文字起こし 🔗
WEBVTT
1
00:00:02.439 --> 00:00:05.440
Well listeners. As you know, over the past few weeks,
2
00:00:05.480 --> 00:00:08.080
Kyle and I have been getting out and seeing a
3
00:00:08.119 --> 00:00:11.160
lot of shows at this year's Melbourne International Comedy Festival,
4
00:00:11.199 --> 00:00:13.359
but we've also been sitting down and chatting to a
5
00:00:13.400 --> 00:00:16.280
few of the comedians who have shows in this year's
6
00:00:16.280 --> 00:00:19.600
festival as well. And the latest comedian that we're now
7
00:00:19.679 --> 00:00:22.440
sitting down to have a chat with is Jane Steer.
8
00:00:22.719 --> 00:00:25.839
Jane has got an amazing show at this year's festival
9
00:00:25.920 --> 00:00:28.719
called Addicted, and we thought we would get Jane on
10
00:00:28.760 --> 00:00:30.559
the phone to chat a little bit about it. So
11
00:00:30.679 --> 00:00:32.119
welcome to the program, Jane.
12
00:00:33.000 --> 00:00:34.280
Thank you so much for having me.
13
00:00:34.560 --> 00:00:38.000
No worries now, Jane, tell us a little bit about
14
00:00:38.039 --> 00:00:41.399
Addicted as a show, because this is a deeply personal
15
00:00:41.520 --> 00:00:43.759
show for you, So tell us a little bit about
16
00:00:43.840 --> 00:00:45.399
how Addicted came into being.
17
00:00:46.479 --> 00:00:50.479
Yeah. So, unfortunately, I had a really shocking year last year.
18
00:00:50.920 --> 00:00:55.759
I unfortunately lost my mother to motor neuron disease and
19
00:00:55.799 --> 00:01:01.479
we had a very strange relationship, and unfortunately it brought
20
00:01:01.560 --> 00:01:03.359
up a lot of you know, issues that I hadn't
21
00:01:03.359 --> 00:01:06.280
dealt with from a long time ago, and I found
22
00:01:06.280 --> 00:01:11.319
myself diagnosed with CBTSD, not long after she passed. So
23
00:01:11.799 --> 00:01:14.640
I ended up going to Thailand to this luxury retreat,
24
00:01:15.719 --> 00:01:19.920
and that in itself just was such an incredible experience.
25
00:01:20.000 --> 00:01:22.480
And that's what the show is about. It's really about
26
00:01:22.480 --> 00:01:25.879
that last year of just you know, really going through
27
00:01:26.359 --> 00:01:28.439
the worst that life can kind of throw at you,
28
00:01:28.519 --> 00:01:30.959
and going, well, you know, how can I take these
29
00:01:31.040 --> 00:01:33.400
lemons and turn them into lemonade, or you know, take
30
00:01:33.439 --> 00:01:35.200
the trauma and turn it into a text right off
31
00:01:35.200 --> 00:01:36.439
in air show? You know?
32
00:01:37.079 --> 00:01:39.879
So, yeah, I was going to ask that because that
33
00:01:40.040 --> 00:01:43.040
is such a terrible year and I'm so sorry that
34
00:01:43.079 --> 00:01:45.840
you've had to go through that. I know what that's like.
35
00:01:45.920 --> 00:01:48.319
I went through a really rough year a couple of
36
00:01:48.439 --> 00:01:50.719
years ago myself, and I know it's not easy to
37
00:01:50.760 --> 00:01:54.560
get through. So how do you go from going through that,
38
00:01:54.760 --> 00:01:57.560
getting through that, and then actually turning it into a
39
00:01:57.599 --> 00:02:00.879
show where you can laugh about it but also get
40
00:02:00.920 --> 00:02:02.719
other people to laugh about it as well.
