TONTS. - Giving it a RED HOT GO with Lizzy Hoo

Episode Date: October 28, 2022

My guest today is Lizzy Hoo WHO is many things – a writer, noodle enthusiast, designer, actor, sports lover, and rescue greyhound owner. Lizzy is also a stand-up comedian who has rapidly become one of Australia’s most exciting new voices. Lizzy only started doing stand-up in 2017, originally as a way to gain more self-confidence. Safe to say it worked out pretty well. She quickly found herself an NSW State Finalist in the national RAW Comedy competition. The very next year she was invited to perform at the prestigious Just For Laughs Festival at the Sydney Opera House, with her spot broadcast on Network Ten and Foxtel’s Comedy Channel. In 2021 she performed at the Oxfam Gala and to sold out audiences at Melbourne Comedy Festival and Sydney Comedy Festival. ​For more from Lizzy Hoo you can head to www.lizzyhoo.comFor more from Claire Tonti you can head to www.clairetonti.com or instagram @clairetontiShow credits:Editing - RAW Collings, Claire TontiMusic - Avocado Junkie Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I would like to acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which I create, speak, and write today, the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation, and pay my respect to their elders past, present, and emerging, acknowledging that the sovereignty of this land has never been ceded. Hello, this is Tons, a podcast of in-depth interviews about emotions and the way they shape our lives. I'm your host, Claire Tonti, and I'm really glad you're here. Each week, I speak to writers, activists, experts, thinkers, and deeply feeling humans about their stories. And this week, I have a wonderful human for you called Lizzie Hu, who is many things. A writer, noodle enthusiast, designer, actor, sports lover, rescue greyhound owner, and

most importantly, a stand-up comedian who is rapidly becoming one of Australia's most exciting new voices. Now, Lizzie only started doing stand-up in 2017. And originally, she did it just to kind of gain some self-confidence and for fun. And it's safe to say that it worked out pretty well. Her story about that and what happened when she first did stand up is just glorious. She quickly found herself a New South Wales state finalist in the National Raw Comedy Competition after that, and has since gone on to perform at the prestigious Just for Laughs Festival at the

Sydney Opera House with her spot broadcast on Network 10 and Foxtel's Comedy Channel. In 2021, she performed at the Oxfam Gala to sold out audiences at Melbourne Comedy Festival and at the Sydney Comedy Festival as well. Now, I went to see her live, which is how I found out about Lizzie last year at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, which is one of my favorite times of the year. I love going to see comedy and it's my favourite time in Melbourne. I always say to people, if you want to come and visit our beautiful city, that is the time. It's autumn, the trees are glorious, the weather is beautiful and there's just the most ridiculous, crazy humans walking around who are also so much fun and there's always just incredible entertainers. So Lizzie Who's show

is amazing. And I hope you love this episode. I really enjoyed it. She's very funny, but also has just a lot of advice for people who want to start something and keep on making it and giving it a go when you have a creative passion and pursuit and why it's really important to keep doing it. Okay. Here she is, the wonderful Lizzie Hu. Thank you so much, Lizzie, for coming on Taunts. I went and saw you at the Melbourne Comedy Festival earlier in the year and I bloody loved your show. It was so great.

And then I went on a deep dive into your work and the thing that struck me, the first thing when I looked at it was that in 2017 you decided to do comedy to gain more self-confidence and I wanted to wanted you to tell us about that yeah that seems like a really crazy thing to do to get more confidence I know and in hindsight it is a little bit nuts like um firstly thank you so much for coming to the show appreciate that but yeah in 2017 so I'm 38 now so I think I started comedy when I was what 31 32 ish but yeah I sort of found myself I just moved to Sydney I didn't have many friends there and I was sort of losing my confidence at work. I don't know.

