Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:09):
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Speaker 2 (00:16):
Frankie McNair is an up and coming Australian comedian. She
won the Best Comedy Award at the Melbourne Fringe Festival
in twenty eighteen and also won the Best Acclaimed Best
Newcomer at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival in twenty twenty two,
and now she's bringing her critically acclaimed one woman show,
(00:37):
An Intimate Evening with Tabitha Booth to Auckland's Q Theater
from tomorrow, and Frankie McNair is with us.
Speaker 3 (00:45):
Good morning, Frankie.
Speaker 4 (00:47):
Good morning, Thank you for having me.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
Well, thanks thanks for thanks for getting up nice and
early for us.
Speaker 3 (00:54):
Tell us about the show. Who is Tabitha Booth?
Speaker 4 (00:57):
It's so confusing having a show that's got like two
names in it. I love to make it as hard
as possible for people to come to the show. Yeah,
it's just it's a character show where Tabitha Book is
like this alter ego that I play. That she's like
Judy Garland, Liza Minelli, but just way more unhinged and
(01:19):
way more pills. Kind of deal, and yeah, it's her
trying to make her big comeback after her career has
kind of stopped. So she's doing like a one woman
kind of barber Stride and show that everything goes incredibly wrong,
like set falling down, tech mishaps, screaming at her stage
(01:39):
hand quite a lot. It's just super chaotic. It's kind
of clear, it's kind of character. It's a little bit
stand up and like a play. It's overwhelming.
Speaker 3 (01:50):
How did you come.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
Up with the idea from it? And how long did
it take to develop it?
Speaker 4 (01:55):
I think I just came up with the idea for it.
So when I did my show that got that woman
Best Newcomer, I taped a fork to an antenna and
I sung a song called long Fork Lady, and then
I won like one of the biggest awards in Melbourne.
And then I just started panicking and I was like,
I don't know how to follow this up, Like is
(02:17):
my career done? Have I peaked? And then and then
so I just kind of made this show that was
about this woman who her career did peak when she
did a show called long Falk Lady, and she's just
never been able to get any bigger and I also
just started doing this weird voice with one of my
friends and it made them laugh a lot. So I
(02:37):
don't know, it was kind of god, oh, I don't
know how long. I just kind of riffed it out
and then took it to the stage and was just like,
let's see what happened.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
Actually, I watched a clip of you having a sort
of a chat to camera, I think, and I did
notice the accent actually because but it's interesting because it's
like you're capturing there was an old style American accent,
wasn't there, which was I mean, people talk about mid
Atlantic and all that sort of thing, but it did
have a sort of though, there was something really interesting
(03:09):
about that accent. It was a Ritro sort of American accent,
quite softly. I don't know, how do you describe that accent.
I'm trying to get mad around that.
Speaker 4 (03:17):
I think I do go with like that kind of
a Transatlantic, like old Hollywood. Yeah, that accent that we
know is like trans Atlantic was purely developed for movies.
It wasn't a real accent. It was just something that
they would do in film. And so I think I
kind of describe her like the forest Gump of Hollywood,
(03:37):
like she's just it's very unclear how old she is,
but she's been around since the dawn of time. So yeah,
I think I just kind of mimic that idea of
like forties Hollywood, but she's kind of stuck in twenty
twenty four.
Speaker 2 (03:52):
I like the line. I think I can't remember what
it was. It says something about you and knee capped
by Marilyn Monroe for singing harmonies on Happy Yeah.
Speaker 3 (04:01):
It says.
Speaker 2 (04:03):
She uses her last thrids of sanity to share her
life's work blah blah blah, from her breakout roll Long
Foot Lady to being knee keapped by Marilyn Monroe trying
to harmonize Happy Birthday. I think that just sounds quite brilliant, actually,
because we all know the Marilyn Monroe thing.
Speaker 3 (04:18):
But yeah, yeah, I.
Speaker 4 (04:20):
Just like the idea of this woman who was just
like always in the background of all these really like
historical moments and just never quite made it into the spotlight,
but was always like trying to claw her way.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
There are you a singer as well?
