A mother/daughter tiff is a common thing.
To invite a tent full of strangers to witness said tiff in hopes they find it entertaining is a little more offbeat.
Colette Andersen and Georgia Struckel will bear their gripes to a former hometown audience in their show It’s Genetic at the North Australian Festival of Arts this Saturday, 2 July.
Finding Comedy
Mum Colette took her first foray into comedy after moving from Townsville to Emerald a few years ago.
“I used to do lots of emcee work in the local area and that sort of evolved from me emceeing as myself into comedic characters,” says Collette.
“Then we moved to Brisbane and I started going to open mic comedy. At first I’d say ‘Oh, just let me watch’. But watching didn’t last long, I’m the sort of person who just wanted to get in and do it.”
Comedy soon piqued Georgia’s interest, too.
With a shiny new acting degree under her arm, Georgia enlisted in a comedy course to develop a theoretical knowledge.
“I think I got maybe two of three solo sets in before Mum said ‘Alright, you’re ready for your own comedy show’. So that’s how we got together to create It’s Genetic.”
Bearing it all
Colette and Georgia took a no-holds-barred approach to mining material from their own lives for the show.
“When we were writing it, I would say ‘George, what really annoys you about me?’,” Colette says.
“You can’t be precious when it comes to writing jokes about each other,” adds Georgia.
“We really got into deconstructing our entire relationship and putting it together into a nice, neat little package.”
The pair’s honesty has won over audiences thus far.
“People come back after a show and say ‘My daughter and I are exactly the same’,” Colette says.
“And it’s not just a female thing. Plenty of men come to our shows and see their mums or daughters or sisters up on stage. It’s very honest.”
Catch It’s Genetic at the North Australian Festival of Arts on 2 July 2022.
