I don’t have a show in the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. I’m not ready for it.
It’s only been six months. Six months of toiling around the streets of Melbourne trying to find five minute spots here, five minute spots there so I can hone my craft and, fingers crossed, make someone laugh.
I’ve dipped my feet into the world of stand-up comedy but I’m still not ready to take the plunge and sign my name against a show.
Heck, I don’t think I could write enough material on Easter at the Pappas household, pet goats or attending an all Greek primary school and thinking, as a six year old, everyone in the world was Greek. They are aren’t they?
This is where Melbourne comics Sarah Lamshed and Ellie Frew have come to the rescue. In the 2007 Melbourne International Comedy Festival (MICF) they noticed a gap between the professional comics and the up and coming comics. They set out to bridge the gap and have done ever since with their stage show One Night Stand.
Sarah and Ellie met through the MICF Jeez Louise event, an event which supports females of all backgrounds in comedy – from writers, directors and stand-ups, and from there a friendship and professional relationship bloomed. Both full-time professionals, they have performed as comedians for over six years.
They have individually put on comedy shows for MICF and Melbourne Festival Fringe. Ellie has also performed at the renowned Edinburgh Fringe Festival. How they find the time is another matter.
“We discussed that it would be great to stage an event which would allow independent artists to have the opportunity to experience a large, supportive audience which would help them in their transition from new comer to established artist. And this is what we did, with the first show being in 2007 and each year since then,’ explains Ellie.
The event has sold out three years in a row and is a stepping stone for new comics. It gives these newbies a chance to be exposed to and be a part of the comedy festival.
This has allowed and nurtured many comics to go on to bigger things and even have their own shows in the festival.
“The feedback we have received from the performers following each of our three such comedy festival shows has demonstrated to us the value of staging such an event,” says Ellie.
“For example, the comics have commented that the evening provided a fantastic experience with a highly appreciative crowd and several have remarked that the show was the highlight of their comedy year.
“This annual event is specifically designed to support emerging Melbourne comedians to develop and promote their careers while also providing a social good by raising money for appropriate charities.”
If you’ve never been to the show before, it’s basically a scaled down version of the Comedy Festival Opening Night Gala for up and coming comics. The night is specifically designed to support the next wave of Melbourne comedians who are about to break into the big time.
The event will raise much needed funds for the Starlight Foundation Children’s Foundation who support seriously ill and hospitalised children and their families.
This year’s show features a brand new line-up of stand-up comics including Raw Comedy Winners Em O’Loughlin and Jonathon Schuster, Don Tran, Ben Lomas, European Man, Selina Jenkins as Beau Heartbreaker, Berty Cadilhac and me, Penni Pappas.
One Night Stand 4 – Thursday 15 April, The Toff in Town, Swanston Street.