A new podcast retelling eye-watering professional embarrasments, Worst Gigs is far funnier than a lot of the experiences it documents. I wanted to ask Frankie McNair – the podcast's host and emotional guide – what makes these bad stories so funny to retell?
"I think what's funny is, at the time, the gigs aren't funny. You want to die, its feels so intense, and so real. But then in hindsight, you have a bit of breathing room, and it puts into perspective how dumb that moment was, even though you may have taken it so seriously."
"There's an episode I've recorded with Danny Bensley, with the funniest story I think I've ever heard. All I'll say is it involves him being in a rap-comedy group, and a glass door. I've never laughed that hard: it is the best thing I've ever heard."
"And I'm always interested to hear what others are finding funny. I did an episode with Erin Michelle, which I thought was quite a moving episode, in that it was funny, but it had touching moments. Then I got all these messages saying "funniest episode dude", so I guess I have no idea."
Talking further, Frankie raises resilience as a theme, recognising that on the podcast "you see people who six years ago had the worst gig of their life, and they're still performing." As a comedian who's own experience now includes performing across most of Australia – as well as a tour to New Zealand – I wanted to know if there was a particular experience which had driven Frankie to seek out other performer's bad experiences, and retell them for the world?
"I was talking to Miriam Slater, who I perform in Sweaty Pits with, and we were talking about our tour in 2019, and some of the situations we were in. At the time were saying, "where's the handbook? Are we doing this right? Does this shit happen to everyone?" And I don't think I realised the answer to those questions was no, and that this happens to everyone, probably until I started the podcast. I've always had massive imposter syndrome, and then in speaking to friends and starting the podcast, I realised it was happening to everyone."
"Now I think its just the nature of it. And it's very funny when you hear the weird shit that's happened to others and you can relate."
Of course, there's also plenty of very unfunny bad gig experiences in comedy communities. From hosting a podcast specifically about bad experiences, can you share any thoughts on how gigs could become safer for performers?
"What's been interesting in doing this podcast, is almost every time I've spoken to a woman or non-binary person, they have had a story about feeling uncomfortable at a gig. And every time I'm speaking with a guy, its just banter. So they're such different worlds that we're experiencing."
"I'm trying to do something at the moment, in that when I got back to Canberra, we started a room, and the value system of it is safe and inclusive. We do really basic stuff, like emailing our values to everyone who's going to be on the line-up, and we ask that they don't do any material which is homophobic, transphobic, racist, sexist, ableist. We offer that if you're worried about a joke, or want to run it by us, feel free to, and there's no judgement if its not appropriate for the room. I think its about opening the dialogue, and if you're not sure about a joke, running it by someone and getting feedback. And if you do get feedback, listening to it, rather than getting defensive about it."
"With room runners, I think its really important that we talk about when we don't feel comfortable around someone. Because, as women, we're almost used to it. We shrug it off as "just a shitty thing that happens", but it isn't something we should have to tolerate. We should be able to be in a space and not feel uncomfortable. But its such a vulnerable thing to ask for, and you can almost gaslight yourself by asking whether its going to be easier to say nothing."
"But I'm hoping if there's a universal push to say "we're not putting up with", then these problems will happen less. And with any kind of movement you're going to have people pushing back, and being defensive, because it brings up stuff for everyone, but its just about working through it."
Last, returning to the podcast itself, what does Frankie want audiences to take away from Worst Gigs?
"If you're doing something that you love, its always going to hurt when it isn't going well. But that doesn't mean you stop doing it. Because that's the only difference between people who are living their dreams, and not: they still have shit days, but they keep doing. So it's about resilience, and being able to laugh about the shit things. Not in an overly toxically-positive way, but in a way that accepts the bad is a part of it, and its never going to not be a part of it, and that's okay."
You can find Worst Gigs on your preferred streaming service here.