In 2007 “Jody Ekert”:comic conducted the first Giggling Gertie Comedy Course, a workshop that catered for Lesbian and Bi women. Now an official event in 2008 Sydney Mardi Gras, the course returns to expose a new group of women (lesbian, bi and straight all welcome) to the world of stand up comedy.
“I’ve been doing stand up comedy around 4 years now and teaching at community colleges for about two as well”, explained Jody. “But I just wanted to do something for the gals of my community – and women in comedy in general.”
Last year’s workshop was a roaring success. One of the participants, Lyn Doherty, commented “I learned comedy is a lot harder than it looks however starting off with Giggling Gerties is like having the biggest warmest safety blanket. Everyone is really supportive. Not only did I tick off one of my ‘things to do before you die’ I actually got to meet some really wonderful females.”
The course culminates in a showcase gig, featuring performances by the Gerties along with numerous special guests. According to Jody there were “a few extra more established performers for fun. We even had one gay boy, “Ben Zabel”:comic, perform just cause he’s funny. We also had “Hannah Gadsby”:comic too. Then just to totally confuse everyone we had “Amelia Jane Hunter”:comic. She was in semi Keith Flipp mode so the gay girls were embarrassed to be finding a “man” attractive, the straight men were upset thinking she wasn’t really female and in the end we almost had to drag her off stage she’d had such a great response! With such a massive line up of the 16 Gertie Graduates plus the extras we managed to even upstage the drag queens who were waiting to go on in the venue after us! We had standing room only with about 170 in the audience.”
Twelve months on, a number of the participants have gone on to further their comedy careers. “16 women performed at the Giggling Gertie Showcase. Seven of these women have gone on to perform as comedians at other nights in the lesbian scene including Lesbians on the Coast and Funny Farm, beamed Jody. “Four of the ‘Gerties’ are currently performing regularly at mainstream open mic comedy nights and contests in Sydney. One had started her own comedy event and workshops and one has even been seen on the Comedy Channel and also NBC’s Last Comic Standing!”
Any funny females who wish to be part of the workshop can visit “Jody Ekert’s Website”:http://www.jodyekert.com for registration details. It happens on 9-10 Feb and costs $55 full/$45 concession.
Members of the public can see the Giggling Gertie Showcase on Tuesday 19th February (7pm start) at The Supper Club (Will and Toby’s, Level 1 134 Oxford St Darlinghurst NSW). Tickets are $18 plus booking fee and booking can be made through “Moshtix”:http://www.moshtix.com.au/record.asp?lEventID=16239&caller=moshtix.