I think it was a combination of being in a new city, being in a new job, probably not really liking the job and finding I was lacking a bit of, yeah, confidence in my role because it was like quite a new role for me. And I was just like, I know that I'm a confident person, but I just lost it. And I was like, I've got to get my mojo back. I've got to get this back somehow. And my rationale was let's try this stand-up comedy course

and see what that does. Because in my head, I'm like, if I can do stand-up comedy, and see what that does because in my head I'm like if I can do stand-up comedy I can talk to anyone that was my rationale which is insane but I was doing all these like I was trying to just put myself out there right I was trying to like do hobbies I wanted to find a hobby or find something I was passionate about and I kept doing all these courses at Sydney Community College I did like a millinery course sewing course and then I would get their emails and one email I got was oh try stand-up comedy you know it's four Monday nights very low risk I was like yeah okay let's try that I like comedy let's do that and I went along and it was like four Monday nights it was so much fun I like I

had no idea that like I liked comedy but I didn't know comedy like I knew a few comedians I knew a few Aussie comics like the big ones but I didn't know like where to go and see comedy and this teacher that we had he's like old school comic like he would even bring in like his little cd player and cds of of different comics and like play them and it was just really fun and I really liked that part of it like the theory part of it but then at the end of the course he put on a friends and family show and he's like you don't have to do it. You may as well. Like you've done the four-night course. You may as well. Like he looked over our scripts and stuff like that.

So we had like, you know, a bit of a leg up going into it. And I thought, yeah, I may as well do the show. And so what I did is I, this is the crazy bit, is that I invited everyone that I knew to this friends and family show. That is so bold. That is. And I look back on that now and I'm like, what were you thinking? Like that is absolutely insane.

So I invited, you know, my bosses, all my colleagues, like cousins and like basically anyone that I knew in Sydney at the time to this show. And, yeah, I had a really fun time. Like it was a really fun show and at the end I was like, yeah, I think I might keep doing this. Hold on, hold on a minute. So you're telling me you'd never done comedy before

you did four sessions you wrote a script you invited everyone that you know and then you did it and it was fun like what do you mean so I think the adrenaline rush of it all like you get such like a big stress adrenaline kick out of a comedy show especially your first time so I think there's an element of like getting addicted to that rush in comedy but yeah I just I think after that gig I thought oh yeah this is this is really fun. I think this is a perfect way to channel my creativity because I was thinking I needed something. Like my job was pretty dry and prior to that I'd had fairly creative roles at work and I was like I really need something to channel my creativity. I thought, oh, this is great because it's like writing, which I like,

and the performing part was the scariest bit for me. oh, this is great because it's like writing, which I like. And the performing part was the scariest bit for me. The writing part, like I could sit all day and write, that's fine. But, yeah, the performing part was the scariest bit. But once I sort of got over that, yeah, I was like, oh, this is quite addictive. You must have been really good at it. Like you must have got a lot of laughs from the crowd. Yeah, I did.

Yeah, I did. Yeah, I did get laughs, but I realise now probably because I stacked the audience with like my friends and family. But it was just like I also stuffed it up. I think I just was really, I don't know, I think maybe I was really proud of myself. I remember the teacher coming up to me afterwards going, oh, you should keep going. And I think I was like, oh, okay, yeah, all right, I'll try and do more. But even then I was like, where do you do, what do you do now?

Like what are the next steps? And so I just Googled basically. And even then I was like, well, I'm not really finding much. But I did find an open mic in Sydney at the time, which I think was probably like one of two open mics at the time. There's a lot more now in Sydney. And I went along and it was it was pretty awful like it was okay like the first one was okay and then when I kept going to the next ones

next ones I was like oh gosh I don't know about this what am I doing like what was awful about it yeah it's just what they are open mics are a chance to just get things out of your mouth basically but usually most of the people at open mics it's like a lot of young male comics and so my jokes as an early 30s female did not get a reaction from the crowd which is just young male comics and their friends so it didn't really I was like oh god I suck like these jokes that was like a one hit wonder night these jokes aren't I don't think they're that that good and it really like I was like oh I don't I don't know about this but what I gave myself the challenge of entering raw comedy the following year so that was 2017 and I thought oh look I'm just going to do this raw comedy and if I do okay in this raw comedy I'll just keep I'll keep going you know that

that's a sign sort of thing and yeah I ended up doing raw comedy I got to the state final and I thought yep great that's like a good result for me it's a bloody amazing result having done open mics I don't know why do you throw any friends and family some open mics yeah a couple of open mics and then after the open mics I was like I can't do open mic again because it's just not doing anything for my confidence. So I literally, like, practised in my lounge room. That's what I did. And then, yeah, did Raw. And I think after you, people see you at Raw,

and I didn't know anyone, and I'm so glad I did Raw when I didn't know anyone because it is, like, a big deal. Like, now that I know comedy people talk about raw like it's like it's too much of a big deal to be honest and I'm glad I did it when I didn't know anyone so I did yeah and after you do it people see you they're like oh you want to come and do my room so it was like a good thing for the resume I guess and then from then just, yeah, I think I had more confidence to just, yeah, put myself out there and ask room runners for spots and stuff like that.

Did you find that the audience of Raw was like more gender balanced, I guess, or with people that would resonate more with the jokes that you were telling? Is that why you think it might have been a different way? yeah 100 like it was like a normal audience it was very much like a general public people in the competition who brought their friends and family and yeah it was definitely just a normal regular crowd yeah who would want to come to comedy yeah and I still like I still open mic now I still encourage people to do open mic just because it's like it's good good for the soul I think

looking back like as petrifying as it can be it's like for me I think it's still important to do do you think that the scene is starting to shift like those open mics and that kind of culture of young blokes primarily, probably mostly white guys too, I would assume? Do you think it's starting to shift more? Oh, yeah, for sure. Yeah, there's different styles of rooms now and there's alternate rooms. And I know in Sydney there's a women's only room or female performers only room. So, yeah, I'm definitely starting to shift. Sydney there's a women's only room or female performers only room so yeah I definitely starting to shift but I also think I don't know yes like open mic could be male dominated but

you know so is going to the gym and like using a weights room like that a lot of that stuff can be in your head I think that's my way around it like I've got two older brothers right and I remember one day I wanted to use one of those gyms in a park you know how that and it's always filled with dudes right and it's so intimidating to go and use those things and I was talking to my brother about it and he was like, what are you talking about? No one's going to even look at you. And I was like, oh, that's so true. Why am I even worried about that?

He's like, just use it. What are you talking about? He just thought it was so stupid. And I'm like, yeah, that's exactly right. So I kind of think that about open mics now like anyone at an open mic is really only concerned with how they're going they don't really care how you're gonna go so I just I think a lot of that stuff is like kind of manufactured in our heads a bit that's my way around it anyway. It's great life advice, I think.

Yeah. Realistically, we then self-limit ourselves and really the only way that those spaces are going to become more, I don't know, diverse and more gender neutral and all of the things is if we just go into them. So, you know, by avoiding them, we're kind of perpetuating that problem, I guess, completely. What was your first show about?

What did you write about? My first festival show was called Who Am I? And, look, it was, I guess, just naturally the first material that I wrote about when I first started was a lot about my heritage, my family, me dating, very just sort of personal stuff that I guess, it's probably the same stuff that a lot of comics write for their first hour about family, friends, where they live, what their living situation is like, that sort of thing. So I basically had two 20 minutes that I'd used before, like in certain club rooms and that sort of thing,

and then I put those together and then I made an ending. Like that was, it was in. That's how you did it. I even look, yeah, and I even look back on that now and the effort that I put into and the thinking that I have put into my last couple of shows. I'm like, wow, that first show really just slapped it together. And I remember even staying – I never even – I did Melbourne Comedy Festival. This is – like I love being so naive to things. Like I hadn't even been do Melbourne Comedy Festival this is like I love being so naive to things like

I hadn't even been to Melbourne Comedy Festival before like as a patron or anything and I was like yeah I'll do Melbourne Comedy Festival and some people I just remember people reacting like I've been doing comedy for a couple of years and people were acting like you're gonna do you're gonna do a Melbourne Comedy Festival? I'm like, yeah, why not? Why can't I do that? And I just thought it was really funny, and I think this is being a bit older too, starting something a bit older. I thought it was really funny. Like there's all these sort of unwritten rules in comedy,

and one of them is definitely about Melbourne and how people think they should be ready when they go to Melbourne and you've got to, I don't know, have done so many hours and different shows before you end up going to Melbourne. And I was like, oh, I just want to, what's the worst that can, in my head I was like, what's the worst that can happen? I'll become a better comic. Like what's there to lose really apart from money?

Like even like I just hated that people, like I even got advice from someone that was like, oh, if you get a 6 o'clock time slot, don't bother. No one's going to turn up to a 6 o'clock time slot. And I was like, oh. And I ended up getting a 6 o'clock time slot and I was like, I'm just going to do it, whatever. I didn't do a full run, granted. I just did a half run. But I had a great time. I was like I'm just gonna do it whatever I didn't do a full run granted I just did

a half run but I had a great time I thought it was fine yes there were shows where there were like five people in there but I it was fine like I had a really good time and I you know always tell people that they should just do it like if they want to do it, then just go for it. Because I think sometimes people go in with this like mentality of like wanting to win an award or getting nominated for award or that sort of thing. It's like, oh, that's not my prerogative. No, because that's actually such great life advice in general. I think we limit ourselves so much just because we think it's not going to be the best, you know, and I think creativity in general is a lot like that. We're either like going to be the best or we're just not going to do it at all, you know, because what's the point then? I think

that's a really Australian kind of mindset, which is just ridiculous because there's so much joy and fun and interesting kind of stuff in between that, right? Like living creatively is just a great way of being in the world and scaring yourself and jumping in. I think that's just so valuable completely. I want to ask you now about your family. I know you wrote about your family in Who Am I? Let's start with your dad, Chan, because he's like bloody hilarious from what I've listened to. He sounds so great.

What's he like? He's the best. He's so funny. Like I can't not write about him. And to be honest, I limit Chan content. Like I could honestly write a whole show about the guy, but I actually limit myself. I'm like, oh, sometimes I get when I'm writing, I'm like,

this can't just become a show about my dad. Like it could, but I'm like, oh, that's a bit like he hasn't signed up for that, even though he loves being talked about. But he's got like there's so many stories I could tell about him and I will eventually. Like I was even toying with the idea of one show, just having all the stories about him in a hat and just like choosing one, like the audience has to just like draw out one.

I'm like, okay, this is the story we're going to do tonight. Could you do that for us? Could you choose one? He's just a funny guy. Like he's, I don't know, I think looking back now, okay, this is a funny one. Like sometimes I tell stories about my family and people go, ooh, like I think they're funny and people are like, ooh,

do you have trauma from that? But I remember when we were growing up, like he was at everything. Like he was like the best the best dad like he would he ran his own business and so he could run his own time but he would pick us up from school drop us off at school take us to all our training he'd always he'd watch our training he'd watch our games like he was there and everything but this this is a story about like when at night he would dress up this like man like a pillow man on the toilet so if we went to the toilet in the night we'd be like scared like we'd be like oh my god so he'd have these like pillow man like with pants on and a shirt and like a football head and it was just terrifying

like we go to the toilet at night and there'd just be this dude sitting on the toilet and he and he would just I don't know what was going through his head but he'd just be like waiting for us to scream or like to be terrified but that was our like we're always pranking each other and always joking in our house and that was his prank but I look back on that now I'm like that's actually like pretty scary like his intention was to scare us. Yeah. Oh, yeah. For his own joy and amusement. I love that. Oh, my God. Because the great part about that is the pointlessness of it too. Like there's no other reason to do that other than he's lying

in bed going, oh, that's awesome. Yeah. Oh, I'm going to play a trick on my children. Like, yeah, I just and I think back, I'm like, wow, that's weird. What did he teach you? Yeah, what did he teach you about being weird and life and all of that? Yeah, he's definitely a character, that's for sure. He definitely didn't care what anyone thought about him.

Like, he just, and I think that's probably I guess coming to a country when you're older like he probably came here when he was like mid-30s late 30s he's 83 now and trying to assimilate and that sort of thing like he just didn't care he was just like is he's Chinese Malaysianalaysian? Yeah, yeah. But he grew up like this is the thing. He was in the army and he's definitely like a very social guy and plays a lot of sport. Like he can become friends with anyone. But, yeah, he's actually like quite the entertainer.

Like I think if he could live his life again he would become a musician or something like that like now since he's retired he's he plays the ukulele and the guitar and like sings and goes to open mics and that sort of thing so that that's what he really loves to do like Like he, this is so cute, he volunteers at the hospital on a Tuesday and plays music in the foyer and he just plays like, oh, it's so cute. And he lives for that day. Like during COVID when he couldn't go to the hospital,

he was just so upset. Like he just hated that he couldn't go to the hospital. And now like he's just like, yep, Tuesdays is my day. And he goes there, sets up his little amplifier and everything and goes there so early and they all love him there. And people donate, like he gets donations. And the other day he was saying that someone gave him $50 and he was like, wow, someone gave me $50.

And he gives it all to the hospital. But, yeah, he gets a real kick out of that. Yeah, being the showman and connecting with everyone. Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah, he loves that. Yeah, that's so gorgeous. Can you tell me about his love of food as well? Because you are a real noodle enthusiast, aren't you?

Do you get your love of food from him? Yeah, I guess so. Like I love food. I think it comes from two things actually. Like growing up, Dad was like, Mum cooked as well, but obviously we liked Dad's food better. Like Mum's food was good, but we were like, oh, when's Dad cooking? So and I guess moving to Australia, especially Brisbane in the 70s, 80s,

they didn't have Malaysian food, so he had to make it. And his mum was a really great cook, so all the recipes that he cooks are his mum's. And I've actually got my uncle put together my nanny's recipes for us and it's such a good resource because it's like her original recipes and I always feel so special when I'm cooking those so dad cooks those as well but yeah I think definitely food comes from that and just that you know those foods that you crave that your parents cooked it just reminds you of home and I know during lockdown it was so weird and I've

spoken to a lot of people about this and they have sort of had similar experiences that you like I started cooking things from my childhood just because it made me feel comfort um so that was I don't know a really nice part of lockdown doing all the home cooking uh but yeah I get my love food from dad dad's family like we're all food obsessed and every I think that's just a Malaysian thing everyone is always talking about what they're going to eat next where they're going to eat which place is better who's the better cook like you give feedback on food yeah it's just such a big part of their culture but I also in my like early 20s and overseas and that sort of thing I worked in restaurants a lot so I think I got a bit of my love of food from that as well because I was exposed to this and they were nice restaurants.

They were like fine dining. I was like waiting in fine dining restaurants and I was exposed to this like whole different world of food and like quite fancy food as well. I think that's definitely like I will go out for an expensive meal, like I want that in Ireland. But like I'm a tight ass with everything else but food. I'm like, oh, yeah, yeah, let's go. Yeah, I'm 100% the same, yeah.

Yeah, so I think some of it has come from that as well. Here's a very specific question. If someone wants to start in the Malaysian food kind of lane what kind of dish would you start them with um I reckon get some like do a curry like I think once you once you get into curries you just realize how easy they are and and I know that a lot of Malaysians will use like a curry powder like there's a curry powder my dad I think it's pataks that he gets for me so whenever I've gone overseas you know parents get you something to take away with you dad just gives me like two packets of curry powder I remember like if I'd get care packages and it'd be like mom giving me you know stuff like face cream or underwear or something like that and then they'd just be like two packets of curry

which was great because it was like yes I can have that home-style um cooking but yeah I just think curries is probably like the easy they're so cheap to make they're delicious you can freeze them and I think once you make a few you realize oh wow this is just like the easiest meal and once you get the taste for it you can I think that's the hardest part is adjusting you know like you see on MasterChef where they're like oh it needs more that I think that's the hardest part yeah but yeah you can whip up a curry pretty quickly all right I'm putting that on my list of things to do yeah yeah in your stand-up show you talk about wanting to get a t-shirt that says Lizzie from Brizzy so what was life like for you when you were a kid growing up in Brisbane yeah it's funny that because I did I never got that shirt like that's part of the joke

