SOMETIMES ME, SOMETIMES NOT ME

ANNE EDMONDS HAS MADE A NAME FOR HERSELF PLAYING A HOST OF COLOURFUL CHARACTERS. SHE SHEDS LIGHT ON THE JOY OF ESCAPING INTO THE MIND – AND SARONG – OF SOMEONE ELSE

I love playing characters because I can go to the extremes of every emotion. Most of my characters have something fundamentally wrong with them, some deep hurt or sense of exclusion. And most of them fall to the floor and cry out in agony at some point. Who doesn’t? I do. Who cares? So far you’re probably wondering, what’s so funny about all this? But it is to me. My whole life is a series of meltdowns and recoveries and when you think about it from the outside, it’s hilarious.

Helen Bidou, a character I did on ABC’S Get Krack!n who dropped her sarong and lost the plot and who I’m doing an entire show of this year at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, is a prime example of this. She swings from elated about jeggings to mumbling with her bum out. I love stand-up comedy because you get to talk directly to the audience and be brutally honest about yourself, but sometimes it’s so liberating to morph into someone else and cut sick. You can let your imagination run wild and see how far you can push a character. To the edge! To the edge! Let’s go...