41
00:02:03.879 --> 00:02:07.120
Yeah, I mean, I think for me, so, I'm the
42
00:02:07.239 --> 00:02:10.000
eldest daughter in my family and I had to take
43
00:02:10.080 --> 00:02:13.639
on mothering responsibilities from a very young age. I'm one
44
00:02:13.719 --> 00:02:18.039
of seven, and so for me, you know, part of
45
00:02:18.479 --> 00:02:23.319
helping kids through some really traumatic times as children was
46
00:02:23.520 --> 00:02:26.319
getting them to laugh. You know, if you can take
47
00:02:26.400 --> 00:02:29.719
something negative and somehow put a positive spin on it,
48
00:02:29.800 --> 00:02:33.960
even if it's really, you know, potentially inappropriate to other people.
49
00:02:34.080 --> 00:02:36.000
But that's just you know, that's how I've dealt with
50
00:02:36.039 --> 00:02:38.560
a lot of trauma in the past, and there's a
51
00:02:38.560 --> 00:02:40.840
lot of strength and beauty in that. You know, there
52
00:02:40.840 --> 00:02:43.319
are some people who will write music or write poetry.
53
00:02:43.919 --> 00:02:48.360
I personally have just always, you know, found comedy as
54
00:02:49.080 --> 00:02:52.680
the thing that came to me naturally. So yeah, now.
55
00:02:52.560 --> 00:02:54.919
I have to ask, because I've found Thailand to be
56
00:02:54.960 --> 00:02:59.599
a great place to go and recover and to let
57
00:02:59.680 --> 00:03:02.080
go of pain. And I'm lucky enough that I work
58
00:03:02.159 --> 00:03:04.120
for a Thai outlet, so I get to go over
59
00:03:04.159 --> 00:03:07.840
there quite often. But how did you find that experience
60
00:03:07.840 --> 00:03:10.680
of being in Thailand? Because I just find being around
61
00:03:10.759 --> 00:03:15.639
Thai people so refreshing, but also they seem to know
62
00:03:15.680 --> 00:03:17.759
the right things to say when you're going through a
63
00:03:17.759 --> 00:03:18.360
tough time.
64
00:03:19.919 --> 00:03:23.919
Yeah, you know, I think that there's a reason that
65
00:03:24.000 --> 00:03:27.080
a lot of Westerners find themselves in Thailand and particularly
66
00:03:27.159 --> 00:03:30.879
in Chang Mai. I think that it offers a different
67
00:03:30.919 --> 00:03:34.840
perspective to our lives and when I went to Thailand
68
00:03:34.840 --> 00:03:38.919
for the first time about fifteen years ago. I was
69
00:03:38.960 --> 00:03:42.800
just blown away by how simple life can be and
70
00:03:42.840 --> 00:03:45.560
how happy people can be, you know, whereas in in
71
00:03:46.039 --> 00:03:47.840
I guess in Australia, I feel like, you know, we're
72
00:03:47.840 --> 00:03:50.479
always striving for more, for better, for bigger, for you
73
00:03:50.520 -->
Load full transcript
00:03:54.159
know this, for that, and we're still unhappy. So yeah,
74
00:03:54.240 --> 00:03:56.000
I think, and I think that's why I decided to
75
00:03:56.039 --> 00:03:59.280
go there for this retreat was because I thought in Australia,
76
00:03:59.319 --> 00:04:01.439
I'm going to be surround by that same mentality. I
77
00:04:01.479 --> 00:04:03.240
just need to get out and get away and get
78
00:04:03.240 --> 00:04:07.080
a different perspective. And yeah, it was wonderful. I really
79
00:04:07.400 --> 00:04:10.479
recommend anyone who needs a bit of a menty bee
80
00:04:10.520 --> 00:04:12.800
break to have a nice little trips Thailand.
81
00:04:13.159 --> 00:04:15.560
Yeah. I remember talking to one of the taxi drivers
82
00:04:15.599 --> 00:04:18.000
over there once and he said to me, as long
83
00:04:18.040 --> 00:04:20.279
as I can put food on the table for my
84
00:04:20.399 --> 00:04:23.680
family every night and my family are happy, I'm happy.
