Honesty Games

26 March 2014 | 8:40 am | Brendan Hitchens

"British audiences don’t care that you’ve come a long way – there’s an element of 'We made you. So you better be funny or we will let you know.'"

Felicity Ward's 2011 show, Honestly, was true to its title, while last year's follow-up, The Hedgehog Dilemma, saw Melbourne newspaper, The Age, describe it as, “so honest it hurts”. Ward's latest show, The Iceberg takes things to another level. “Candour has never been an issue for me,” she says. “I had a story about crapping behind a bus shelter in my second show. It's just whether it's funny or not.”

Centred on the idea of perspective, The Iceberg traverses a gamut of topical themes. “You can expect bits on Twitter bullying, Helena Bonham Carter and Tim Burton, over-30s hotlines, breast cancer awareness campaigns, asylum seekers and our inability as a nation to write good songs to sing at the cricket.”

The promo photo for The Iceberg sees Ward sitting nonchalantly with a cockatoo perched on her arm. “Because I was in the UK when we took the photos, the cockatoo cost more than the photographer! The cockatoo and I had a real bond. The owner (Cock wrangler?) was bald, so the bird was amazed by my massive hair.”
The 33-year-old who grew up on the NSW Central Coast now bases herself between London and Melbourne. “Someone asked me where I live the other day and I couldn't give them an answer. I have stuff in storage in Melbourne and London. Basically I just like haemorrhaging money and giving myself a real sense of geographical instability. It's the only way to live!”

Relocating to embrace the world-class comedy scene, she says it's improved her art. “British audiences don't care that you've come a long way – there's an element of 'We made you. So you better be funny or we will let you know.' So if you do well, you know you've earnt it.” Locally, Ward's profile rose through television performances on Thank God You're Here, Spick And Specks and, more recently, a TV commercial for a yoghurt company. “I haven't really been in Australia to cop any flack. If they're still playing it when I get home I reckon there'll be a bit of 'what a dickhead' yelled out at some stage. I look forward to seeing what Australia has prepared for me.”