Brisbane Comedy Festival Focus: Alex Ward

What's your show called? Quiet

Could you please give us a brief description of your show? Girl has bad teeth. Girl's family focuses on that way too much. Girl's teeth aren't so bad now, but she uses excessive attention on mouth against family and eventually the world. Girl thinks about corn chips a lot, but shows great restraint and only mentions them once in her show. Now, here's the twist: the girl in the story is actually me.

How's it feel to be doing your debut hour of solo stand-up? It's very exciting! This is something I have been working towards the last year - I've been a disgusting, dirty 'gig pig' (fancy industry jargon), jumping up on stage as much as possible to feel ready to take on this hour and I'm happy (and the audience should be too) to say I do feel ready. It has been very rewarding seeing the last four years of hard work coming together to actually happen and make a show.

How was the reaction to Quiet in Perth? It was well-received, mostly! I had one matinee show which was entirely made up of Belgium exchange students who didn't speak English and my live Belgium translator was sick that day, but even they left with smiles on their faces! A smile is international language. Four guys from the audience of another show took me out for dinner and drinks. We stayed out until 4am. I would say that their reaction was so positive that it was almost a negative, because if that kept happening I would eventually die.

Are you excited to bring it back to your home state? I definitely am. I have a few bottles of sunscreen I need to use up before they go off and I'm excited to see mum's pantry. Doing my debut solo show in my hometown where I started doing stand-up will be a very special experience for me.

What's your pre-show ritual? How do you unwind after a show? Pre-show: Try not to have a beer. Unwind: Have a beer.

QLD is coming in third for Australia's most populous state, what advice can you give Queenslanders to close the gap on VIC and NSW? Accept that it's hot and that it pours torrential rain in the afternoons and don't let that stop you doing stuff. I know when I lived there I would be too hot or too soaked to want to leave the house then, when I started doing stand-up, I had to go out to be there. Problem was, crowds were small because they were all like me - at home surviving the weather. Push through: make shows happen by being a crowd and encouraging performers to keep performing.