Can you learn to be funny? If you had asked me 30 years ago I would have said ‘no’. That was before Alison Pearl, the human Energiser Bunny, dancing queen, and long-standing Chair of the Byron Adult Community College asked me to run a stand-up comedy course. I thought she was crazy. You can’t teach comedy? It’s innate. You are either funny or you’re not. Who would want to watch a bunch of locals try comedy? Even more concerning – who the hell would want to do this to themselves? And have their community bear witness? But I did it anyway – mainly because she’s a really hard person to say ‘no’ to. Her enthusiasm is infectious. And to my surprise, I had a full class. I’ve pretty well always had a full class!
There were 20 people in my first class. It was massive. And I made them all sound like me. 20 versions of Mandy Nolan. Being completely inexperienced as a teacher and only a half-baked comedian at best, I really didn’t have the skill set to do anything except replicate myself. But they were funny, if not a little odd. Middle-aged men doing breastfeeding jokes was a bit unsettling, but we got there. That was 29 years ago. Our graduation show was at the iconic Mexican Micks which became the iconic Cheeky Monkeys, now sadly waiting its contemporary reimagining.
Since its inception, I have taught over 2,000 people how to perform stand-up comedy. That’s through the college, and privately. Most of them have not gone on to be comedians. Most just cross ‘perform a comedy set’ off their bucket list and go back to their day job, or couch, or they leave town. They may not be playing live at The Apollo but they’ve gained new skills, they’ll give a kick-arse speech at their next family wedding, they’ve made new friends and they’ve developed a unique skill for laughing at adversity, rather than just being crushed by it. Honestly, stand-up comedy classes should be Medicare rebateable!
But there have been those few who have found their voice. Once the fire has been lit, they’ve used their comedy skills to bring joy to the masses. Hannah Gadsby is still the most successful of all my Adult Community College graduates. She has her own Netflix show and won an Emmy. That’s pretty bloody good. I ran into her a few years ago outside Melbourne Town Hall when I was performing at the comedy festival. She thanked me for my support, and the early years of mentoring. That meant a lot to me. I’ve always mentored comedians, particularly women – because it’s a hard industry to break through, particularly for women.
My fabulous colleague Ellen Briggs told her friends she was learning the piano when she did my course. I could see her light burning bright. She was wickedly funny. She went on to be a National RAW finalist at Melbourne International Comedy Festival and for the last ten years we’ve toured Women Like Us around the country, performing to over 100,000 ecstatically laughing, very excited women.
Alexandra Hudson was another of my students who won RAW recently and has embarked on a professional career, Vanessa Mitchell now tours her one-woman show internationally, John Peacock is the carpet cleaner turned comedian who runs fabulous comedy rooms. There’s way too many to mention by name – except for Torren – who’s just 16, but he’s been doing my comedy classes since he was eight. This is his sixth class. He’s got comedy in his blood.
So this 16 are my last class. I have loved teaching. The nurses, the teachers, the bagpipe players, the venture capitalists, the sex workers, the pilates instructors, the mechanics, the sewerage engineers, the lawyers, the doctors, the waitresses, the jugglers, the tax accountants. I’ve loved you all. And I learnt how to teach. You don’t replicate, you give people the tools to be themselves. Because that’s hypnotic. When someone is truly authentically absolutely themselves you cannot look away!
So come and check out our final graduation, The Virgin Sacrifice! I am the host. It’s at the Mullum Ex-Services Club on Wednesday, 9 April at 7pm. Tickets are just $20 on mandynolan.com.au or just google ‘Virgin Sacrifice in Mullum’ and you’ll get a hit! That’s funny on its own.
So if you’re all disappointed you never got to learn stand up, don’t be, the fabulous Ellen Briggs will keep it going! The show must go on!
Mandy Nolan’s Soapbox column has appeared in The Echo for almost 23 years. The personal and the political often meet here; she’s also been the Greens federal candidate since before the last federal election. The Echo’s coverage of political issues will remain as comprehensive and fair as it has ever been, outside this opinion column which, as always, contains Mandy’s personal opinions only.
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