Speaker 4 (04:32):
I can sing, and I insist on doing so, but
I've never had like any formal not a formal training
just ruw talent. Well, I can think a bit of
it into.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
Yeah, because I guess if you are doing that, playing
that character of being a singer and everything, I was
just wondering whether is it just you on stage or
what can people expect?
Speaker 4 (04:57):
No, I'm so excited, So it is just me on stage.
But then I also have one other character who plays
my stage hand. And I've got Rehys Matthewson who's playing
the stage hand, which I think is so funny because
he's such a brilliant comedian and like quite well known,
like in Auckland, and I get to just yell at
(05:17):
him for an hour. But he's the kindest man in
the world. So he's playing the only other character in
the show.
Speaker 2 (05:26):
So when did you just going back? When did you
actually create the character?
Speaker 1 (05:30):
How long?
Speaker 3 (05:31):
How long are we going back? Now?
Speaker 4 (05:33):
I first did this show in last Yeah, in last
year in twenty twenty three was the first time I
ever did this show. And then I've just been touring
it around since then, and so in every city I
go to, I get someone different to play the stage
the stage manager role, because the.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
Word that the expression that's used to describe his up
and coming but of course in comedy or show business,
there's usually a much longer story before that, because you've
worked and you've worked as as a scriptwriter and all
sorts of roles, haven't you.
Speaker 4 (06:09):
Yeah, yeah, I started doing comedy in twenty seventeen and
then it's just kind of been like very overtaken most
of my life since then, which I love. But yeah,
it's only probably been in the last like two years
that I feel like I've been kind of making a
bit of momentum, which is really exciting and really cool.
Speaker 2 (06:30):
But it's an evening with Tabitha Booth and Frankie.
Speaker 3 (06:35):
I see.
Speaker 2 (06:36):
The description that keeps on cropping up with your show
is unhinged, Yeah.
Speaker 3 (06:45):
You or the character a little bit of both.
Speaker 4 (06:47):
I reckon both, think I think it's safe to say,
which I don't know if I'm general I feel like,
do you deal with audiences don't love? I feel like
they're a bit like they're very polite.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
We've gotta be shot, don't I don't know.
Speaker 4 (07:09):
Maybe I could be like generalizing, but I think anytime
I've performed here, it's been very polite, and so when
I kind of let my fool crazy out, I think
it's a bit of like, oh my goodness, oh man, please,
So I'm excited to see because this character is like
pretty what I can do?
Speaker 2 (07:28):
How I mean, is it quite hard to set up
the character at the start of the show for an audience?
So if I came along, I mean, I I've obviously
read your press releases and had a look at a
little bit of stuff you've done. But how long would
it take me to get used to to understand where
the character's coming from?
Speaker 3 (07:43):
Is it pretty quick or do you have to take
a while setting it up?
Speaker 4 (07:47):
It's pretty It's pretty quick. I've got a video multi media,
I've got I've got a video that places at the
beginning that kind of like kids, the whole backstory and
like why why we're here and stuff. So it is
funny when people come in like ten minutes late and
there's like what's going on? Why are you screaming?
Speaker 2 (08:07):
But is it terrifying doing comedy as or you got
used to that fear of you know, pushing the boundaries
and all that.
Speaker 4 (08:19):
I don't find it terrible, Like I love doing it.
I think there was definitely a period of time where
the fear was outweighing the joy of it to me,
and so I was like seriously considering stopping because I
was just like feeling super anxious about doing it. But
it's kind of come back around now where you know
it's still you know, it's vulnerable, Like the idea of
(08:41):
getting up and people not not laughing is terrifying. But
I think that I love doing it so much, so
I don't think I've gotten used to this here, but
I think the joy kind of outweighs it, if that
makes sense.
Speaker 2 (08:54):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I mean how many places whereabouts have
you taken the show so far?
Speaker 4 (09:01):
Oh, we've been Melbourne twice and then Adelaide, post Sydney, Brisbane.
So yeah, Auckland is her first international debut, so.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
You must be if it's it's tomorrow night, isn't it?
Speaker 4 (09:16):
Yes?
