Kirsty Webeck is a Melbourne-based stand-up comedian whose comedy and gift for storytelling is winning hearts and minds around the country. Despite a hectic schedule of performing at Melbourne International Comedy Festival, Adelaide Fringe Festival, The Lesbian Comedy Gala, hosting The GLORIAs, and appearing on ABC’s Tonightly With Tom Ballard – Kirsty is taking time to head out west and will be performing a series of sets at the much-loved Perth Comedy Lounge this week. OIP chatted to Kirsty to find out more about her visit.
So how did you get into comedy?
So, about 5 years ago I just decided that I wanted to be a comedian and it was something that I had thought about doing for a while. I took the plunge and had wanted to do it properly so I actually did a comedy workshop. At the end of that workshop we had to do a 5 min set and from then on, I was hooked
Who are your comedy influences, your go-to people whose comedy that you wish you were more like or people that you simply enjoy seeing perform?
There is nobody who I wish that I was, I am happy enough being myself and doing my own comedy but there are lots of people whose comedy I enjoy and who I have tremendous respect for. There a bunch of Australian comedians that I really enjoy. I love Denise Scott, Celia Pacquola, Cal Wilson, Clare Hooper, Laura Dunneman, Jude Perl, Laura Davis and Alice Fraser. Another comedian who I really love in the USA is Cameron Esposito… Ali Wong her specials on Netflix are incredible and obviously Hannah Gadsby’s Nanette is amazing.
Nanette has certainly been talked about a lot lately. Do many people ask you what you think of it?
I think probably everyone is asking every comedian about Nanette right now and I think a lot of people ask me about Hannah’s comedy just generally because we are both on the LGBTIQ+ spectrum and we are both comedians.
If you had to describe what your comedy is and put it in a neat little soundbite – how would you describe it? What is a KW show like?
It often gets described as being joyous, which I really like. I’m known for never punching down on anyone and for doing my best to make it relatable. Probably real life. Nothing too heavy and I try to make people walk out feeling happy I guess.
You were really active in supporting the community during the marriage equality debate-thank you so much for that- and keeping people connected during that time.
Your FB feed is often filled with messages of hope. Is this a conscious decision you make to share vulnerabilities not just comedy, or is this just you being you?
They are probably much the same thing, which is very much a part of who I am. I am a thinker and was generally concerned about the adverse effects that the postal survey was having, and I wanted people to feel like there was a place they could feel connected. I suppose I also wanted them to know that nobody was immune to feeling those effects as well, you know? I think that it gave people some comfort knowing that people with public platforms were keeping the dialogue going and trying to offer some hope and support.
I guess it also speaks to that peer-based support we have always done as a community?
Absolutely. It was a conscious decision to keep checking in with people and making sure they were OK and I think it did help. I received a lot of beautiful messages and it was very much a two-way street. People were also very conscious of touching base with me and making sure I was supported as well. It turned out to be quite a beautiful thing.
So, you are coming to visit us in Perth. Have you been here before?
Only very fleetingly a couple of times, so I’m excited about having some time to explore. I have a habit of visiting the Botanical Gardens in every new place I go to, so I am very much looking forward to that. I have never performed in Perth before so I am super excited.
Have any comedians that have performed in Perth talked about any differences in audiences they have found here?
No, not really. They really just talk about Fringe World over there and how wonderful it is and not about specific audiences so I don’t really know a great deal about what to expect. Which I guess for me is a fun way to walk into a set of gigs as well!
I do find audiences to be really different around the country and I see this the most when I am touring a whole show. I guess it is easier to notice because you are running the same sort of material and yet the audiences laugh at different bits. Parts that were particularly funny to one audience in Melbourne will not get much reaction in Canberra and yet they find another part totally hilarious….and then somewhere else will be different again. It is quite fascinating how the whole audience can unconsciously decide that they find one bit much funnier than another. I think that what keeps it fresh for me as a performer though.
Because you get something different back from the audience each time, so I guess you don’t really know where that will lead?
Exactly! that what makes it so great.
How do you feel about being billed as a comedian who is part of the LGBTIQ+ community. Do you define yourself in that way as a performer?
I don’t mind. It gives me additional opportunities in that space and to do different work within those communities which is really cool, however the majority of people who I perform for are the general public (and statistically not likely to be part of the LGBTIQ+ community), like comedy clubs and events and corporate gigs.
I would never call myself an LGBTQI+ comedian or a gay comedian or whatever. They are just two things about me that exist together.
I’ll always champion LGBTIQ+ rights, and I’ll always be highly visible and loud and proud and I’d never tone that down for any occasion- but the comedian in my blood is just as comfortable performing not matter what the audience or space.
If you write good jokes and make audiences happy- you are always going to get booked. You don’t end up getting pigeonholed- not in my experience anyway. People haven’t gone “well this is a generic comedy room, we can’t invite her because she will only want to go to an LGBTQ+ comedy room.” Or “She wears her hair short and is visibly gay so we won’t invite her to our event”.
There was a time when other people put that idea in my head, you know, to be worried about being seen only as a gay comedian so then I was worried about it. But my organic experience was that this fear never even came close to happening in real life. I got to simply perform as a comedian in my own right.
So, what makes a great joke?
Probably anything that surprises the audience, is easy and quick to understand and is something that people can relate to. People have to hear what you are saying and see themselves in it or remember a time when something similar happened to them, to be able to find something raucously funny.
When people are just in their leisure time and enjoying a beer or whatever, they won’t want to have to process something too much. You just need to get from A-B, not A-D via B and C.
What makes a great joke is a deeply personal thing and everyone may interpret that differently. But yeah, I reckon for me relatability and ease of understanding. That’s what makes a great joke.
Kirsty will be performing at The Comedy Lounge from Oct 25 – 27th. For booking details and great jokes check out @kirstywebeck on FB, Twitter and Insta!
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