the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, and a Raw Comedy finalist by 2006. Ballard won the Victorian plain English speaking competition and was chosen to represent Australia in the International Public Speaking Competition held in London in May 2008. After leaving school, he had wanted to become an actor, and applied to do a bachelor of dramatic art at the Victorian College of the Arts, but missed out on a place in the first round. In November 2013, Ballard resigned from Triple J after seven years with the station.