By Lauren Muscat | @laurenjmuscat
Photography by Rosie Collins
Anna Morris has arrived on Australian shores.
With sell out shows at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2015 and 2016, the British comedian is now bringing her critically acclaimed show, ‘It’s Got To Be Perfect’, to the Melbourne International Comedy Festival.
With a background in TV and sketch writing, Morris eventually fell into comedy writing and performance. After getting her start in comedy doing small shows in London pubs, Morris attracted a following through her popular YouTube channel.
However, Morris’ style of comedy is a little different to what you might typically expect to find on the Just for Laughs circuit, with a character based, semi-improvised show.
“I’ve never done stand up. I’d like to give it a go, but I prefer to create characters. You’ve got creative license to create a stupid story and go as far as you want,” Morris says.
And so, Georgina Francis was born.
Georgina is soon to be married, and will accept nothing less than the perfect day. The crowd acts as her wedding rehearsal audience, helping to pick out the music, write the vows, and voice objections.
“She’s such a bridezilla. She would have loads of wedding rehearsals, because she’s such a ridiculous person. So, I thought – what if she was using festivals to have these rehearsals?” Morris explains.
She didn’t have to look too far for inspiration for the character.
“I’d pick up on things at weddings that I thought could be funny if they were put into a show. Even little things, like when you’re asked ‘does anyone want to object?’. Obviously, the social formality is that you don’t, but my brain always works in a way that finds the funny in things.”
Bringing the show to Australia for the first time has presented its own unique challenges for Morris to tackle.
“I pulled out bits of the script that I thought were a bit British and got [Australian friends] to go through it and tell me what the Australian equivalent was. There’s a lot of politicians mentioned in it, in terms of who’s coming to the wedding. We have a few politicians at home who are thought of as a bit of a joke, or that people find them ridiculous – so putting Pauline Hanson in the script has been amazing. People absolutely love it.”
The major drawcard for the show is audience involvement, and the semi-improvised nature of the show allows Morris to change the script as suits her and her audience.
“That’s what I love – that today I can go ‘oh I’m going to put this bit in’ and if it works, great! If it doesn’t, that’s OK.”
‘It’s Got To Be Perfect’ will be in Melbourne until April 9. For more information, head to the Melbourne International Comedy Festival website.