Uncomfortable Truths

Blaise White has been doing comedy since high school, and started performing on the comedy circuit here in Melbourne when he was just 17 years old! He has recently returned from a 3 month journey around Europe, where he started the trip by proposing to his girlfriend! And thank goodness, she said yes. He’s performed shows in multiple Comedy Festivals, has performed at Edinburgh Festival, was a regular at Station 59 and became Kieran Butler’s apprentice/partner in running and MCing The Highlander comedy room up until March 2022. He now runs his own entertainment company “Anything Goes” in Geelong, which runs a weekly comedy night at The Brewery and several trivia nights around Geelong. He, like myself, is also a big weed enthusiast. We talk a lot about weed laws and regulations in Europe. I’ve know Blaise for years, and it was great to get to know him on a deeper level. Give it up! For Blaise White.

Blaise White

Joel Temperly started doing stand-up comedy when he was teaching English in China. He’s also lived in Moscow and has recently been to London to ‘hang out with some mates’. Joel loves to travel, and fortunately he ended up back in Melbourne just before the lockdowns hit back in 2020. He first hit the Melbourne Comedy scene back in 2019, and started his first comedy room in 2020. He’s also an economist, believe it or not! We talk about how he started in comedy, his travels, his role as an economist, running a comedy room, learning not to take things personally and his new comedy room that has just opened up in Collingwood – The Gem. Joel himself is a gem to chat with, with heaps of interesting experiences and views on life and the world. Have a listen – it’s a good one!

Joel Temperly

Jameel Rehman is a Melbourne comedian, room runner extraordinaire and co-creator of Jambo Comedy night in Footscray. We discuss his background as a musician, using his sales and entrepreneur skills to run a great room, facing and transforming himself during lockdown, his podcast Binge Thinker, overcoming past trauma and where to now with Aussie Comedy Network?

I’ve been listening to his podcast Binge Thinker for a while now, and I dig it! Jameel thinks deeply, honestly and is very open in his podcast. A good podcast for the self reflective, critical thinker. We had a really cool convo – and a very educational one! Well worth the listen.

Jameel Rehman

Jess Pearman, comedian in Melbourne since 2016, is killing it on the comedy scene. We talk about her breakthrough in comedy this year, since she stopped drinking. We discuss cognitive dissonance, dark humour, using comedy to work on your own insecurities and 'faults' and how the social aspect of the being a comedian is a huge part of why we do this. Jess and I both come from a music and band background, so we have a fair bit in common. We're also both passionate, so this is a convo where we both get right into it. I loved it - I think you'll love it too. Enjoy!!

Jess Pearman, Melbourne comedian

Jess Pearman

Melbourne comedian since 2015, Billy Stiles has been gigging regularly, both in rural Victoria and in Melbourne. After being dragged to RAW Comedy by his sister, Billy started gigging on the open mic circuit. We've known each other since 2015, and I've seen him rise from strength to strength. With several Comedy Festival shows under his belt, numerous rural tours and regular gigging in Melbourne, Billy has recently been performing at Dave O'Neill's comedy room "Dave's Comedy Fun House". Billy has also been making guest appearances on Dave's radio program on Nova FM. We talk about how Billy got started, the impact comedy had on him, being diagnosed with ADHD, life after starting medication, learning to not be so reactive in comedy, walking the middle line and comedy philosophy. It's a great conversation with Billy - enjoy!!

Billy Stiles

Nadine Sparks and I have been gigging together since Yes All Women's in 2014 at Station 59. With multiple Comedy Festival shows under her belt, years of gigging and working behind the scenes at the Comedy Festival, Nadine is a Melbourne Comedy veteran. She’s been killing it! She crushed in Geelong a few weeks ago, crushed hard!

We talk about her comedy journey, varying her material from raunchy to teacher material, how she chooses what material where, the fickle nature of the comedy industry, and how to carve yourself a piece of the pie even if you aren't noticed and supported by the “comedy powers that be”. Her experience and expertise makes this conversation a must for anyone wanting to create a career in comedy in Melbourne. We discuss the shallow side of inclusion, when diversity trumps funny, and how middle-aged women can be so easily dismissed, in comedy as well as the rest of life.

We get right into it, we get passionate – you'll love it!!

