Shay Mace
Felicity Ward is bringing her new stand-up hour I Wish I Could Come Out Of My Shell to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe next month, tracing her journey through Divorce, Bisexuality, and Dancing with the Stars. The UK-based Australian comedian has taken the show across Oceania from Wellington to Melbourne and beyond, and we caught up with her for a pixelated pint to unpack the journey the show has been on so far.
You can catch Felicity Ward: I Wish I Could Come Out Of My Shell at CabVol 1 at Monkey Barrel Comedy on August 17th – 30th from 15:50 (60mins). Tickets are available through the EdFringe Online Box Office.
Shay: Hi Felicity, tell us about the themes of I Wish I Could Come Out Of My Shell and why you have decided to bring this to the stage now?
Felicity: It’s a show about rewiring my neural pathways accidentally through going on Dancing with the Stars (Australia), and experiencing a real liberation and confidence in my 40s around myself, and dating, and my sexuality. Coming out at 41 as bisexual, realising that women over 40 are still desirable, getting officially diagnosed as ADHD (along with most of the creative community) at 45.
Shay: Tell us about your process for putting together this hour – what do you do to get yourself motivated and what challenges have you found with this material?
Felicity: Motivation is always the sheer terror that for that first work in progress show I’ll have nothing to say, nothing will be funny, I’ve lost all skills I’ve ever had, and it’s all over. So I’ve been tinkering and jotting down jokes for ages when they come up. But once I decided I wanted to do another full hour, I realised it was the first time I was going to do that in a limited time period (4 months before the first show), in 8 years. That was the last time I did Edinburgh Fringe too.
The challenges have been making it as good as I want to be, but also being a woman in her 40s talking to British audiences about dating and sex. There’s still a lot of nerves, especially with people over 40 or 50, and definitely in heterosexual couples/audiences. And the thing is if I was just talking to women or queer audiences there would be nothing but celebration. I’ve found this material works really well in cities and with younger audiences. Whereas my previous material worked the best in regional areas and slightly older audiences. Fascinating to me!
Shay: Tell us about your comedy icons – who are they, and how have they influenced your work?
Felicity: I will always say Maria Bamford. She is my hero. The one who I saw (on YouTube) just after I’d done my first ever stand up gig and thought “well there’s no point n doing stand up because everything I’ve ever wanted or didn’t even know I wanted to do has been done.” Also I watched a lot of American comedies when I was a kid. So Steve Martin, and Bette Midler and Billy Crystal are very much a part of who I am. Along with a group called Working Dog in Australia. They’ve written and produced and starred in so many iconic Australian shows. And for decades. They wrote a film called the Castle (which some people in the UK would have heard of). They are the reason I started in sketch comedy.
Shay: Do you have any pre-show rituals?
Felicity: I have to go to the toilet as close to walking on stage as possible. Old anxiety hang ups. I try to dance back stage to get my dopamine up. Sometimes I’ll put my hands up in the sky and ask whoever’s listening to show me how to be funny.
Shay: Has/will the show be performed anywhere ahead of EdFringe?
Felicity: Yes, I’ve toured the show in Melbourne, Sydney, the Central Coast, in Australia. And Wellington and Auckland in New Zealand. Along with work in progress shows all around the UK. Absolutely pumped to be bringing it to Edinburgh!
Shay: With EdFringe now just around the corner, what are you most excited for?
Felicity: Just being there. In that beautiful city. I always think of it like an ex boyfriend I’m sure I’m over, then I step off the train at Waverley and I’m blushing.
Shay: Given the themes of Binge Fringe, if your show was a beverage of any kind (alcoholic, non-alcoholic – be as creative as you like!), what would it be and why?
Felicity: It’s pink blue and purple: the colours represent the bisexual flag and me realising in my 40s, and the amount of sugar that’s needed to make any of those colours is representative of my ADHD hyperactivity.
And it’s a slushy because the UK is experiencing an extended heatwave for the first time in 13 years of me living here.
A reminder, you can catch Felicity Ward: I Wish I Could Come Out Of My Shell at CabVol 1 at Monkey Barrel Comedy on August 17th – 30th from 15:50 (60mins). Tickets are available through the EdFringe Online Box Office.
Image Credit: Matt Stronge
Salvador Kent
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