In her debut hour, award-winning NZ comedian dives into the delicate art of keeping a cat (your inner weirdo) hidden in a bag. A joyous hour of unique storytelling and observations told with the voice of a kids cartoon and cheeky wit of an adult comedian. Winner Best Debut NZ International Comedy Festival 2019. Best Female Comedian NZCG Awards nominee, 2022. Hoots Fringe Act of the Year finalist, Edinburgh 2023.
Would you mind giving us a brief insight into what your show/event/performance is?
I would not mind. My show is about being a weirdo and trying to keep it under wraps – trying to keep the cat in the bag. I think being weird is good, much better than being boring, but you can’t reveal how truly weird you are straight away. You gotta warm people up a bit first. Then, once you know them a bit better,r you can say “hey, what would you think if I had a cat in this bag?”. Sometimes it is quite hard to keep the cat in the bag, my ‘unique’ voice gives me away pretty quickly, so I try to put on a more normal voice when I first meet people. I even went to speech lessons for a while to perfect my ‘normal person’ disguise. It didn’t really work if I’m honest, but it’s the thought that counts.
Tell us about the creative team and the process involved?
I wrote this show mostly by myself and then took it to NZ to run it in front of NZ’s famously tough and reserved audiences. They keep me very honest, and anything that gets a laugh in NZ will almost definitely get a laugh elsewhere. I also got to meet up with some of my favourite Kiwi comedian pals and work on our jokes together. New Zealand comedy is a very collaborative, supportive place, and even in green rooms, we are constantly giving each other tags and punching up jokes together. So all my jokes are really a team effort. I’m also very lucky to work with the hilarious Eli Matthewson, who is my director. He’s so good at telling a story throughout his shows and also just a lovely guy, so an excellent person to work with and help me to structure the show. I can’t wait to see his show at The Fringe this year.
How does it feel coming to the Fringe?
Oh god. I feel excited, and I remember all the fun, exciting bits about the fringe, but then I am pretty sure there were some meltdowns in there somewhere last time, as is natural when performing every day for a month. But the meltdowns are a bit blurry. It’s like childbirth (I assume) you forget the tough bits and it’s all worth it in the end so you can’t wait to do it again!
With shows from all over the world at the Fringe, what sets yours apart?
I like to think it is me. I’ve got a pretty unique sense of humour, I love telling weird stories about things that have happened to me but also taking a new angle on silly things like ‘who decided spiders have 8 legs? Surely some of those are arms?’. All the silly thoughts in my head come tumbling out in quite a joyous way, so even when it’s a tough crowd and I’m so tired from doing 25 shows back to back, I’m still having fun up on that stage and I’m told you can feel that.
Is there anything specific you’re hoping the audience will take away?
That it’s good to be a bit of a weirdo! Find whatever your unique flavour of weird is and enjoy it! It’s often the best part of you.
Your Ideal audience is in attendance, who’s watching? Or more importantly – who isn’t…?
Ideally some people who have seen me before and can corroborate that this is my real voice. If I have one more drunk man come up to me after a show and say ‘come on show me your real voice’, I may have to smack him with his own kebab. I love when my mum comes to watch me but she somehow always comes on the worst nights, so maybe she is bad luck and I should keep her away and do a private performance in her living room sometime.
It’s an intense month, so where you’re able, how do you plan to relax, and are there any other shows you intend to see or want to recommend?
I am on the hunt for an otter this year. I am told they frequent the Waters O’ Leith and when I have time I will be scouring the banks looking for those cute little bastards. In a relaxing way of course, hopefully in the sunshine. I recommend all the NZ comedians, we only send our very best overseas (cause it’s too far to go otherwise), and every year I think we have some of the best shows in the festival. I know I am biased but I think it comes from performing to tough NZ crowds all year round, we’re just happy to have some people sitting there without their arms crossed.
In your ideal world, how can we improve the Fringe, performance, and the industry?
I mean obviously it is crazy expensive now. It seems bananas that you can sell out a whole run and still make a loss. So ideally everything would be cheaper, accommodation, venue hire etc. But that’s not gonna happen. I would love though if as a performer you could see all the other fringe shows for free (on standby). Not just the ones at your venue. It helps you grow so much as an artist, watching what’s out there but if your bucket was a bit slim that day you might not be as keen to go pay for 5 more shows. I also think it helps us support each other, we get to see more shows and spread the word about our favourite shows. I’ve been to some shows and thought ‘Damn I wasted today’s show watching money on that show, ah well off home now’. I think a lot of people would be more willing to take a risk going to a show of someone they have never heard of if they could go for free.
Becky Umbers: Put That Cat Back In The Bag runs at Venue 139: Snug Bar at Assembly Roxy
Runs: July 30th – August 24th
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