Adelaide audiences were given a rare and insightful ‘behind the scenes’ experience at Her Majesty’s Theatre on Saturday evening, where Matt Lucas (Little Britain), Kitty Flanagan (The Project), Professor Roly Sussex (ABC 891) and host Guy Pratt (Pink Floyd, Icehouse) explored the world of comedy In Their Own Words.
While a stand-up style comedy routine may have been expected from some of the world’s funniest people, instead we were taken outside convention and treated to a conversation with the masters. Saturday was a phenomenal evening at Her Majesty’s in the year of her centennial celebrations, with the audience offered raw material direct from these talented artists’ experience.
University of Queensland Emeritus professor of Applied Language Studies Roly Sussex started the night with an intellectual exploration of what makes language funny, with examples of absurd and unexpected things in life that makes us giggle.
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Bass guitarist, songwriter, actor and comedian Guy Pratt has worked with some of the biggest names in music, sharing the formula: Comedy = Tragedy + Time. As he explained, there was plenty of evidence that what’s considered bad taste in the heat of a disaster becomes fodder for humour once the heat dies down.
Intelligent, articulate and naturally funny, Matt Lucas described the obligation of a comedian to make commentary on what’s going on, whether that lies within the context of the performance space, locally or globally. One of the gifts of humour is that it provides capacity for us to laugh at ourselves and, in doing so, we more readily come to terms with otherwise daunting life experiences. Lucas referred to the necessity of travelling through the tunnel of failure in order to reach success, which is relevant in all walks of life and crucial in the development of great comedy.
Award-winning comedian, comedy writer, TV and radio personality Kitty Flanagan drew from her experiences from when she was based in London for more than a decade and recent return home to Australia. Reflective and investigative, Flanagan’s life and comedic lessons taught what worked, what definitely didn’t work, and everything in between.
In Their Own Words provided a rich and satisfying night of insight, education, food for thought and a good ol’ belly laugh. Humour is based on the consequences set up by unknown perimeters and comedy can control the way others laugh at you! There are taboos and no-go areas in humour and just as in life, there are different strokes for different folks! I certainly look forward to the next stroke of genius of Word Adelaide Festival.