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Prior to her quickly approaching return to Australia, Sarah Kendall discussed her path in comedy as well as a few life lessons that’ve made her the comedian she is today.
Prior to her quickly approaching return to Australia, Sarah Kendall discussed her path in comedy as well as a few life lessons that’ve made her the comedian she is today.What lead you to a career in comedy? Was your entry in Raw Comedy back in 1998 a bit of a punt or a serious I want to do this for a living endeavour? *congrats on winning that year, PS
Well thank you very much for the BELATED congratulations (I didn’t win, by the way.) I didn’t enjoy stand-up very much at first, I found it quite harrowing. I remember feeling sick with nerves before the Raw final; I hoped that a fire alarm would go off so that the venue would be evacuated and then I wouldn’t have to perform. I remembered thinking that everybody else looked so natural and relaxed on stage, and I looked like I was in the midst of some sort of hostage crisis. Thankfully my terrible stage fright started to calm down after about ten years of performing.
In collaboration with fellow comedian, Lucy Porter, you produce the podcast, Girl Riot. Will you continue with the podcast in 2014?
Oh yes, it’s the high point of my week. I’m pretty sure we have about 20 listeners, and I think that’s just the right amount. Any more than that and we’d feel obliged to prepare material, or read the books that we set for book club each week. Lucy and I have known each other for over ten years and our friendship has always felt like an oasis in this job. If something happens professionally that shits me off, she’s the first person I call to get it off my chest. We’ve shared flats at festivals, worked together, had kids at the same time…she’s basically my wife. I’ve only realised this now that I’ve actually written it down and read it back.
You’ve been in the UK since 2000 but your show this year will focus on your experience playing Australian Under-14s Touch Football in 1992. Has your upcoming return to Australia prompted a nostalgic streak in your work?
I think the older you get, the more you reflect on your past. I spent the first 30 years of my life moving forward as fast as I could, and it’s only now that I’m really examining the things that I’ve done. I certainly find that anything that happened to me when I was a teenager is always a very rich seam creatively because it’s such an intense stage of life. I love talking about growing up in Newcastle because there were so many eccentric people. Bizarrely, I don’t think you get that in big cities. If someone’s odd you just blank them. In small towns, the odd people are generally your own family members.
You’ve discussed on stage your mother’s method of keeping you and your brother under control in a sporting goods store. Has this influenced any of your own parenting practices?
Absolutely. This morning my daughter forgot to say ‘thank you’ after I gave her a glass of orange juice, so I closed her in an iron maiden for 25 minutes.
What can Adelaide, Brisbane and Melbourne audiences expect from your 2014 show, Touchdown?
I don’t want to give away too much, but there will be some early 90’s hip-hop. That’s all I can say at this point. Genuinely. That’s all I’ve written.
Listen to Sarah’s Podcast, Girl Riot >
Hear about the sporting goods store >
Get Tickets to Sarah’s Show, Touchdown >