Nadine Sparks

Jarryd Goundry, successful, hard working, Melbourne comedian is super inspiring! He’s forging his own path with his machete of diligence and self-discipline (and of course, very funny gags!) We talk about his tactical approach to comedy, the path he has forged and how he has done it. Jarryd hasn’t waited for someone else to give him a ‘break’. He has been figuring out how to make it all work from the time he decided that comedy is his thing. He’s travelled throughout Australia, both cities and regional. He’s developed strong muscles around making people laugh in all of these places, and marketing and getting people into his shows.

His stories are riveting! The experience he’s had and the advice he gives is gold for any up and coming comedian who wants to take control of their career and move forward. For someone like me, who was a hippy for a decade, his military background is totally foreign to me. Hearing the structures and practices he has brought from the army to tackling comedy as a career, is en point. Fascinating! It’s a bit confronting to see what it takes, but it’s always better to face these things head on rather than pretending you know what you’re doing, when you don’t. When a path looks difficult, I pretend that there must be an easier way and make my own pseudo-path. It’s better to know what it really takes, so that we can make informed decisions that are based on truths, which are sometimes uncomfortable!

Jarryd Goundry

James G Warren (the G stands for Good At Comedy) moved to Melbourne 5 years ago from Tasmania, where he had already been a member of the comedy scene in Hobart since he won Class Clowns in 2013. We talk about how he started in Tassie as the young guy, still a teenager, growing out of that identity and finally growing out of the Hobart scene and moving to Melbourne.

We discuss being on the spectrum, self-discipline, navigating the social side of comedy, dry vs high energy comedy, the release of shame for both the comedian and the audience in truth comedy.

It’s a deep discussion. We go into what holds us back and how to overcome these fears and patterns. James runs two comedy rooms in Melbourne – Red Betty and Smiling Politely. He tells us what it’s like to run rooms, being part of the web of the Melbourne comedy scene, managing the room and working with other comedians. We also talk about his sketch comedy collaboration with Aarti Vincent and Krutika Harale in The Amazing Cannonball Flower. It’s deep, it’s long and it’s worth it!

James G Warren

Helen Child, aka Helchild, recently performed her show Dolly and the Dicks of Doom in the Melbourne Comedy Festival. It was funny, politically subversive, unique, entertaining and well executed with 2 characters and some sketch comedy on video – it was brilliant! We talk about her parents, artists and socialists, and how this has continued with Helen. We also discuss how she started in visual arts, already politically edgy, and how this, together with her activism and emerging skill of taking on a character at friends’ parties, led to her performing these characters on stage.

We also talk about how she has trained in boxing and martial arts from a young age, at her request. She tells us that women are stronger than we think, she has always trained, and still trains now to stay strong. Helen talks about how, where and when she has had to use her fighting skills, particularly when she would first arrive at a new school. Helen started performing stand up comedy, in character, in WA and then moved here to Melbourne after she grew out of the Perth comedy scene. Helen is a fascinating character, quite unlike anyone else I have met. During our podcast I wasn’t quite sure what she would say next, which is what made the podcast so interesting!!

Helen Child

He Huang, originally from China, started performing comedy in Washington DC, USA and moved to Melbourne specifically because it is one of the comedy capitals of the world. This woman is 100% committed to comedy, never says no to a gig or opportunity, is super humble and friendly and has been making waves in the Melbourne comedy scene since she arrived, even during all the lockdowns! She was a RAW national finalist in 2021 and hosts a number of showcase gigs throughout the year. She lives in Sydney now, but has been in Melbourne for the Melbourne International Comedy Festival performing in Comedy Zone, as well as Up Front! She’s very funny, clever, confident and inspiring. Please enjoy my podcast with He Huang!

He Huang

Chris Ryan is an awesome comedian from Canberra. She won Best Newcomer 2019 Sydney Comedy Festival and Nominee Best Newcomer 2021 Melbourne International Comedy Festival. Chris is in her 40s – this intrigued me that a woman in her 40s was winning these newcomer awards.

I went to see her 2022 Melbourne International Comedy Festival show “Can’t Complain”, and I was hooked from the moment she started. Her hilarious candid comments carry deep, dark truths – just my kind of comedy! We talk about how she got into comedy at the age of 38, her comedy path up to this point, how her career as a comedian changed after winning her first award, what it takes to step up to being a pro comedian, different audiences in different places, going darker with her comedy and performing for the troops!

