Felicity Ward’s new show relies a lot on toilet humour, but not the usual kind.
What If There Is No Toilet?sees the widely loved local comedian continue her mission to tell it like it is with mental health, exploring her experiences with anxiety, depression and chronic irritable bowel syndrome, and her longest-running relationship: with the toilet.
“I used to be so embarrassed about [irritable bowel syndrome], and I would never talk to anyone about it,” says Ward. “And then when I got diagnosed with anxiety and found out the two conditions were linked and it was really common, it made me feel so relieved – no pun intended.”
Ward’s Sydney Comedy Festival show comes on the back of her successful ABC TV special Felicity’s Mental Mission in the middle of last year. Ward also took her gut-bustingly funny observations and joyfully energetic stage persona to the world in 2015, with performances around New York and LA, at the Edinburgh Fringe, Montreal’s Just For Laughs and the Jive Cape Town Funny Festival. For Ward, the opportunity to test her material on new audiences was equal parts nerve-racking and a learning experience.
“It’s really rewarding when you go to a new territory and your comedy works, but it’s also terrifying, and I think that’s part of stand-up – constantly being terrified about whether you’re making the right or wrong move,” she says.
Ward explains that her relocation to London almost three years ago has also aided in her development as a comedian. “You can’t live in London and get worse – you just have to get better living there or you won’t have a career. Like, even if I fought against it, I’d still probably be a little better by now – I hope.”
Today, Ward is fearless and upfront when talking about mental health in her TV and stand-up work. It was actually the period immediately following her diagnosis with anxiety and depression that helped her become comfortable speaking freely on these topics. “Initially I was really frustrated other people weren’t really talking about it. But then I remembered how hard it was to have it, and how you don’t really want to tell people you’re going crazy, so rather than getting angry about people who weren’t talking about it, I started talking about it, and I love it.
“I did a gig the other day in some part of the UK, and I ended up staying with the person who was running the gig, and they had a daughter who had been having panic attacks recently, and so we just had a two-hour chat about what I do and how I get through them and in between. So I love talking about it, and that’s why I love doing this show. One, it’s the show I’m most proud of and I think it’s the funniest I’ve ever written, but two, if people are on your side, they’re really on your side with this stuff.”
Felicity Ward’s What If There Is No Toilet?takes place at Giant Dwarf on Saturday April 23 and Sunday April 24, as part of Sydney Comedy Festival 2016.
