Hello, thanks for coming, and first of all let me say congratulations to Linda Haggar for organising this forum. It's a brilliant idea and took a lot of effort, and I think its been an amazing success. So well done, Linda. My name's Fiona Scott-Norman, I'm a freelance writer and director, and I review comedy for the Age newspaper. It is my pleasure and privilege to be talking to you, and I think Linda for the opportunity. I'll talk for a while but I'm fairly sure that the most important aspect to my bit today is that you have the opportunity to ask questions. In my experience performers often feel intimidated by critics, especially at venues, bars, or after gigs. So I'd like to say, this is a safe environment, no-one's being reviewed, go nuts. Ask me anything you like, I'm really happy to accomodate you.
So, the media perspective. On women in comedy. Well, after fifteen years of watching and writing about comedy, I'm pretty clear that editors never get tired of commissioning stories about 'Why aren't there more women in comedy'? It's an evergreen, a classic. There never is more than a handful of women compared to the vast numbers of men in this industry. In that sense female comics, always presumed to be an endangered species on the verge of extinction, have a built in advantage with the press, because no-one's ever commissioned an article about why aren't there more men in comedy? Or about comedy and any aspect of masculinity at all. If there's one thing I'd like to stress early on, its to never discount the power of being in a minority, of being unusual. The media is always in search of the exotic, the unusual, the different, the 'other', and they are also very much an equal opportunity employer. If you ever think you have a hard time getting attention from the press, imagine what it's like being a white 20-something middle-class man in black t.shirt. They're like ants.
I thought I'd talk about a couple of things; What I look for as a reviewer and the mainstream press's opinion of comedy, and also the best way for you to get media attention. Most of this is non-gender specific, in my experience and opinion, good comedy transcends gender.
Now you've probably noticed that comedy isn't exactly top of the list of priorities in the arts pages. In terms of where stand-up sits in the arts pecking order, it's somewhere between dwarf throwing and synchronised swimming. It's low low low on their list of priorities. Fine arts editors don't get comedy, they don't want to get comedy, and frankly it terrifies them. It's unstructured, requires no training, isn't a recognised discipline, there's no money behind it, no funding, no training colleges, no lovely venues or drinkies or high powered meetings. There's no kudos. And they do not - repeat not - want to go to a crowded pub where their feet stick to the carpet and stand up for two hours drinking crap wine until one o clock in the morning. By every fine arts yardstick they hold dear, comedy is shit. It's not their scene.
This means that you have to work hard to get reviewed or profiled, because you can pretty much assume no-one at a newspaper knows who you are. It doesn't matter how well you've been doing on the local circuit, how many years you've been a cult act to your peers, even how often you've been to Edinburgh. They don't go to comedy and they don't know who you are. There are exceptions, obviously, certain journalists who do go to comedy and care about it and know their stuff, and I don't have to tell you who those people are. For the rest, it's important for you to realise that full time journalists work their arses off and never leave the office. They're like the boy in the plastic bubble, they know nothing of the outside world except what comes to them down the phone or by email. I swear to god, it's terrifying. When I drop into the Age I sometimes expect to find they've forgotten how to use cutlery or walk. It's devolution happening right in front of your eyes.
So. Unless you're Jerry Seinfeld or Judith Lucy or Rod Quantock, they don't know you. It's not personal. Think of them as an isolated jungle tribe who have lost contact with civilisation. You have to go to them. And if you can get their attention you have a good chance of getting a story, because they do have to fill the paper, and the opera's not on every day.
There are two main considerations to getting reviewed or profiled. One is that you have to be doing a season of shows, like a theatre season. No-one will ever review a single night at a venue. This is a lot harder since The Last Laugh and Le Joke closed, but there is always Fringe, The Comedy Festival, Midsumma, or the Adelaide Festivals. Or find a friendly venue, some other comics, and put on your own season of your own. Repetition of a show 4 nights a week for three weeks also works your skills up in a way that gigging never can.
The other thing, before we get to quality and content, is the press release and photo. Get good photos done, ones that are beautiful, colourful and imaginative. Photos that reveal your show and your personality and that a work of art in themselves. Then you will get in the paper, because those overworked editors are on deadline, have space to fill, and will grab your picture and use it. Look at magazines and newspapers, see what publicity shots get used, and apply those principles. Yet another pic of an unknown comic looking zany won't open any doors at all.
Press releases. The press get dozens a day. There are things you can do to get yours noticed. Keep it brief, and specific, and tell the truth. Don't say you're one of Australia's hottest comics if you're not. We can spot bullshit at a thousand paces. Work out what makes you, and your show, unique. Are you of Israeli/Irish descent? Did you do your first stand-up gig aged 3 to the postman? Why is your show important or different to every other comedians? Give us an angle. Journalists are lazy, ignorant, and overworked. And Journalists need 'facts and specifics, it's our food and drink. We need your name, your history, dates, times, prices. Vague paragraphs about the greatness and goofiness of the show will get binned. Look at your media release as a job application - you're out to impress and present yourself in the best light. Be funny.
