Keep Your Skirt On
Q. Did you hear the one about the female comedian?
A. Actually, women aren’t really that funny..
It’s the laughable line that gets trotted out every Comedy Festival.
Delivered in didactic terms in queues for Wil Anderson, spluttered by seedy types holding up the Festival bars, whispered guiltily as those few ladies who actually get a guernsey at the Gala take the stage.
The standard “Sheilas can’t crack a joke”, the occasional “Kristen Schaal is the exception that proves the rule”, and of course “Oh yeah, then why is there twice the number of blokes in comedy as chicks, huh?”
The logic is dubious, to say the least. But this year, the solution is simple, sassy, and kicks off the Comedy Festival. Keep Your Skirt On is a cherry-picked evening featuring the female, and the funniest, of the species.
Wednesday’s one-off event, at the terribly proper Order of Melbourne, boasts a 15-lady line up, and is hosted by GNW representative Claire Hooper and scene stalwart Geraldine Hickey. Add award-winners like Celia Pacquola and Geraldine Quinn, with fresh-faced Raw Comedy funny girls, and you’ve really got every type of comedy covered.
Hickey describes Keep Your Skirt On as “the best possible way you can start the Festival”.
Enthusiastic terms from a lady who says her own stand-up show Hammer & Tong is essentially “me and a microphone, telling dick jokes”. But the matter-of-fact comedienne, who’s used to being told she’s “pretty funny for a girl”, says the charm of Keep Your Skirt On is found in the ladies behind the scenes.
The event is produced by the Skirt Network, an alliance of female comedians, and founded by Melbourne funny girls Celia Pacquola and Lou Sanz. And a few casual drinks turned into what sounds suspiciously like Girl Power.
“For girls in comedy, there’s Jeez Louise (an annual chin-wag for female comedians), there’s Upfront (the Town Hall headliner girls’ gala), and there was never anything in between,” Hickey says.
“You start doing Jeez Louise, and it’s so supportive that you’re in a world of comfy cushions – move on to a stand-up show, and it’s more brutal, it can really scare off good comedians.”
Hickey says that girls on the scene have always given each other a lot of support, but the Network helps beginners know where to start.
“Skirt Network is only really formalising something that’s been around for years – women like Judith Lucy, Scotty (Denise Scott), they paved the way and got so much success,” Hickey says.
“It was always an unsaid thing, that of course girls would support each other – it’s just now, we’ve got a Facebook group!”
So the Network provides all the comfort of, well, a skirt.. but one of those super-hot skirts that curves in all the right places.
The inaugural Keep Your Skirt On shimmied into Trades last year, and it went “pretty damn well”, says this year’s producer Kelly McConville.
The sell-out event picked up the Pun’s Show of 2009 Award, and this the line-up has diversified towards the spectacular. It’s the benefit of the Order of Melbourne, says Hickey, “There’s going to be a trapeze swinging somewhere.”
Enter Anna “Pocket Rocket” Lumb, acrobat, trapeze artist, hula hooper. The puckish performer is gearing up for her second MICF, and says events like Keep Your Skirt On make the transition from “carney” to comedian an easy one.
The mission to find her inner clown has been “intuitive.. and I’m inspired by things in my own life, things that are funny!”
For Lumb, that’s the charm of so many of the ladies on the comedy circuit – they’re prepared to be so honest, and to put so much of themselves into their shows.
“Add the pull of variety, and all that fun sassy stuff, and that’s exciting! It’s a bit more approachable, a bit more intimate, and it offers a bit of bite!”
So who seeks out an all-lady comedy extravaganza? McConville is prepared to be honest about the crowds, too.
“Well, they were good looking last year!” McConville recalls.
In fact, if anything characterises them, McConville says it’s probably the fact the crowd is in its element. “Audience participation is definitely the pace – the crowd are a bit like the performers, pretty much up for anything.”
Skirts optional.
****
Hosts: Claire Hooper & Geraldine Hickey
Tegan Higginbotham
Celia Pacquola
Anna Lumb
Karin Muizneiks
Geraldine Quinn
Claudia O’Doherty
Kelly Fastuca
Wes Snelling
Telia Nevile
Linda Beatty
Sarah Bennetto
Halley Metcalfe
Melinda Buttle
Felcity Ward
Keep Your Skirt On
Wednesday, March 24
The Order of Melbourne
Purchase tickets at the door or online via Ticketmaster.
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Interesting concept that was first done by “Titters” at the Adelaide Fringe in 2007. Titters was the concept idea of Rachel Holden ( nee Sommer) and Maggie Moore and Kehau Jackson. They put together a formidable line up with guest “token male” spot each night. The first year it won the Peoples Coice award over 400 diverse shows at the Fringe Festival. Tiiters has been a sell out hit of subsequent Fringes including the just completed 2010 fringe.
So Female based comedy is alive and well – just not as well known as the male based comedy. Belivee me I have seen some real funny female comics
Interesting comment Anonymous – we at Skirt know Sheridan who runs Titter’s – she’s a Skirt herself, in fact we’re constantly talking about doing projects together – so you’re right female comedy is alive and well and we all seem to get along and exist together – you know Titter’s and Skirt…crazy. and you were right to list Titter’s achievement, they are outstanding.
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