85
00:04:23.720 --> 00:04:26.279
And I thought that is such an amazing way to
86
00:04:26.399 --> 00:04:29.800
live life. It's not about having a fancy phone or
87
00:04:29.839 --> 00:04:32.800
a fancy laptop or anything like that. Just as long
88
00:04:32.839 --> 00:04:38.040
as your family's happy, you're happy. I thought that was great. Yeah, So, Jane,
89
00:04:38.360 --> 00:04:41.560
tell us a little bit about the name addicted. Where
90
00:04:41.560 --> 00:04:43.759
did that come from? As well, because I'm sure there's
91
00:04:43.759 --> 00:04:45.800
people out there thinking, oh, my goodness, what did she
92
00:04:45.800 --> 00:04:49.240
get addicted to painkillers? Alcohol? Tell us a little bit
93
00:04:49.279 --> 00:04:51.560
about the addiction side of things.
94
00:04:52.759 --> 00:04:56.439
Yeah, So I had actually been sober first seven years,
95
00:04:57.519 --> 00:05:01.240
and then unfortunately when my mom, just before my mom passed,
96
00:05:01.240 --> 00:05:07.120
I relapsed on alcohol. And unfortunately, you know, that kind
97
00:05:07.120 --> 00:05:09.319
of set me into a spiral where I realized that
98
00:05:09.959 --> 00:05:11.800
I actually had an addiction to a lot of things
99
00:05:11.839 --> 00:05:16.079
in my life. But because I wasn't coming to terms
100
00:05:16.120 --> 00:05:19.879
with what I was, you know, I wasn't coming to
101
00:05:19.920 --> 00:05:22.120
terms with a lot of trauma from my childhood or
102
00:05:22.160 --> 00:05:25.600
the fact that my mom didn't love me, and in turn,
103
00:05:25.680 --> 00:05:29.839
I developed this really unhealthy love addiction in rehab or
104
00:05:29.839 --> 00:05:34.120
in this retreat in Thailand. So yeah, so it was
105
00:05:34.160 --> 00:05:38.680
an observation of like, you know, as humans will naturally
106
00:05:38.800 --> 00:05:41.360
just jump from one addiction to another to another to another,
107
00:05:41.720 --> 00:05:45.360
and until we address that underlying trauma, you know, we're
108
00:05:45.399 --> 00:05:49.000
never going to be satisfied or be happy. And that's
109
00:05:49.079 --> 00:05:51.680
ultimately what you know, I try to get that massive
110
00:05:51.720 --> 00:05:54.240
message through at the end that you know, I've got
111
00:05:54.240 --> 00:05:56.519
to find that peace within myself before I start trying
112
00:05:56.560 --> 00:05:59.720
to fill it with other things like people, for instance.
113
00:05:59.759 --> 00:06:03.000
So yeah, yeah, definitely. Now I've noticed as well. But
114
00:06:03.000 --> 00:06:05.560
of course we're in the middle of the festival, so
115
00:06:05.680 --> 00:06:08.920
you have had some performances already and you've got three left.
116
00:06:09.040 --> 00:06:12.279
But how have you found the audiences have received the show?
117
00:06:12.360 --> 00:06:14.680
Because a few years ago, I remember going and seeing
118
00:06:14.680 --> 00:06:18.240
a show done by Sarah Marie, a very very talented
119
00:06:18.839 --> 00:06:22.040
comedian who was talking about fertility issues, and it was
120
00:06:22.160 --> 00:06:26.839
such a personal show, but so many audience members burst
121
00:06:26.879 --> 00:06:29.720
into tears and went up to her afterwards. How have
122
00:06:29.839 --> 00:06:33.480
you found that with talking about such personal things?
