Interview with Comedians Against Humanity

After the tent collapsed part-way through their show (it’s Fringe - anything can happen!), I spoke with Yianni, Clare, Kat and Nadia about the other challenges the Fringe presents and why the arts are important

Interview with Comedians Against Humanity

Could you first introduce yourselves to the reader?

Yianni: Hi, I’m Yianni Agisilaou, I created Comedians Against Humanity and I host it. 

Clare: Hi, I’m Clare Cavanagh, I did a show called Thrilled You’re Here, but it’s over now! 

Kat: I’m Kat Gray, I’ve got four events on at the Fringe this year: most of them are kids’ shows, and I’m also producing Zombie Zone. 

Nadia: I’m Nadia Collins, I’m a stand-up comedian and I also do clown shows; I’m in Virgin Bloody Mary and The Big Thingy at The Producers. 

Is this your first Fringe?

Y: No, this is my third Fringe. I was here last year doing this and a couple of other shows, and I was here a few years before that as well. I’m not as much of a dab hand as Kat though…

K: This is my fifth Adelaide Fringe; my second being a local. I like the Fringe enough that I moved here! 

C: This is my very first Fringe, yes. 

N: This is my first Adelaide Fringe, but I’ve done Melbourne Fringe twice, Sydney Fringe twice and Perth Fringe a few times. 

How are all the Fringes different?

K: Adelaide is probably the most friendly to artists. The actual organisation of the Fringe itself is incredibly supportive. Edinburgh tries to be, but it’s so big that it can’t be as helpful to artists on the ground. Personally I’ve not experienced a Fringe that’s as supportive to artists as Adelaide  

N: From just having been here about four days that’s definitely my impression - there are so many events on that are about how to promote your show or how to get funding - Adelaide seems to really think about artists. It seems like it’s a bit more competitive to get people to your show, but that’s Fringe!

Y: Well the thing is, Edinburgh Fringe is very big but you also get millions of people who come in from overseas, whereas in Australia you don't really get that. I think they’re trying to promote it more as a kind of Southern Hemisphere Edinburgh, though. So, here, there’s a lot of shows for maybe not that many audience members, but it’s super supportive at the same time. 

K: It’s also incredible when you consider the population of Adelaide; it supports and has grown the second biggest Fringe Festival in the world. When you think about Adelaide’s position economically, the fact that it is still supporting a Festival of that size is incredibly generous of the local audiences. The fact that the Fringe is now trying to expand and create more of a destination is great, and can only be good for the economy of the area. Also, audiences here are very educated. As children’s entertainers, we experience all sorts of behaviour from children in theatres, and it’s not uncommon for kids to be completely unaware of what theatre etiquette is, but in Adelaide you find that kids know theatre, they know the Fringe, they know the arts, and their extremely supportive of them. 

C: I’ve done Sydney Fringe, which is where I’m from, and there’s no real sense of community among artists, and it’s really hard to get people through the door; there’s no real idea of flyering or people just spontaneously going to shows. Whereas here, as Nadia said, everybody is really supportive. Other artists are helping you, Fringe staff are helping you, and it’s like being in a fun party. 

What are the biggest challenges of doing a Fringe show? Apart from the venue collapsing around you!

Y: You’ve got to keep a roof over your head, that’s the key! But yeah, I’d say just getting people in. 

K: Yeah, reaching out to audiences. There is a very limited media aspect, and opportunities to talk to the media are incredibly limited, because there are so many people competing for your attention! 

N: I was talking to someone today about how Facebook advertising keeps changing - it’s changed in the past three weeks - so it’s even harder for artists to reach out to the general public just using Facebook advertising which was a huge way that we would contact people. It’s getting harder and harder for independent artists to market their shows without having to lay down a good few grand on advertising. If you want to advertise with the Festival it’s at least a few hundred just to go in the Guide, or on the website, so it’s hard. 

K: Particularly when independent artists like us are competing with people who are represented by large agencies, or have backing from large production companies. Those big shows are incredible, and deserve their audiences, but we’re still here! It’s the ‘trickle-down’ economics of the Fringe!

Y: It’s almost like a microcosm of the world at large, isn’t it?

Why do you think the arts are important?

Y: I think they’re important because that’s what’s left in life when you’ve finished work. What do people do after work? They consume art. It’s all the stuff people really want to do. A world without art would just be working and surviving and subsisting; that’s no existence. It’s important because it’s what gives life lustre and flavour and colour. 

K: And especially today with social media, you cull your friends list, you get rid of that dissenting voice, and it’s important to experience opinions beyond the microcosm you’ve created. 

C: Comedy is a very powerful disarming tool. For me, as a comedian, the first thing is to make people laugh and be entertaining, but the second thing is making social change by laughing at the big issues and making them accessible. 

N: It’s got to be entertaining or funny first, but then it can make change. 

K: I love reaching out to young audiences and creating positive experiences, particularly when we get opportunities like next weekend, when half of our audiences will be coming from charity groups that have donated tickets to people who can't afford to experience the arts.

Comedy has been very male-dominated for years; have you experienced any sexism at the Fringe?

Y: Oh, I’ll handle this. 

K: Thanks Yianni, where would we be without you to speak for us?! I haven’t, as much - I think the Fringe is largely an aware space, and the occasions when I do encounter sexism at the Fringe it’s more noticeable because it’s unexpected. 

C: I haven’t really in the Fringe but definitely in life, yes, I experience sexism in comedy and theatre and the arts, because it’s been traditionally a male-dominated space. But I’m surrounded by so many incredible women right now that you I can block out the noise. 

K: I experienced it in myself tonight. Yianni booked three women for this line-up, and I caught myself thinking, ‘Wow, an all-female line-up. That’s…weird’, and then I had to stop myself and realise no, that shouldn’t be weird, that should just be a line-up. 

Y: But it is rare. No one thinks that when it’s three guys. 

N: If it is an all-female line-up they’ll call it something that mentions that it’s all girls. 

C: I’m in an all-female improv troupe back in Sydney and we consciously fight against being characterised as an all-women improv troupe. We’re just an improv troupe. 

What advice would you give to young people who want to get into the arts?

Y: Persist. Be true to yourself. 

Thanks to Yianni, Nadia, Kat and Clare for taking the time to do this interview! 

This interview has been edited for length and clarity

Author

Sam Nead

Sam Nead Contributor

I am a 22 year old student who loves reading, writing and all things theatre-related. I am studying Liberal Arts and Natural Sciences at Birmingham University and I'm trying to write a novel, but not doing very well at it!

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