but I do remember saying to mum once like I really just want to get a shirt made up because people would ask me all the time where I was from. And, like, it's fine, I get it, but at the same time, like, it was all the time. It was just, especially as a kid, like, it was just constant. And even there were just, like, little things that would add up. And even my name, like, going, you you know you go to an athletics carnival you'd you'd win a ribbon you'd go to the ribbon desk you know you'd have to like put down your name and then like the lady there would make fun of my name and I'm like oh just gone from like a high

to a low and like I get it's a funny name but when you hear it every day it's like okay so I think yeah I definitely wanted that shirt just because people would just ask all the time and I just wanted to put it out there that you know this is it no more questions. Yeah, I'm from here. Stop asking me. Were you a funny kid? I don't think so. I think definitely my school friends, like I was a joker. But all my friends, we all make fun of each other and joke and that sort of thing.

My family is funny I definitely like humor was a big part of our family and I still have memories of my brother like if we did the same made the same call and made the same comeback when we were kids there'd be a big like oh you can't use the same thing twice like get some new material like like we like yeah we liked humor we liked making fun of each other and it's so funny now even like now our dynamic is still like that we're all roasting each other all the time and when people come into that like say my partner or someone else's partner they're like whoa you guys are like really mean to each other like oh we're just like the meaner we are the more we love them it's like a display of affection almost I think but yeah I think it's just humour's just been a big part of my life yeah and your mum's

Irish is that right and your parents met overseas she's got an Irish background yeah she's got like she's Irish Australian like her family she comes from an Irish family like a lot of Aussies do but like a very Catholic lady and she's from Toowoomba which is in Queensland and it's like a lot of Aussies do, but like a very Catholic lady. She's from Toowoomba, which is in Queensland, and it's like a very sort of Bible Belt Catholic Irish area. And so she, yeah, I grew up very Catholic, and I definitely did as many Irish Catholic things as I did Chinese things probably even more Catholic like I went to Catholic schools I went to mass every Sunday not that dad did it was just like me my brothers and mom and dad would never go to church except Christmas so, I definitely have that, like grew up with a lot of Catholic guilt,

like the school being. I mean, I wouldn't change it now. It was one of those things, like my mom always said, you have to go to church with me every weekend until you're 18. That was the thing. And as soon as I turned 18, I was like, I'm out of here. And I look back on that now and I'm like, oh, yeah, that is. And when I go to church now with mum at like Christmas or something like that, it's such a foreign concept now.

And I think, wow, I can't believe this was like part of like my everyday. Everyday. Yeah. Like, you know, whether it be at school or going to church, like every day like there was some Catholic thing in it. Yeah. I grew up super Catholic too. It's very much a part of my childhood.

I so resonate with the guilt and the things. I also do, and I'm curious if you agree with this, have some things I'm really grateful for about that upbringing, even though now I don't go to church anymore. And I know that's hard to wrap your head around because there are, like, just the patriarchal, horrible discrimination stuff and lots of not great things. Yeah.

What are some things that you have learnt from that being Catholic? Oh, I definitely, I would, like my view on social justice, I definitely think comes straight from mum, comes straight from my schools. Like there was always, you were always raising money for something at school and it was never like a lot of the time it wasn't for yourself, it wasn't to go on like yeah you'd raise money to go on school camp or whatever it was but often there'd be like you know project compassion or you'd be raising money for kids overseas or world vision or

something like that so I definitely and I remember in high school like we always had a sorry day at high school there was always a lot of deeper conversations going on. And I think that is very much to do with the religion side of things. Also the guilt side of things. It was like, just remember girls, you've got it good. You know, look at all these people doing it. Like it was, it was that sort of dynamic. But at the same time, I think that has also like broadened my mind

to have more of a holistic view of what the world is. And definitely like, yeah, there's a lot wrong with the Catholic Church, but just the upbringing and the morals, some of the morals that you learn and what you study at school. Yeah, I definitely see a lot of benefit in it. Here's a question. Where did you kind of get your first ideas of womanhood and what it means to be a girl in the world?