123
00:06:34.360 --> 00:06:39.199
Yeah, you know, it's really beautiful experience as a performer
124
00:06:39.759 --> 00:06:43.519
that you get to share a unique connection with each
125
00:06:43.600 --> 00:06:48.279
audience member. And honestly, like, I haven't had anyone cry,
126
00:06:48.279 --> 00:06:50.240
which is great because last year when I did my show,
127
00:06:50.519 --> 00:06:52.759
a different show, I did have someone cry. So this year,
128
00:06:52.879 --> 00:06:57.519
no cry. Yeah, but the people that come up to
129
00:06:57.560 --> 00:07:00.839
me afterwards, you know, I've had someone that also was
130
00:07:00.920 --> 00:07:03.360
two people that were in sobriety and just so happened
131
00:07:03.360 --> 00:07:04.759
to see my show, and we're like we'll just go
132
00:07:04.839 --> 00:07:07.399
check it out. And they said it was really great
133
00:07:07.399 --> 00:07:10.000
timing because it reminded them of why they were sober,
134
00:07:10.120 --> 00:07:13.560
and you know, it just that was really special to me.
135
00:07:13.600 --> 00:07:15.120
And then I've had a few people who have lost
136
00:07:15.160 --> 00:07:17.920
their mothers as well to motor neuron disease and them
137
00:07:17.959 --> 00:07:20.399
coming up and telling me, you know, I've never been
138
00:07:20.439 --> 00:07:23.800
able to laugh about, you know, how horrible this disease is,
139
00:07:23.839 --> 00:07:25.680
but you gave me a bit of space to kind
140
00:07:25.720 --> 00:07:29.399
of acknowledge that it's just really crappy and that's okay,
141
00:07:29.639 --> 00:07:33.680
like you know, and that's that is so beautiful knowing
142
00:07:33.680 --> 00:07:36.000
that something that I have written has then you know,
143
00:07:36.160 --> 00:07:38.319
also had an impact on someone else and made them
144
00:07:38.319 --> 00:07:42.240
feel seen and that is such a unique and special
145
00:07:42.279 --> 00:07:44.560
experience as a performer and probably the best part of
146
00:07:44.600 --> 00:07:45.319
it all, I think.
147
00:07:45.439 --> 00:07:48.439
So yeah, definitely Now for people out there, if you
148
00:07:48.480 --> 00:07:51.480
do want to head along and see Jane's show Addicted.
149
00:07:51.600 --> 00:07:54.959
It's on eight o'clock each night at Underground Comedy. It's
150
00:07:55.000 --> 00:07:59.279
got three shows left, so seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth, and
151
00:07:59.720 --> 00:08:03.480
you can grab tickets from the Comedy Festival website and
152
00:08:03.519 --> 00:08:05.720
we'll put a link up on our website as well.
153
00:08:05.959 --> 00:08:08.120
But Jane, to finish off, what would you like to
154
00:08:08.160 --> 00:08:10.360
say to people out there who are thinking about heading
155
00:08:10.360 --> 00:08:12.160
out and seeing Addicted this weekend.
156
00:08:13.319 --> 00:08:16.199
Yeah, I mean definitely come along. You don't have to
157
00:08:16.199 --> 00:08:20.680
worry about packing tissues, but definitely bring your Harry Potter
158
00:08:20.920 --> 00:08:24.079
knowledge that will be important and just be ready to
159
00:08:24.079 --> 00:08:25.920
have a good laugh at some really dark humor.
160
00:08:26.680 --> 00:08:28.839
Definitely, And once again for all our listeners out there,
161
00:08:28.879 --> 00:08:30.879
if you want to see Jane show. Addicted is on
162
00:08:31.000 --> 00:08:33.759
eight o'clock each night at Underground Comedy. It's got three
163
00:08:33.799 --> 00:08:36.720
shows left seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth and you can grab
164
00:08:36.799 --> 00:08:40.200
tickets from the Comedy Festival dot com dot au