This article contains the names of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who have died, with the family’s permission.
When outstanding Ydinji comedian, actor and author Steph Tisdell takes over the Victoria Hotel boardroom for her new Melbourne International Comedy Festival (MICF) show, Fat (27 March–5 April), it’ll mark a triumphant return to stand-up after a few years away.
‘Comedy is a very intimate artform, but then my career became about having to be on social media, watching people who aren’t your intended audience saying nasty things,’ Tisdell says. ‘So I took four years off, basically because I just wasn’t very well.’
Wellness in spite of the unrealistic and often abusive expectations bombarding us on ‘social’ media informs the spirit of Tisdell’s new hour of self-healing power. ‘It’s funny, for the first time in my life I was like, “I’m not going to diet anymore,” and in doing that, it led to the only time I’ve actually lost weight,’ she says. ‘It was the weirdest thing ever.’
Not all that weird, when you unpack it. ‘The show is basically about how fucking damaging diets are, how they fuck with your self-esteem to keep us perpetually mentally unwell,’ Tisdell says.
It all flipped when Tisdell’s doctor stressed that she didn’t ask her to lose weight, only to get strong.
‘That single quote changed my whole life,’ Tisdell says. ‘I started doing a documentary, and I thought, “Well, this is going to be much more compelling if I’m training for a marathon”. So I’ve been running, and I’ve learned why the fuck exercise is good for our mental health, making that my priority, instead of it being about what I look like.’
Deadly Funny and MICF
Abandoning early intentions of becoming a lawyer, Tisdell first came to MICF via Deadly Funny. The national competition with accompanying professional workshops, was set up by Yorta Yorta producer Jason Tamiru. It searches nationally for the funniest up-and-coming First Nations comedians, paving possible pathways to the industry.
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Tisdell won in 2014, leading to her first MICF show, Identity Steft, four years later
‘Deadly Funny is absolutely unparalleled, even just from the confidence element, getting you in front of an audience,’ Tisdell says. ‘I’d only had one or two gigs before I entered, but it made me go, “Oh, there’s actually an audience”. And that makes a huge difference.’
Sending that elevator down again is a no-brainer. ‘A few years back, I did a workshop with Dora Smith, who was so fucking good, like, just funny bones no matter what she said,’ Tisdell recalls. ‘But she was so nervous, and I am a very nervous person, so we got quite close.’
Yawuru/Noongar comedian Smith made it to the Grand final in 2023 and went on to tour. Now Tisdell’s also offering encouraging words to her hilarious sister, Pearl. ‘That’s literally life changing, showing somebody that they’ve got a passion they can pursue.’
Passions, Tisdell has many, having appeared in TV shows including Bump and Total Control and penned YA novel The Skin I’m In. ‘Years ago, when I was on dating apps, Okay Cupid had all these questions, and one was “Out of the following five things, which would you say your life pursuit has been about? Knowledge, love, power, money or expression”.’
It’s now Tisdell’s favourite question to ask someone else, with her answer being ‘expression’. ‘You have to have knowledge to express, which requires you to learn more, to have knowledge of how other people work,’ she says. ‘It’s an expression of love. To me, that’s the thing that connects.’
Tisdell jokes that she’s easily bored, but diversifying is no bad thing, given the occasionally grim reality of arts careers in this country. ‘This is a really hard industry,’ Tisdell acknowledges. ‘It’s feast or famine. So you’ve got to know what you can do and make that work for you.’
She’s nervous about returning to MICF, but has been supported by fellow stand-up comedian Marcel Blanch-de Wilt, who directed Fat, in a first for Tisdell. ‘So if people are curious to hear the whole fucking journey beneath the show being built, there is a podcast,’ she says.
Authenticity, blocking out the noise and holding true to yourself is key, even if that requires a time out from social media and/or performing. ‘When you really give that authentic, vulnerable version of yourself, it does hurt when you get bullshit on the other side of it. I’m always balancing those two things out. But I’m really excited, and I have a lot of supportive people around me.’
The running helps. ‘Just exercise, because your body fucking craves it, and forget the rest,’ Tisdell says. ‘By virtue of the fact that I’m a fat, Black, queer woman, sitting at the intersection of all of these things, that gives light and shade to my story.’
MICF: lead balloons
Yankunytjatjara, Warrigmay, South Sea Islander comedian, singer-songwriter and actor Elaine Crombie grew up on sets and stages, watching her late mum, Lillian, a member of the Stolen Generations, perform. ‘I naturally followed in her footsteps, even though she always wanted me to be a swimmer,’ she says, laughing.
Appearing in TV shows including Top End Bub and Invisible Boys, as well as stage shows including Janet’s Vagrant Love, Crombie madeher MICF debut via Deadly Funny in 2018.
Remarkably, her new show at MICF, Grief, Love and Lead Balloons (27 March–5 April), which first bowed in her home state at the Adelaide Festival, is her first solo comedy show.
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Crombie, like Tisdell, has had a rough run of it recently, losing several family members in a row, including her parents and grandparents. The new show addresses those losses in an incredibly generous fashion.
‘I’m telling yarns to remember them, but then it’s also nice to just riff off that and find the funny in little pockets,’ Crombie says. ‘It’s a bit of an emotive show, but I also know how to make people laugh, through a look or the power of suggestion.’
Laughter is healing, after all. ‘It’s just the same as crying,’ Crombie insists. ‘It’s still that release. But some people can’t. Their coping mechanism is different. But it’s also about how you move through grief, and I like to think of myself as a bit of a connoisseur.’
Bringing it home at MICF
Grief, Love and Lead Balloons is all about leaning into grief with love in whatever form works for you. For Crombie, much like Tisdell, that includes with good humour. She’s re-embracing comedy after feeling disillusioned by main-stage theatre companies.
‘I’ve come to this point, after losing Mum and Dad, where I will look at the requests that come through, who’s producing and who am I going to be spending time with,’ Crombie says. ‘Who am I willing to give my time to?’
Crombie reveres MICF and is so glad to be back, but there’s also an act of resistance to the idea that artists can only enjoy a successful performance career in Sydney or Melbourne. The success of her Adelaide-based production company, The Collective, challenges that notion.
‘I’d say 98% of Black comedians working in Australia today came from Deadly Funny, which is amazing and inspirational, and that’s what we’re trying to do here,’ Crombie says. ‘I want to work in South Australia near my grandson and son, and for my mob to have access to me, to and to come and have a yarn, tell me their dreams and let’s work through that.’
Crombie’s biggest tip for aspiring comedians? ‘Just be in the moment,’ she says. ‘Comedy is a look. It’s throwing little curveballs, responding to other people’s reactions, which is the same on set. Don’t overcook it.’
Grief, Love and Lead Balloons, like Janet’s Vagrant Love, is part of Crombie’s healing process, she says, then adds, with perfect comic timing. ‘I’m just charging people to come along and watch it and give me the instant feedback I need to move through. Some people will go off and be by themselves. I want to stand on a stage and tell my story.’
- Steph Tidsell – Fat – is at The Victoria Hotel Ballroom, Melbourne, from 27 March to 5 April as part of MICF.
- Elaine Crombie – Grief, Love and Lead Balloons – is at Melbourne Town Hall Lunch Room from 27 March to 5 April as part of MICF.