Words to avoid like the very plague: Nutty, zany, crazy, madcap, goofy, oddball, whacky. Unless you're being really conscious and clever about it, avoid puns, avoid exclamation marks, and avoid the fake quote. 'The best show I've ever seen', Sally's mum. 'I laughed so much my catheter fell out', John Howard. We see hundreds of these, and they scream amateurism. You may as well take out a full page ad saying I am mediocre and have never had a review in my life. I'd suggest putting in a quote from your show, an actual joke or two, so we get the flavour of who you are and what you're doing. If you can make the journalist laugh at your press release, you're halfway there.
Obviously though, it's your performance that's the most important thing. Comedy is very subjective, as the continuing career of Rodney Rude attests. I can only tell you what I like, and what I've noticed. Some of these observations are things I'd consider absolutes, and others are just my taste.
The comedians I like are smart, hard-working, have opinions, individuality and spirit. They strive for excellence. They care, they take risks and have vivid imaginations. I really have no time for comics who get up and talk about what they've been watching on tv, or pop stars, or celebrities, because it doesn't mean anything. Unless you're really clever, I am quickly bored, because I don't give a shit about Big Brother. I know it's an easy connect with an audience, but unless you have an opinion about celebrity or fame or whatever, you're not standing out from the dozens of other comics who talk about the same thing. It's lazy. As topics, Celebrity and tv are the airline food and cats and dogs of the new millenium.
The comedians I like are the ones who have something to say. I don't much mind what it is as long as you're passionate. Laughter is one of the most amazing tools for social change in the world; you can change how people think if you can make them laugh. What a privilege that is. Use that power. You can educate, challenge, or touch people, or make them laugh and forget how stressful their lives are. It doesn't matter what you choose to do, as long as you choose something. Examine yourself and find out what you are passionate about, what you give a shit about, and talk about that. Reveal yourself. Comedy for me is transendant when the comic sheds all their armour and reveals their heart. Truth. That's what I want to see on stage.
I'd urge you to get as skilled up as possible. In my experience some of the most successful comics are those who have trained as actors, or improvisors, or worked on radio. You can be the best writer in the world, but if you can't communicate your material the audience won't get it. Meschel Laurie gave a workshop in mike technique, entering and leaving the stage. Yes, excellent. All of that is so important. Technique and poise is so important.
This is going to sound a bit naff, but dress up on stage. Have an outfit, a costume, something that you wear to perform in that makes you feel special, and expresses your personality, individuality, and that you're there to perform. If you make an effort the audience picks up on it immediately, and will pay you more attention. Again, think of it as a job interview or a date, you're wanting the audience to pick you. If you wander out on stage in drab street clothes you're saying you couldn't be fucked making an effort, and I ask you why the audience should pay you any attention at all. You don't have to wear a chicken costume or latex, just something that you've made a conscious choice about.
Very importantly, if you're attempting any type of show more complex that basic stand-up. Get a director. I repeat, get a director. Crafting a show with shape and story, that connects with and satisfies an audience requires an outside eye. There is a reason why putting on a play requires a writer and actors and a director and dramaturg and years of training. It's quite complicated. Comedians are used to working solo and think they are immune to these needs. They're not. You can't do it on your own, and this is a fact not an opinion. And working with another person will bring things out in you you never dreamed possible.
Do not, under any circumstances, get angry at the audience if you're not being funny. If they're not laughing it's because you're not doing your job. That's cool, there are a million reasons why that sometimes happens, but turning on the crowd will ensure that they will simply hate you. It's more of a male thing, but I've seen chicks do it too, and it's a profound form of self-sabotage.
There's only one thing I've noticed that is particular to female comics in comparison to males, and that is low self-esteem. Male comics, even when they're rubbish, have an innate belief that they're fabulous. If they have a bad gig, it's the audience that's crap. Women, however, can have a great gig and still believe they were awful and that everyone hates them. Low self-esteem on stage, unless it is a conscious character choice in the mould of Mr Bean, is incredibly unnattractive. You're making your job a hundred times harder. I have seen so many female comics do a variation of the I'm fat and I can't get a boyfriend routine, and it is almost without exception excrutiating. Apart from anything else it's been flogged to death as a topic, but also being low status and self-loathing does the perception of female comics no favours at all.
I'd like to finish by saying I hope you are all very proud of yourselves. The female comedians in Australia are world class. I've spent a lot of time in the UK and at the Edinburgh Festival, and their comedy scene is unutterably male dominated. There are hardly any decent female comics in London, and they have the largest comedy circuit in the world. Feminism somehow didnt take root in england, it's bizarre. Australian comics are gutsy, brave, imaginative and more interesting than most. It's the advantage of coming from a small, supportive, arty scene. Don't underestimate that, or be shy or feel inadequate, Melbourne produces fantastic comedians. The downside is getting your skills and chops up, and career opportunities, and there's a lot to be said for going overseas and giving it a red hot go for those very reasons. The only thing uk and american comics have over you guys is flying hours, and that is very important. But I repeat, be very proud, each and every one of you is to be congratulated. Well done. Thankyou
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