Giveaway time! We have a 1 x double pass to give to a special someone to hilarious comedy show – The Lioness. The winner will be drawn this Friday the 31st of March, so get in quick!
We recently sat down with one half of the The Lioness – a local comedic duo that find humour in everyday life and aptly bring it to the stage to increase your serotonin levels and leave you in stitches.
Charlie and Spank are previewing their latest show “Peggy Babcock, Peggy Babcock, Peggy Babcock” at The Comedy Festival in Melbourne from the 29th of March to the 8th of April, and we had some questions about their new show.
- Why the name ‘The Lioness’?
A very good friend of Spanks and mine, legitimately tried to draw a picture with crayons once (this is an adult by the way) and the result was this poorly drawn, toddler-style picture and she ended up titling it ‘The Lioness’. We were desperate for a name and couldn’t think of anything we liked, and so that’s what we’ve been called ourselves ever since.
- Why the lion onesie? Does it ever get unbearably hot wearing that up on stage?
It’s mostly a point of difference, but it also ties into our name. And yes, it does get horrifically hot on stage, like within minutes we would be wet through. Funnily enough, I now wear compression gear under my onesie to soak up all the sweat… yeah, we know it’s a terrible creative decision.
- How would you describe the type of humour in your act?
Quite melodramatic. We take what could almost be classified as normal situations, throw in a twist and then play them totally for truth. It’s this kind of thing where we find very off-the-wall situations to be very funny, especially in the world today where these issues could be considered a bit heavy, but if they’re presented in a light-hearted way, it creates a nice balance between the two.
- Your latest show is called “Peggy Babcock, Peggy Babcock, Peggy Babcock” – Why’s that?
With our show, there’s no set characters we follow – although, there is a loose narrative that runs throughout. So with naming the show we just wanted to give it a fun name and put in one of the hardest tongue twisters in there. It’s just another part of the show that is fun and people can engage with.
- So there is no Peggy Babcock in the show?
Peggy might make an appearance from time to time, but she’s by no means a main character of the show.
- Spank is your comedic partner in crime, how would you describe your personalities on and off the stage?
Spank and I try to represent who we are off stage as much as we can on stage. It’s quite a playful, light-hearted, not taking anything too seriously friendship we have, and I think that’s where some of our strongest ideas come from.
- Were you and Spank friends before you became comedic business partners?
Yeah we met at uni in 2005. I really didn’t like him when I first him and now I’m a bad person for that… I even tried to make other people not like him. Turns out he’s just a lovely person and he was just trying to be himself and be open and friendly, and I was a little shit. I seriously look back on this in embarrassment.
- Would you ever consider choosing another animal to name your act after? What if someone just decided to draw a really poor picture of a hippopotamus?
Oooooh… Hippo’s – that’s a hard one to represent though. This isn’t an animal but I’ve always loved the word ‘bucket’. I don’t know how you represent that on stage but if we could somehow wear a bucket costume on stage, that would be awesome. Look out 2018!
- And finally, is there one thing you haven’t done on stage yet, but really want to do?
Um… Have a really successful show and gets lots of people to show up. Or be in a show in where Spank doesn’t take his clothes off. He’s got a thing for losing his clothes. Two years ago he went full nude (with some scraps of clothing covering him up) but was totally naked on stage. It’s basically suns out guns out, right?
See Charlie from The Lioness and experience their latest show live at the Tasma Terrace during The Comedy Festival this month.
For more details on their show, head to their website here
Click here to buy your tickets
