However, the analytical performer can’t be accused of overlooking the abundance of ”inventive and interested” audience members attending comedy festivals. She states very clearly that she doesn’t perceive all audiences as passive. “You just have to bare in mind, I think, some of those things when you're on stage. Because it's kind of silly not to.” “I need to understand what people think they're gonna get from me,” she continues, “if I'm gonna subvert it. Am I going to abandon anything they did like me for, before? That's just my opinion. There's a responsibility to the people you've built up. But you shouldn't also be a slave to it."
So how does Quinn perceive her own stage persona? “I'm now at this point where I kind of get it! I kind of get this ridiculous, incredibly clumsy, very overdressed and, um, very strong presence that I've ended up becoming on stage. And not trying to be anything else.” Hers is definitely a strong presence - one which audiences are devouring. The Age online reviewed You're The Voice (2011), as a “brilliant blend of sass, satire and pathos, delivered with an electrifying voice that can strip paint off the walls or retreat into haunting vulnerability."
“After Shut Up And Sing, Casey Bennetto (director and colleague) said to me, 'That's the first show I've seen you do for the audience.' And I went, I didn't mean to!” "He said, 'Yeah, but you did. You were thinking about how they were going to react to what you are doing, rather than how they were going to react to who you are on a stage.”
“I think the minute I went, 'I don't know what YOU want from ME anymore, and I can't guess', it worked. Weirdly. I don't know why." Tapping her nails again, as she frowns in contemplation, she seems to come to a conclusion regarding this turning point in her career. "I was probably so worried about how I was coming across before. And that's what life's like."
”I spent the end of last year or so talking to more people just going, 'Oh, it isn't just me. Oh that's something everybody feels.’ How arrogant of me to think it was just me!”
The charismatic songstress upholds a mindful approach to really guiding audiences through what she considers to be the heart of her shows.
In discussing the battle between writing shows for herself, or for her audiences, she reflects upon the development of her stage personality. How has her vibrant performance persona been shaped?
The result was an “energy manifesto”, leaving some audience members almost frightened by the storm of sound she was able to produce.
Quinn describes the idea that people are sometimes unable to fit within the world. It is a notion she feels closely familiar with. “I thought I was so SPECIAL. Because, I felt 'Other', or didn't fit.”
“I thought I was so special, because I felt ‘Other’, or didn’t fit.”
Quinn's ruminative analysis of her own performances seems to contribute in no small part to her success on stage.
“I just went, RIGHT. Rip this off, rip this off, rip this off! Just take the piss out of all these different things.”
There were, of course, some curve balls along the way. "I did a reeeally ambitious show in 2009, where there were always moments that were good all the way through, but the shows never really worked until 2010. And that was the year I just went 'Fuck it'. Fuck it!” “I had a review that basically said 'Don't talk. Your songs are good, but don't talk.' And, I went 'OK! Fine! I am going to write a show that has as many songs as I can possibly fit in it, and it's only going to be about writing songs.” Considering herself predominantly as a songwriter, Quinn’s decision to abandon much of the text in her shows, in order to harness her genuine love of pop music, has been transformational.
Sipping the last of her tea, Quinn discloses that she is certain many performers spend much of their time thinking, “I don't know how this is ever going to work.”
“Camel Toe was... a pre-emptive strike, ‘cause I knew what I was wearing on stage!” Discussing her inspirations in writing, it becomes apparent that the comedian absorbs a great deal of what her colleagues in the comedy community are creating. She smiles warmly as she reveals her thoughts on the industry, and its participants.