Chris Ryan

Brad Oakes, comedian, mentor and Melbourne comedy rock, has been on the Melbourne comedy scene for over 30 years. He is a treasure trove of comedic understanding, self reflection, experience, research and honing. He scrutines his work and the craft itself, to turn a comedic idea into a perfectly polished hilarious gag. He is the master, and that is why many Melbourne comedians turn to him to help polish their material. In this podcast we cover his history briefly, and then we discuss craft of writing comedy and then what it takes to make it believable and funny to the audience. I brought along 2 basic comedic ideas and he makes strong, concrete suggestions on how I can improve and build on each one. He knows what he’s doing! If you want to know how to improve your comedic writing, and comedy in general, this is a must listen.

This podcast is comedy mentorship gold, and I’m very happy to be able to provide it to the comedy community. Brad is available for one on one mentorship. If you’re interested in that, please message him via facebook. I am certainly going to book a session now – polish up my material for my comedy festival show, Miss-Understanding, with Aarti Vincent and Lisa Gatenby. Here’s the link:

Marilyn Leder is a Melbourne comedian and University lecturer who teaches film & television, particularly comedy. We first met at Yes All Women’s around 2015, and gigged there together for 2 years. After not seeing her for a number of years, she has burst back onto the scene with more passion and vibrancy than ever! She has a show in the upcoming Melbourne International Comedy Festival – The MILF Next Door. Cheeky what! I’ve seen a little snippet of her show, and it looks awesome!  Here’s the link to her show:

Mimi Shaheen, comedian, telling it like it is! We get right into what’s going on in our heads behind the comedy, the addiction to comedy, the anxiety before a gig & our relationships to other comedians. Mimi tells us how her life was heading straight towards marriage and children, and then took a sharp hook turn, towards comedy. Amazing story! Mimi was born in Syria. She tells us what it was like growing up here in Melbourne in an Arabic family. She also tells us a bit about Syria and why there is the saying “There will never be peace in the Middle East.”

I gotta say, I love doing this podcast! I’ve known Mimi since I 2015, but this is the first time I really got to know her. And I’m so glad I did. Mimi is usually a bit reserved, so I feel really honoured that Mim was so open and told us all about herself. Her comedy gives us little insights into her life, and I wanted to know the full picture, so I feel fulfilled now! 

Don’t forget to go and see her Comedy Festival show with Matt O’Neill and Izzy Ali –  Die Already. It runs from March 31 – April 9 at the Colonial Hotel, in the CBD. Here's the link:

Andy Moratis, comedian, musician, room runner, father – he’s had his fingers in many different pies over the years. We talk about his background in performing, his transition from musician to comedian, and now expanding into running comedy rooms. We discuss what attracted him to comedy, body language, getting into comedy later in life, what bookers are looking for and how comedy itself, as a reflection of society, is constantly changing and evolving. We talk about how comedy has changed here in Australia. I also enjoyed talking about how our confidence, and how we carry ourselves, makes such a big difference in how others perceive you, especially an audience.

Kate Hanley Corley, comedian, music video creator, writer, mother. Kate does it all!

We discuss how she came to do her first Fringe festival show in 2012, Melbourne International Comedy Festival show in 2013 and how it has all snowballed from there. She performs a lot of musical comedy in her shows, and has made numerous music video clips that have gone viral! Kate has enjoyed success from her first festival show onwards, and we get an insight into how she has made that happen. She talks about how she is starting to come out from behind the characters and music to do straight stand-up as herself. And oh yes, and Kate is a mother of three children in high school. No mean feat! How does she manage writing, producing and performing in her own shows while being a mother of three? Listen and find out! Kate knows how to promote effectively, and she’s great at gathering a supportive team around her – essential skills for any professional performer. With the upcoming Melbourne International Comedy Festival, any performer looking for ways to get themselves out there – this podcast is a must!

Kate shows us that we don’t all have to tread the same path. Kate is having both creative and financial success without performing at 4 open mic nights per week. She has used character and musical comedy to create this success – unconventional these days on the comedy scene, but she makes it work, and has a following. She’s expanding into more straight stand up now, but my point is that we don’t all have to follow the same rule book. Do it our own way. Start with what we know, or what we have just learned, and go from there. I play you out with one of her hilarious parodies from lockdown – Victoria! You can find it on YouTube. It’s hilarious – well worth checking out, as well as her show in the upcoming MICF – Bad Mother. Here is the link to her show: https://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2022/shows/bad-mother

Also, I’ve teamed up with Aarti Vincent and Lisa Gatenby to bring you our MICF show Miss-Understanding!  We’re at the Lantern Lounge from April 12 – 17 and our show is going to be all guns blazing! Music, props, laughs – you name it! Here is the link to our show: https://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2022/shows/miss-understanding

And now, without any further adieu, here is Victoria!

