Alice Fraser Goes For Highbrow Humour In Her Latest Show, 'Empire'

Alice Fraser is a nerd, and she's not afraid to admit it. This book-smart comic might have ended up a top-notch lawyer had she not chucked-in her graduate position at big-time law firm Allens and followed her love of writing and storytelling to the stand-up stage. In a parallel universe, she might well still be working in law, and given the thinking behind her new show, that's a theory she probably agrees with.

Wearing her geeky heart on her sleeve for her latest outing, titled enigmatically Empire, she's turned to the stranger-than-fiction world of theoretical science (and classic cartoons) for comic inspiration. "My show's about quantum physics and Disney villains. It is funny but also serious but mainly funny. But seriously, it's funny," she insists. "I love the mind-blowing weirdness of particle physics and how it still isn't more mind-blowingly weird than the way we tell stories about ourselves."

"It is funny but also serious but mainly funny. But seriously, it's funny."

Fraser is a wowing wordsmith, describing her comic stylings as, "unpredictably meaningful, occasionally silly, narratively unorthodox art-comedy." But despite her big-brained brand of humour, she hasn't made life easy for herself with her chosen subject matter. Finding the funny in physics is no mean feat, but she's perfectly willing to put in the hard yards when it comes to her comedy. "It takes me until the last performance of a show to really finish writing it. I test drive my material the same way they test cars: with expressionless dummies being flung through the windscreen of my mind, while being essentially uncertain whether the tiny electrons which make up my being meant I was a particle, a wave or a cat in a box," she quips.

She's similarly diligent when it comes time to finally take the mic. "Before a show, I tend to have a cup of tea (or three) about an hour before I go on stage. That way the caffeine kicks in right about the same time as the adrenaline," she shares. "Sometimes I overshoot and get the shakes, but if you keep your elbows tight and try to talk slowly, nobody notices."

If the subject Fraser is experimenting with in Empire can be considered impressively highbrow, there's one topic at the other end of the spectrum that she's determined to avoid, despite its seemingly limitless comic potential: President Donald Trump. "I actually talk about not talking about Trump - I'm pretty sure saying his name makes him stronger," she points out. "Also, I hate being cliched and so, so many people are doing great stuff about him that the only original angle that I could do would be going ironically pro-Trump, and I think that's probably how he won in the first place."

Alice Fraser presents Empire, 30 Mar — 23 Apr, The Chinese Museum. Part of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival.