Having a body isn't always easy.
For award-winning TV and radio presenter Sarah Maree Cameron, it hasn’t been easy at all. After being diagnosed with endometriosis and cervical cancer, she was faced with the long and arduous process of IVF and surrogacy.
In her debut stand-up show, One Womb Please!, Cameron manages to turn the burden of being into something hilarious. Detailing the shocking story of her medical journey and inviting audiences to share the weird stuff their bodies do too, the show is frank, heartwarming and relatable.
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Whether you’ve been through a similar thing and you need good laugh, or you could just need a good laugh in general (I mean, who doesn’t?), her show’s a smash hit. It’ll run from March 28 to 31 at QT Melbourne.
Explore Melbourne’s latest arts and stage news, features, festivals, interviews and reviews here.
Hello! What have you been up to so far today?
Just the usual morning routine of meditation and a round of sun salutation… I wish. I start each year saying I’ll do that instead I punch a long black, get cracking with the day and lose focus like any good person with ADHD.
Let’s talk One Womb Please: what inspired you to put the show together?
Everyone in my life! There were some pretty funny moments during our IVF journey and I’d crack jokes to friends throughout it. I eventually started writing little bits and with some nudges from people who believed in me – I wrote an entire show about fertility and it will forever be my first baby.
How would you describe it to someone who has never heard your work before?
Relatable and real. I want audiences to feel like we’re mates and we can share stuff. You got nipple hair? Me too! You got shoulder hair? Look, not me too but I get it. There’s a bit of audience interaction as well – with those who wish to chat. Easy to pick the ones that do because they’re usually in the front row.
How has the audience reception been so far?
It’s clearly a cathartic experience because I end up chatting for one to two hours with audience members every night. I mean, every single night. I hear all about vasectomies, IVF injections, wild delivery stories… It’s hilarious and also goes to show when you provide a safe space to open up, people do. TMI (too much information) is my jam.
Have you had many hecklers? What’s the most memorable one?
I love crowd chat and that makes hecklers feel a little too comfortable. There was one particular Saturday night a group of lads (who’d clearly entered straight after a frothie sesh) slid into the third row. Not too close, not too far back. They were READY. But so was I.
Towards the end of the show, one of them tried to deliver the line he’d been sitting on since probably pre-show and I managed to cut him down with words that landed like a slap to his face, leaving the entire crowd in stitches and cheering, knowing I’d finally slayed the heckler dragon. I had a drink with him post-show of course.
What are you most looking forward to about MIFC this year?
Getting to do this show one final time in my hometown. It’s grown and developed and I’m so proud of it. So it gets one final send off and then I get to do what all the participants look forward to doing – dancing at festival club until the sun comes up.
What other MIFC shows would you recommend people check out?
Samuel Gebreselassie’s ‘I’m a Refugee… Get Me Out of Here!’. Samuel and I first met in a RAW heat many years ago and have gigged a lot since. We’d done a TV pilot together. Spent hours and hours in cars travelling to regional gigs. I even cried when he made it to Comedy Zone last year. I tell everyone to see him now before he’s on the Gala one day. I’ve watched him craft this show; it’s so personal and hilarious.
And as always, take a punt. Accept a flyer and go to a show. See line-up shows like Comedy Zone, Breast of the Fest and Headliners. Make a night out of it and see three shows! See people you wouldn’t normally see. You’ve got a month, mix it up and lap it up!
If you weren’t doing comedy, what do you think you’d be doing instead?
I used to say landscaping because I like the idea of working outdoors but my husband would laugh given he thinks I kill plants. Chip tester? I have a deep passion for most forms of potato so if there were such a job, I’d find it and get it.
What has doing comedy taught you about people in general?
That we are far more alike than people realise and the major thing that brings us together is joy and laughter. And that if you’ve got a 6pm show you have to deal with the fact 90% of the audience will be late. Which is great because that’s the time my show is on. Except Sunday, where it’s on at the perfect time for comedy: 5pm.
For more information and to grab your tickets to One Womb Please! by Sarah Maree Cameron, head here.