Pradeepa Timmermans

Akwasi Osei-Tutu, Melbourne comedian, soccer player, and all around good vibe guy is about to go travelling. We will miss you Akwasi!! Originally from Ghana, and grew up in Perth, Akwasi started comedy specifically to face his fear of talking to a group. One and a half years into comedy he performed his own comedy festival show, successfully, and continued to perform shows in following MICF, Adelaide and Perth festivals! How? He is self-disciplined and chooses to consciously face his fears and work on his weaknesses. The results are self evident. We discuss his journey as a comedian, overcoming personal fears, self discipline, not cheating yourself, having a strategy for challenging times, turning up and doing the work, being true to yourself, exercise, fear of rejection and the Australian tall poppy syndrome. It’s a very dynamic conversation, and we get into it. Life is a series of incremental actions and choices that we make, put together over time. Each one of those actions and choices make a difference. We talk about it. 

Krutika Harale, comedian, recently moved from Sydney to Melbourne – Melbourne wins!!

Originally from Mumbai, Krutika has lived in NY City, Brisbane, Sydney and now Melbourne. She is also an architect and graphic design artist. An adventurer at heart, curious, wanting to know how other people in the world live, think and interact, Krutika took jobs in these cities to have new experiences and meet new people. Her path to becoming a comedian started with improvisation classes in Sydney. This helps explain where her excellent crowd work skills come from! She then moved onto a stand up comedy course, the open mic comedy scene and has performed in the Melbourne International Comedy Festival with Aarti Vincent and James G. Warren. Their sketch comedy group is called “The Amazing Cannonball Flower”.

Krutika has comedy gold words of wisdom. Her way of seeing the world through the lens of  designing interface at work, in comedy and life in general is fascinating. What she has learned about comedy through improv, her comedy course and performing is well worth listening to. I learned so much in this podcast, and I will be listening back with a paper and pen in hand! If you are looking for a fresh way to view and create your comedy, this is the podcast for you! Travel stories, different views on the world and wise words for creating comedy – this podcast has it all. Enjoy!!

Now, this podcast will be released 2 days after Christmas, and most of us probably ate too much, and might be feeling a bit fat. Well, I play you out with a Cosmic Egg classic “You Don’t Have To Be Skinny To Be Sexy! Happy New Year everyone! See you in 2022! 2021 – over and out!

Krutika Harale

Keren Storai, the Princess of Dark Comedy here in Melbourne has recently had baby Jemimah!! We talk about the total lifestyle change from becoming pregnant, having a baby, the sacrifices, writing comedy,  alcohol, mental health and ayahuasca. It’s a very honest, deep, rich, vulnerable conversation. How does one go from drinking at gigs almost every night of the week, to not drinking or doing gigs, and taking care of a baby? Find out. Keren’s advice on writing and performing comedy is gold! I had no idea that Keren had such depth and keen mind – I learned heaps! Have a listen – you’ll be glad you did. :) I play you out with the heaviest song that Clint and I recorded with Cosmic Egg. It’s called Rothschild. It’s a dark favourite, just like Keren. Enjoy!

Aarti Vincent, local Melbourne comedian. Aarti's catch phrase - "Yo yo bitch tits!" I first met Aarti on the open mic. comedy scene at the Yes All Women’s comedy in early 2020. Aarti is originally from Delhi, India and has lived in Australia for about 15 years now. She tells us about her life back in Delhi, her transition to living here in Australia and how she got into comedy here in Melbourne. It’s very interesting to hear her talk about her observations of Australia and Australians, from the point of view of someone who did not grow up here. She’s already her MICF show “I Didn’t Grow Up Doing Yoga”.

That’s amazing for someone who started performing comedy in 2018! We talk about being a Mum and a comedian, and what that entails. We also discuss how important it is to be at the start of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival Guide!

