FRENCH

Maureen French decided to give stand up comedy a go at nearly 70 years of age. She entered Deadly Funny and has won the NSW Finals the past 2 years, and was invited to appear at the Melbourne Comedy Festival both times. Her sense of humour is gorgeously silly and relatable, and now that she calls Wauchope home we are hoping we get to hear more from her!

Hi Maureen. When did you first become interested in stand up comedy? I don’t remember a time in my life when I didn’t love stand up comedy. I grew up watching Morecambe and Wise, Abbott and Costello, The 2 Ronnies. I was always the class clown and I’ve always loved that rush of adrenalin when people laugh at what I’ve said. It was probably a coping mechanism, being a chubby kid I learnt very early that making people laugh deflected from my physical being. Happily, I was never bullied. You worked for 50 years as a nurse, what made you decide to give stand up comedy a go and how have your years as a nurse influenced your routines? I loved nursing, I still miss it. Fifty years of it gave me a lifetime of funny stories. Most nurses have a great sense of humour, you have to or you would end up in therapy. I worked in theatre in anaesthetics, and most days were filled with laughter. If only those poor patients knew what we talked about. Number 1 unwritten rule was that our humour was never directed at them. Three years ago I went on a 4 day comedy cruise with 10 friends that I have been close to since 1957 when we started kindy together. On the last night there was a gong show for passengers to have a go at stand up. I had never done it before and I had nothing prepared. My friends dared me to get up, and I ended up winning. Three professional comedians gave me scores of 10 and one gave me 9! Bob Down was the main comedian on board and he came up to me later and asked if I had ever done stand up before. When I said no, he said I should seriously think about it, and here I am! Can you tell us about some of your comedic influences? I love strong, female comedians. Kitty Flanagan is my favourite. Lucille Ball has to be one of the best in the field, along with Carol Burnett and Judith Lucy. These are women who are not afraid to be outrageously silly, but never nasty. I don’t like comedy that is too sexual or nasty, it’s not necessary, it just makes people uncomfortable. How has your indigenous identity informed your comedy? Growing up in the 50’s, aboriginal people were mainly anonymous. They tended to be seen as shy, docile and avoided eye contact with white people. In fact that could not be further from the truth, this was only what was expected of us. We are actually a very funny mob. There is now a yearly competition called Deadly Funny for Aboriginal Comedians. The last 2 years I have won the NSW Finals, and was invited to appear at the Melbourne Comedy Festival both times. We are good storytellers, this is how our history has been passed down from our elders. Can you describe your process for crafting a new comedy routine? Most comedians I know write their material down, I don’t, it’s all in my head. I’m one of those lucky people that remembers things easily. Even as an ‘A’ student I never studied, nursing included. I get my material from all sorts of ideas. A lot from nursing of course, but also from small, seemingly innocuous everyday things that I see. I then build that into a larger, sillier story. As my Mother used to say, “don’t let the truth get in the way of a good story”. How do you engage with your audience during a live performance? I actually like the house lights up when I do a show. I love to see and interact with my audience, we feed off each other. Sometimes if I see someone looking as though they have been dragged there, I’ll hone in on them. It usually works, they come around.

Can you tell us about a particularly memorable performance you’ve had in your career? This is an easy question for me. 18 months ago I did a tour of the Northern Rivers. I was still living in Sydney then, so did not know a lot of the history of the towns. I did 3 shows in Bowraville, a time in my life that I will never forget. Back in the past, aboriginal people were not allowed to enter the Bowraville Theatre by the front door, they had to wait until all of the white people had entered, then they entered via the back door and sat under the bleachers. In 1965, Charles Perkins took a busload of black and white university students from Sydney to Bowraville on what was called the Freedom Ride. They tried to enter the theatre via the front door but were stopped and beaten. The Mayor of

Bowraville went on television and said “the only good black is a dead black”. This event was seen in Sydney via TV and newspapers and thankfully caused an uproar. It was seen as the catalyst for change. Two weeks after I arrived home from the tour, I received a beautiful painting commissioned by the Elders of Bowraville with a note thanking me for bringing back the laughter to Bowraville. What advice would you give to aspiring comedians, or anyone wanting to give stand-up a go? I would never in a million years think that I would now be doing stand up at the age of 71. I am fortunate that I have never had a problem standing in front of a large crowd and speaking. However, not everyone can, but if you feel self conscious but would really like to do it, start off trying it out on your friends. You’ve probably been doing this for years anyway because you feel comfortable with them. Then look up comedy clubs that have an open mic night. This is where anyone who wants to, can do a 3 minute gig. Imagine you’re talking to your friends, and remember, you’ll never see this audience again!

Can you tell us about the role of humour in healing and community-building within indigenous cultures? Racism is still alive in Australia, that’s the ugly truth! But we’ve come a long way since I was a child and waited in the car with my Dad while my Mum went into the school to vote because he wasn’t allowed to. The vote came in for Aboriginals 2 years after he died at the age of 42 from complications of malaria he acquired in the jungles of New Guinea during WW2. He could fight for the country he loved, but not vote. You probably wonder what this little anecdote has to do with humour in healing, well, I have seen many leaps forward since then. We do look you in the eye, we do have aboriginal doctors, lawyers, actors, politicians. And you do see us, and I honestly think you are starting to learn from us. Education of our mob is the key to opening the future. Stay at school, get off welfare and hold your heads up high!! Show the world how bloody funny you are. When we laugh at the absurdity of life, we finally start to understand ourselves xx