Gettin’ political

Comedians Hannah Gadsby and Tom Ballard are both returning to Adelaide Fringe with new shows with a political edge.

Previously presenting as Mrs Chuckles Gadsby is now premiering in Adelaide with Hannah wants a wife to delve into the historical depths of marriage and work out what it really means.

“It’s basically a history of marriage, what is traditional marriage and I kind of work out there is no such thing, it’s been changeable throughout the centuries,” Gadsby notes about her show.

Despite the name of her show Gadsby expresses keenly, including in her attendance of Equal Love rallies, that her main reason for wanting a wife is not about finding a partner but rather having the option to have a wife.

“My reason for attending these things is I like the idea of having choice I think that’s the main reason: choice,” she stated.

“I want a wife. I’d like the choice of being able to have one… Me personally being capable of a fulfilling relationship? That’s an entirely different story.

“It’s just like I want a wife. Wouldn’t you? A little lady looking after you. Would be great.”

If the choice were presented to Gadsby she already knows her wedding would be a low key event and she may even take on the traditional bridal attire.

“Maybe I might even wear a dress, try a new thing, keep it open. A nice long veil, nice long train, a lot of lovely ladies picking it up behind me,” she said imaginatively.

“I wouldn’t include animals in the bridal party that would be a rule. Just a personal thing; I like animals but not in the aisle.”

These themes of marriage and gay rights also mingle within the work of Ballard and his latest show Doing Stuff where he is exploring the reasons why we do certain “stuff”.

“We can only really care about so much stuff,” Ballard highlighted.

“We are constantly told the different ways we can become better people but if you’re realistic about the human race we’re not going to change everything about ourselves all overnight.

“So if we do stuff we really care about then maybe that will help. For me the things I really care about are gay rights and gay marriage and speaking out against stupid, ignorant homophobia.”

Ballard ensured that he went beyond the stage when it came to charging forth with some of his passions.

“I’ve been trying to do some stuff to help, doing stuff in terms of like helping the world and making the world a better place, so like taking action. I tried to start up a petition against the comments Jeff Kennett made,” he said.

As openly same-sex attracted performers, Gadsby and Ballard both described how the presence of their sexuality in their work has had little importance or has been decreasing over time.

Gadsby in particular mentioned that performing in general has been getting easier over time but her sexuality hasn’t created much concern.

“It’s not the focal point, it just is. I just am and I talk about my experience in life. It’s not all I talk about,” she said.

“Sometimes it’s just a throw away line. In this show I talk about a guy who tried to pick me up and it comes up in that because it’s part of the reason I said no to him.”

“Three quarters of the way through my show last year and completely off topic, I wasn’t talking about it and this guy goes ‘I like girls too’. I’m glad you worked that out now,” she added with a chuckle.

The topic of sexuality featured to a greater extent in Ballard’s previous performances but as he confidently notes, “It’s not that crazy for a gay comic to be on stage anymore, it’s not controversial at all… The last couple of shows I have done have been pretty personal.”

His new show is a step away from the personal stories to take the leap into the world of Australian political commentary.

“This is broadening the scope a bit and it’s a bit more about my opinion rather than just a story about something that has happened to me,” he said.

“The last major section of the show is about all the crazy stuff that happened last year in terms of great stuff for the gay rights movement and stupid people that spoke out against it.”

Tom Ballard is performing his show Doing Stuff in the Rhino Room on Frome Street Adelaide from February 21 to 25.

Hannah Gadsby’s show Hannah Wants a Wife is also featuring in the Rhino room from February 21 to March 4.