I love hearing about other people’s lives in other countries. I like finding out in what ways we are the same, and in what ways we are different. I love hearing something that surprises me because we do it differently and I always took for granted that everyone in the world does it the same. I love how Aarti took an unconventional comedy path because she didn’t know any different, and it has worked in her favour! It just shows that there is no “right” way to do anything! We all have our own path. Aarti will be performing in the 2022 MICF in a sketchy show by The Amazing Cannonball Flower. Aarti and I may well do a show in the 2022 MICF, so watch out for us.

I play you out with the music you hear under my talking! It’s called Groove Smoothie, by Cosmic Egg. Aarti mentioned that she likes this tune, so I thought I’d let you all hear the whole song. Enjoy! Over and out!

Andy Goodone has been a comedian here in Melbourne, and Sydney, since 1981. 40 years!! Amazing hey? It was fascinating hearing about how comedy, as we know it, was just starting come onto the Australian entertainment scene in the early 80s. He tells us how it all started, what it was like here in Melbourne back then, how the first Melbourne Comedy Festival started, who won the first Moosehead award, what the comedians and audiences were like back then and what it’s like being back on the open mic. comedy circuit after all these years.

This episode really is a treasure. Andy opens up and tells us the stories behind how comedy started here, who was involved, and what has evolved to bring us to where we are now, in 2021. He’s like the Grand Daddy of Melbourne comedy, the man with The Voice, the comedian who has us crying with laughter, he’s Andy Goodone.

This episode was cut off prematurely, so there is no proper ending of the episode. But we certainly recorded a very decent podcast with heaps Melbourne comedy history, and now we can listen and learn about how it all happened, whenever we like. He is a wealth of comedy knowledge, having worked in Australian comedy for so long. If you haven’t seen Andy perform, I can’t recommend him highly enough! He’s hilarious and definitely has his own unique style. I play you out with a track called Cigarette by the Emotional People. Emotional People are the band that won the Moosehead Award at the MCIF back in 1998, and Andy directed and acted in their show, Phenomenomenon! Thank you for listening to Uncomfortable Truths. Please subscribe if you haven’t already. Enjoy the podcast!

Lisa Gatenby, Melbourne comedian and the woman I want to see on Playschool! I’ve been gigging with Lisa on the Melbourne comedy scene for several years now. We got to know each other a lot better when worked on the Slut Song video clip together. She was great fun to work with! She’s got lots of life in her, lots of positive energy, easy to work with and very funny!! I loved getting to know Lisa better in this podcast. She’s traveled and done lots of cool things, as well as having intelligent insights as to how comedy works and what she does to keep getting better. She doesn’t talk about herself very often, so this is a rare treat!  I play you out with a song called Orbit, from my old band in 1999, Cosmic Egg. Most of our songs had a fierce and important message. This song is just fun and easy to dance to. That’s Lisa – fun and easy going.

I certainly hope that you enjoy this conversation as much as I did.

Welcome to Uncomfortable Truths Episode 4, with my friend and fellow comedian, Trent Mahon. This is the second half of a 4 hour conversation we had. If you want to hear the first half of the conversation, please listen to Episode 3. In this Episode Trent tells us about his trip to Peru and his experiences with Ayahuasca in Peru. Super interesting! After the first hour we start talking about the world in general, until we hit the 2 hour mark. 

In this episode I have the pleasure of interviewing one of my favourite fellow female comedians, Nicky Barry! I’ve known Nicky since I started stand up comedy in 2014, and she’s been a big influence on me. We talk about being a mother and a comedian, starting comedy at a later age, having an autistic child, the Melbourne comedy scene, how to be a good MC and how to navigate the different comedy rooms and their room bookers here in Melbourne. If you are an up and coming comedian, Nicky gives comedy advice gold when it comes to MCing and understanding how it all works regarding different rooms here in Melbourne. 

She’s hilarious, she’s outrageous, she’s a party animal and she’s the Mum to the Melbourne comedy scene – please welcome, Nicky Barry!

I play you out with a song called Irina, which was recorded with the Bulgarian Women’s Choir back in the early 2000s. I put on this event called Electronichoir, where I combined several local Melbourne choirs with an local Melbourne electronic music producers and performed a gig at Revolver in South Yarra. Clint Healy, my husband and musical partner, wrote electronic music to go under this song. I hope you enjoy the podcast and the song, and I now present to you Uncomfortable Truths Episode 2!