Mandy Nolan is a veteran of Australian stand up. She has worked with many big names in the industry and is an integral part of the Byron Bay scene running rooms, workshops and the annual Big Joke Festival. This year Mandy brings her solo show She’ll Be Right to the Melbourne Comedy Festival.
Is there a theme to your show?
Short answer: No, not really – I love comedy that takes you on a bit of a journey. I find themes tend to hammer you down to one basic premise, and after about 10 minutes it all feels a bit tired and worn out and then you’ve got no where to go. Every show needs a catchy title, I think it’s easy to fall into the theme trap. Most importantly I think it’s about the comic’s voice, and their attitude – that’s the theme that runs through, it’s the lens that interprets life and that’s where comedy comes from. I suppose if anything there is a general narrative that runs through my show, She’ll Be Right, about body issues, about gender typing, about double standards, about falling in love, about staying in love, about having kids, about growing humans, about creating thought, about surviving disappointment and about killing guinea pigs in the most humane way possible.
Have you performed at MICF before?
Yes I have. But it was years ago. I think it would have been 1999, I had just given birth to my second daughter, she was 9 weeks old, I had a four year old as well, a producer and a nanny in tow. It was a haze of breastmilk for me. I felt very out of place. Comedy is not really a place to bring your kids ,but then neither is parliament and thankfully women have started bringing their brood there. I have been performing I might add since I was 17, so that means at just a mere 40 I have been hammering away for 23 years. If I was to be really honest I would say that I didn’t really get any good until about the 18th year. I am the patron saint of the long run up.
After running the Big Joke Festival, is there any mental preparation required going to a festival as a performer only? Do you take notes about what to do (or not to do) for your own festival?
Christ, being a performer only is like a holiday. That’s all I can say. Being on stage is just pure and utter pleasure. You don’t have to check bins, clean toilets, fret over artist transfers and headline artist’s alcohol consumption. Being a promoter has taught me how easy we really have it as performers and to be respectful of how hard a good promoter works. Focusing on just one show, and my own show is fantastic. I am so focused on running 4 rooms, teaching comedy, and running an annual comedy festival that often my own craft is left on the back seat. My first and major passion is stand up. I adore performing. But I also adore the work of my talented comrades. I love making the kind of gigs that are a pleasure for my fellow comics to work at – gigs that are focused on comedy, not selling booze.
After working with many big names in the industry, are there any comics who have been a significant inspiration for you?
Thats a tough question because sure I’ve been influenced by people along the way. Meeting Whoopi Goldberg and doing her support gig nearly 2 decades ago was fantastic – as a young woman it was amazing to meet a woman, and a black woman who had made it in such a male industry. She had a warm charm that was just infectious and I felt like such a dumbstruck fan all I could say was ‘I think you’re funny.’ I am inspired (dare I say it) by comics like Austen Tayshus because he’s so dangerous – he doesn’t seem to have a need to be liked. Love him or hate him, he has an intellect that would leave a lot of us for dead. He once told me that he didn’t really view himself so much as a comic as someone on a philosophical mission, attempting to explode the inadequacies and inconsistencies of popular thought. Then he told the guy in the front row to fuck off. I am inspired by the Puppetry of the Penis boys because it’s such an insanely ridiculous concept, but they followed their dream and built an empire on their pricks. I am amazed by the tenacity of comics like Julia Morris who just seem to get better and better – and when I am teaching I am constantly inspired by people who fail but keep on trying. I had one bloke perform for an entire year, every week, I think he got 2 laughs the entire time. It was excruciating, but this guy had the resilience of a cockroach. The only time I ever saw him unnerved was when he did well.
Being involved in many comedy workshops, is Byron Bay a hotbed of stand up talent?
God Yes. I have taught over 1000 people. Amazing. Hannah Gadsby who won RAW a few years ago was one of my students. Ellen Briggs who made the RAW finals last year was one as well. People here are prepared to try things – most of them are pretty damaged goods in some respect, that’s why we end up here, god knows that’s why I did – but we have the ability to articulate those deeper and more challenging emotions. Stand up comedy is the ultimate therapy. I encourage people who are starting up their own rooms to think about teaching stand up, or running some mentoring programs for open micers. I am a firm believer that new comics need nurturing, because they are the foundation of our industry. You need a safe space to learn your craft where the audience allows you to be crap without killing you. It also allows you to be amazing. All the great comics were shit once. An ex student of mine, and a RAW finalist, Sikim Wan now runs a room in Darwin – she also runs stand up courses there as well. It’s a great way to build a language and love of comedy – fundamentalist comics say you can’t teach comedy. Thats not true. That like saying you should close Nida because you can’t teach acting. You can give people the tools to find their voice, how to refine technique and give them the skills they need to survive on the circuit. We lose too many potentially great comics, especially women because comedy can be such a harsh taskmaster. What do you expect. I’m a mother. (Aside from teaching stand up skills I also make sure that new comics know to bring a cardigan to every gig.)
Mandy is performing at the Forum Theatre. Visit the Comedy Festival Website for booking details.