'I Got Very Angry With The Comedy Gods'

Writer, actor and comedian Felicity Ward returns to show us what she has been up to living in London “for nearly a year now”, where her skin has turned a shade she describes as “British translucent”. Always a strong stand-up presence, Ward has also featured on the shows Spick And Specks, Thank God You’re Here and Good News Week just to name a few. Her show focuses on what doesn’t appear on the surface of our national conscience. Basically, Ward has spread her wings, taken to the UK, and has come back to tell us all about ourselves with satirical perspective, ‘inspired’ by her need to write 60 minutes of material and “not come back to Australia a failure”.

It will be “looking at Australia from London: cricket, politics, Twitter stoushes with reverends. The usual”. Ward has never been one to shy away from public or political debate, which recently landed her in a Twitter feud with a reverend about abortion. Sex and abortions are very much on the table for discussion, especially if creating good comedy is concerned. “The development of this one was like good sex: slow and hard. Before I took this show to a couple of festivals in Australia last year, I just couldn’t come up with enough material I was happy with. Then one afternoon in London I wrote about 20 minutes of the show in one go. I got very angry with the comedy gods and told them not to pull any that last minute shit like that again.”

After writers’ block and that day when a stroke of genius hit, the next challenge was figuring out whether all of this material was actually funny. “Comedy is so tricky; there’s only one response that is correct. Anything else is a bonus. But you need to have the laughter first.”
All of her hard work hung in the balance in front of one test audience in Melbourne: “That was petrifying. What if I’d written a winner in my head and a stinker on stage? Turns out if was awwwwright.” Since then, The Iceberg has triumphed with sold out shows in Melbourne, Sydney, Perth, Brisbane and Edinburgh in 2014.

The show pokes just enough fun at Aussie stereotypes, politicians and our dependence on technology for us to laugh at it all but not be offended. She’s also not afraid of sharing personal stories or being sacrilegious. She is high intensity, fast-talking, somehow has time to be colloquial and eloquent at the same time, all while making you laugh. “I think the ending of the show is the most controversial ending I’ve ever had. And definitely the most fun I’ve ever had with an audience.”