Speaker 2 (09:16):
Yes, So I think you're coming to us from are
you coming?
Speaker 3 (09:19):
Are you already here or are you helping on a planet?
Speaker 4 (09:21):
I'm already here.
Speaker 2 (09:23):
I saw the Australian number and I thought, oh my goodness,
she's not a hasn't arrived yet. But no, I'm sorry,
I'm making a bit of a blood out there is
of course, it's just yes because Australian mobiles do work here.
Speaker 3 (09:34):
Hey, how how do.
Speaker 2 (09:36):
You think comedy has evolved on this side of the world,
you know, with the French vessels and comedy fairs as
your gig sort of quite different to any other that's
out there.
Speaker 4 (09:49):
It's definitely not like traditional stand up, which I think
is very funny when people kind of just take up
hunt and they don't read the description or anything, and
then they just come in and they're expecting someone to
be standing with a microphone and instead they get like me,
pretend tap dancing, and you just see the panic in
their eyes, but they they come around. But I think
(10:10):
that definitely having like way more like women and queer
voices in comedy and stuff has been amazing. Like even
now where I'm pointing, like in Melbourne, if there is
a lineup and it's basically not like half like half
men like half like not men like, people do raise
an eyebrow, which I think is really cool. It just
(10:33):
gives like way more opportunity because there are so many
like stories to be told. So yeah, and also just
like embracing way more alternative comedy as well.
Speaker 3 (10:44):
What about the whole cancel culture with comedy?
Speaker 2 (10:46):
Do you what's your what's.
Speaker 3 (10:48):
Your take on that.
Speaker 2 (10:49):
I mean, it sounds like an easy thing to sort
of where we can just sort of generalize far too
much and say, oh, cancel culture.
Speaker 3 (10:57):
Culture is right. But what's your observations?
Speaker 4 (11:00):
Oh, man, I I think they'll big. It kind of
depends on what's happened. I think, like if someone said
a joke that's a bit iffy. I think the first
thing you've kind of got to do is just like
maybe just like it to reach out or like talk
to whoever has said it, and just because they might
not know. And I think it's really unfair. It's very quickly,
(11:21):
you know, potentially just like ruin someone's life, a saying
something that they might not understand, why it might be
of sensive and why it might be hurtful, and so
just talking to them and explaining it and then they
can make an informed decision if they want to keep
doing that joke and kind of face whatever happens from that,
or if they want to reword it or something like that.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
Yeah, because I guess I mean, in the end of
the audiences make their minds up, don't they.
Speaker 4 (11:45):
Yeah, definitely, And I think not everyone is going to
be your cup of tea and that's totally fine. But
I think that there is definitely a difference between like
something that you know, you might not find funny and
something that makes you feel unsafe or makes you feel like,
you know, like quite hurt. I think there's a very
big difference. But I don't know. I just always think
the first point of call is just to kind of
talk about it, because I think a lot of people, like,
(12:06):
we're human beings, we all were you know, we make mistakes.
But yeah, I mean I think obviously if someone's like
behavior is just like on day, you have a big
chat to them kind of thing. But sure, yeah, I
don't think that we should be so quick to just
kind of assume that someone is a bad person because
they've made a mistake.
Speaker 3 (12:28):
Yeah, yeah, fair enough, cool you jets sort of thing.
Speaker 2 (12:32):
Hey, yeah, how many how many nights you're on for
You're on from Tomorrow night onwards? And how many how
many opportunities to people have to catch you?
Speaker 4 (12:41):
So it's Saturday Sunday and then I think it's the Tuesday,
Wednesday said their Friday Saturday, So finishing next Saturday?
Speaker 3 (12:48):
Excellent?
Speaker 2 (12:49):
Hey, good luck with everything, Frankie, happy it all goes
great for you.
Speaker 3 (12:53):
Thanks very much.
Speaker 2 (12:53):
That's Frankie mcneher an evening with Tapath. Both enjoy yourself
in New Zealand.
Speaker 4 (12:58):
Thank you so much. I really appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (13:00):
Cheers right well.
Speaker 1 (13:01):
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