Joanne Degarian Is Something Special
Joanne Degarian is something new in the world of comedy. With her unique and theatrical style of writing and performance, she has something special you just can't quite put your finger on. Poised to start previews of her highly anticipated new work, Katharsis, we invited her for a cup of tea and a quick chat.
It's quite the tagline for a comedy show, 'not for those who don't like the sight of blood' so we asked Joanne what was on your mind when you started writing Katharsis? She smiles, pauses, the replies:
"I had the idea: how far could I go with blood and violence and still have it be funny. Or rather, could I go too far but make it acceptable by making it funny?Then my brain started throwing in ideas from Ancient Greece, French Theatre of Cruelty, Freud, fake blood, eyeballs, Dave... it really just wrote itself"
Joanne Degarian has been described as 'a natural stand up' and 'So so so so funny' however, no one, including Joanne herself, can accurately pin down what she does. Theatrical comedy is the closest so far, but even that doesn't quite cover her original, creative, unusual approach.
"I take comedy seriously.” she muses. This is not just a witty comment; Joanne is actually serious. She chose comedy as a vehicle for her creative outputs because it, by default, has no fourth wall. "The audience are the centre of the show, not me. Without them there is no show. The experience is for them. And I think of comedy as a conspiracy with the audience not against it. Comedy should not divide, it should unite us as humans, beings full of life, feeling, imagination."
She glances at her blue nails for a moment, and continues: "In a world full of trigger warnings and censorship, we're being encouraged not to feel, and that's dangerous. On an individual level, we feel very deeply; compassion, empathy, injustice... and these feelings inspire us to shape our world for the better. Comedy allows us to feel as a group, it shows our shared experience and we can indulge safely in very painful ideas together and come out safe but realigned with ourselves and our values.
Comedy, and it's dissolving anarchic power, is a social necessity if humanity is going to continue as the awesome thing it is." Then she giggles. "And once you approach it with that behind it changes it massively. I want my audience to react to me on stage, hence the blood in this particular show. After all, we don't just laugh because something is funny. Laughter is a reaction, and if my audience laugh then they've reacted to the idea I'm trying to communicate. That's all I want, on the bigger scale, to have fun with ideas and my audience."
So how does that work with blood and eyeballs? "Well, the description of the show is 'Together, we will live through the gratituitous violence of irrational petty anger..and love it.' The idea is that without the opportunity to live out repressed desires through watching someone else, they fester and eventually have to be expressed in reality. Which is bad, right? So it's a an evening of therapy, with blood and gore, some eyeballs... lots of fun for everyone" She has such a look of glee.
She leans back, inspects her blue nails again, and looks me dead in the eye: "Comedy, and it's dissolving anarchic power, is a social necessity if humanity is going to continue as the awesome thing it is. And it can't become subject to middle of the road, same jokes, same story situation seen in other media. It IS an art, and it is a form of expression that's very, very important."
I'm so intrigued by all of this I want to ask her to do the show right now.
She adds, unprompted: "Historically, the only rule of comedy is that you don't die. So as long as I manage that, I can do anything I like"
She finished her tea, and the interview is complete.
I can't pin down exactly who she is or what she does. All I know is I want more of it. She can be followed on her Instagram @joannedegarian
