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Legally, Alexandra Hudson can\u2019t have sex in Queensland. The emerging comedian lives with cerebral palsy, and the state\u2019s criminal code forbids \u201ccarnal knowledge\u201d with anyone with a \u201cmental impairment\u201d.<\/p>\n
The winner of the annual Raw Comedy competition in 2022, Hudson is determined to use her comedy to shed light on this outrageous state of affairs.<\/p>\n
At this year\u2019s Sydney Fringe, she\u2019ll be doing just that with her first show, Making Lemonade<\/i>.<\/p>\n
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Alexandra Hudson is using her comedy to celebrate disability.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve always wanted to write a show about attitudes around sex and disability and my experiences dating,\u201d she explains. \u201cI\u2019m really proud to be disabled, and a lot of people consider us the lemons of the world, but I\u2019m going to flip that into a positive.\u201d<\/p>\n She believes people are more open to hearing other perspectives when they\u2019re presented in the form of comedy. \u201cI\u2019m talking about things that might be confronting or uncomfortable, but the goal is always to make people laugh at the end of it, and I think that\u2019s helped a lot of people to understand.\u201d<\/p>\n Hudson is not the only alum of Raw to be bringing their debut hour to Sydney Fringe this year. Melbourne comic Henry Yan won this year\u2019s competition.<\/p>\n Growing up, Henry Yan\u2019s family had just one towel between them. But he didn\u2019t know this was unusual until he went to other kids\u2019 houses and was confused by the apparent luxury of individual towels. It\u2019s one of the anecdotes that made up his winning set.<\/p>\n His family enjoyed their moment in the spotlight. \u201cThey loved it, which was nice,\u201d Yan says. \u201cThough I didn\u2019t ask for their permission, I just did it,\u201d he says with a laugh.<\/p>\n The win took him to Edinburgh Fringe earlier this month to compete in the So You Think You\u2019re Funny? competition, where household names like Sara Pascoe and Daniel Sloss got their start.<\/p>\n Another comedian on the rise who is taking their first show to Sydney Fringe is Meg Jager from Brisbane, who also made this year\u2019s Raw national final.<\/p>\n Meg Jager made it into this year\u2019s Raw Comedy final.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Henry Sheerman<\/cite><\/p>\n She credits the city\u2019s famously raucous comedy scene for her fast ascent: \u201cI think we\u2019re refined through trials of fire because there are so many shocking gigs in RSLs and pubs. That\u2019s why there\u2019s such a strong scene; we\u2019ve all already done the worst gigs ever within our first month of comedy.\u201d<\/p>\n Brisbane has long been an incubator of some of Australia\u2019s most luminous comedy talent, from last year\u2019s Edinburgh Comedy Award winner Sam Campbell to Becky Lucas \u2013 one of Jager\u2019s industry idols.<\/p>\n \u201cI remember finding her videos and realising: \u2018Oh, you can be like that and be a comedian!\u2019 I hadn\u2019t heard a voice like hers before,\u201d says Jager.<\/p>\n Based in Ballina, Hudson got her first taste of comedy in local legend Mandy Nolan\u2019s workshops. \u201cOne of my friends sent me a text saying, \u2018You need to stop hassling us and channel this energy. You should enrol in Mandy\u2019s course and start writing bits\u2019 \u2026 He was right, annoyingly.\u201d<\/p>\n Stand-up is a space where she feels she can be her authentic self. \u201cI\u2019ve never felt that in a space before,\u201d she reflects. \u201cI thought it would be the most terrifying thing to perform, but I\u2019ve found it to be the opposite, which is awesome.\u201d<\/p>\n Yan, meanwhile, started comedy around three years ago in New Zealand, and has attracted attention with his nerdy but confident stage persona, somewhat reminiscent of the finely tuned silliness of one of his comedy heroes, Guy Montgomery.<\/p>\n He is currently writing his Fringe show, Bored Game, <\/i>which he expects to be heavy on improvisation and crowd work.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not sure how it\u2019s going to go because a lot of it is very new stuff,\u201d he says. \u201cI don\u2019t expect much turnout. If you come, you\u2019re a brave soul.\u201d<\/p>\n Henry Yan started comedy in New Zealand around three years ago.<\/span><\/p>\n Jager\u2019s Fringe show has its roots in a nerdy teenage obsession \u2013 looking up the great speeches of history and teasing out what made them powerful.<\/p>\n Now Jager is a history teacher, especially interested in the 15th and 16th centuries. This fascination feeds into her work-in-progress show, which she\u2019d eventually like to call Renaissance Woman<\/i>.<\/p>\n \u201cObviously, I haven\u2019t been beheaded or anything like that, but I\u2019m interested in how that period mirrors my own life,\u201d she says. \u201cI\u2019ve included comparisons to venereal disease, plague, fashion, monarchy \u2013 you know, all the things that happened in the Renaissance and also to me.\u201d<\/p>\n Alexandra Hudson: <\/b>Making Lemonade <\/i><\/b>is at Factory Theatre from August 30 to September 3. <\/b>Meg Jager:<\/b> Rough Draft <\/i><\/b>is at Factory Theatre on August 30 and September 1. <\/b>Henry Yan: <\/b>Bored Game <\/i><\/b>is at Factory Theatre on August 30 and September 1.<\/b><\/p>\n Find out the next TV, streaming series and movies to add to your must-sees. <\/i><\/b>Get The Watchlist delivered every Thursday<\/i><\/b>.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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