the sole goal of making people
laugh. Even some comics I
know who go to rougher rooms
or footy clubs and kill in those
rooms, I think in general want
to make people think about
things and they are interested
in ideas.
What makes good fodder for
political comedy?
Everything, really. It often
tends to be comedy about
identity. Like it’s about being
gay, being a female comedian, linking that stuff to politics
personal narrative about amusing, or even serious experiences, and making them funny.
That provides people with a
perspective on fuckwit sexism,
or people’s homophobia, or
racism. It can really be anything, depending on how you
see the world. If you see the
world through the right prism,
political sphere.
I’ve noticed that in your stand-
up, you tend to talk about
homosexuality from other people’s perspectives, rather than
your own. Is that a conscious
decision?
I think it’s true that I don’t do
as much personal experience
comedy as some other comedians, which isn’t necessary a
conscious choice. I guess I’m
just a bit more private in that
way. I think ultimately if you
want to really succeed as a
comedian, you’ve gotta be willing to open up. People need to
feel like they can get to know
you, exactly who you are and
the only way you can do that
is to talk about every part of
your life. Well, not every part of
your life. You don’t have to talk
about pooing. But you need
to be willing to tap into every
resource you can potentially
have.
When I came out, I was nineteen or twenty. I think when
I was going through uni, it
was all becoming much more
acceptable. Homosexuality
became legal in Tasmania
when I was twelve. So it was
becoming acceptable literally
as I was growing up. But that
didn’t necessarily mean that
it was acceptable as it is now,
when I was growing up. No
one in my year group came
out. I knew of no gay people
when I was at school. I don’t
know that that would be true
now. I don’t know that that
would have even been true
younger than me. And so I
don’t think it’s something that
I’m used to talking about in
the same way, like I think it’s
still an area where people feel
there’s a bit of shame associated with it. I’m quite comfortable
talking about it, but I just feel
like some people around me
react in certain ways, so I don’t
particularly want to get into it
for its own sake.