Doing it just for laughs

Former Greta resident Phoebe O’Brien will be hoping to squeeze a few cheeky laughs out of the audience as she takes to the stage for her debut at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival later this month.

She’ll be taking to the stage with Anthony McCormack and Stephen Porter for their show Shut Your Juicy Mouth, which will run for four nights.

‘‘It’s a split show, and there’s three stand-up acts on stage, myself and two others, Anthony and Stephen,’’ she said.

‘‘It will be about a 50-minute show, with each of us having 15 minutes to get up and try out our stuff.

‘‘A lot of mine is just silly stories that I’ve accumulated over the years.

‘‘I moved to Melbourne about five years ago and it’s just about making the move to the city and growing up in the country.’’

Ms O’Brien said it was her love of comedy, which had always been a big part of her life, that was the driving force behind getting up on stage to give performing a try.

The show will be her first time on a big stage, and she said there were a few nerves leading up to it.

‘‘I didn’t think I’d ever do stand-up, because I have such a big fear of public speaking,’’ she said.

‘‘If something scared me as much as stand-up comedy does, I wouldn’t be doing it!

‘‘I’m hoping it will help me overcome obstacles, such as nerves.

‘‘My radio co-host and I were doing a segment on stand-up comedians and what they have to do to become a stand-up comedian, how they develop a stage persona etc. We were talking on air to one comedian who asked us do a segment on his show and I guess it was the pressure of live radio — so we said yes.’’

Fast forward and Ms O’Brien is now taking to the stage in one of the biggest comedy festivals in the world.

‘‘To practise, I’ve got a few performances booked in and there are plenty of open mic nights here in Melbourne which I plan to get to,’’ she said.

‘‘I’ve also been going out with friends for coffee and sneakily testing my material on them without them knowing.’’

Ms O’Brien is competing in the preliminary finals of the festival’s RAW Comedy competition, and said it was giving her a chance to practise before hitting the festival stage.

She said the festival featured many brilliant acts and urged people to attend any shows they could get to.

Mr McCormack can regularly be heard on ABC radio and as the host of TV comedy panel show The Leak (Ch31), while Ms O’Brien is a celebrated MC for community and corporate events and is the executive producer of comedycentred radio show In Joke (SYN 90.7), and Mr Porter is a writer and presenter of TV sex-ed satire The Naughty Rude Show (Ch31).

Shut Your Juicy Mouth will run on March 27, 29, 30 and 31 at the Loop Project Space and Bar, Melbourne at 8 pm. All tickets are $15 and are available through www.comedyfestival.com.au or at the venue.

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