Oh, that's so interesting because when I was, I was very much a tomboy. I know you shouldn't really say tomboy now, but that's so interesting because when I was, I was very much a tomboy. I know you shouldn't really say tomboy now, but that's what I was. Like I had two older brothers. I played rugby. I hated wearing dresses. Like mom would want me to wear dresses, but I just wanted to be like my brothers. I wanted to wear their Nike shirts and their footie shorts and I hated and I think that was like an equality thing like I just hated the idea of like why do I have to wear this when they can just get away with wearing that like I just did not care for anything girly like I hated it like it was almost like don't pigeonhole me into this girl thing and I was like that like even in high school uh like a very sporty kid I played hockey up until a few

years ago like yeah I just didn't I was just yeah I I didn't like I like looking nice but I don't like especially during school I didn't feel like I needed to yeah wear skirts or like dresses or anything like that like for school formals and stuff like that I did but even now if I'm wearing a dress mom's like oh wow like it's such a big thing for her like wow you're wearing a dress it's like yeah what so I don't know like womanhood is yeah that's a sort of weird one I guess going to an all girls school that's it's such a you've had the same experience but you've very much it's so out in the open everything like my friends and I like we shared everything though and it was just like every detail so

you know whether it's something like your body your body changes and all those like weird high school feelings and boy feelings and all of that sort of stuff like was very much an open book and I think yeah I think that's probably having those experiences growing up because I didn't have sisters like all my school friends were kind of like my sisters I guess would be my first experiences of I don't know sharing womanhood and talking about it because like be having a catholic mum never spoke about any of that sort of stuff. Like, you know, but, like, having friends that were just, like, gross and open, didn't care, that was, yeah,

I think that would be probably some of my first experiences of sharing womanhood, yeah. Yeah, it's sort of freeing then, isn't it? Because, yeah, there is that element when you grow up Catholic of shame around body stuff and sex stuff and that kind of stuff. Wearing a bikini, like, whoa. Oh, using tampons even in my house is a bit of a thing as well. Oh, I remember my mum saying to me, like, oh,

it was advice she got from her doctor as a teenager that women, like, shouldn't wear tampons because it should be a flow or something like that. And I was like, what? How am I meant to go swimming? Like, how? Yes. It's wild. It is really wild wild isn't it how did the world respond to you being

a for want of a better word a tomboy and really sporty and funny and you know all of that how did you feel like the world responded to you yeah I mean in school like especially being like an Asian kid but sporty not that common and I think I avoided a lot of you know maybe like racism prejudice sort of uh because I was sporty like I think sports are a real great equalizer and that sort of thing and I like I had a lot of friends at school and I also did like I did sport but I also did music so I was in like the band and stuff like that so I had like this real weird cross-section of mates and I think that's something I've noticed about myself in life like I have this habit of being the all-rounder in any workplace I've gone to any sporting team I've been in like I'm never like oh Lizzie you're

gonna do that it's like oh Lizzie can you help out here here here and here so I've definitely and even in comedy I'm finding like yes I'm doing stand-up but now I'm doing like other things around that as well so it's like oh you're doing stand-up but you're doing writing and then maybe doing some presenting and then like there's just like a lot of different things happening and I think that's maybe a bit down to like my flexible personality but yeah I think I don't know I I think people liked me and I think I definitely grew up in a household where it was like just be who you want to be but also don't. It was like be who you want.

It was so funny. My parents encouraged us and I've had this chat with mum and she's like, oh, my gosh, I can us and I've had this chat with mom and she's like oh my gosh I can't believe I've got all these like you know footloose children who like are creative and want to be like my brother's a youtuber in Indonesia now um after being a teacher for many years and I'm like yeah but mom you gave us all the music lessons you encouraged us to do all the drama classes and be in the school plays and do sport and like she like she encouraged she's a teacher was a teacher and she encouraged us to do every like extracurricular thing that you could do

but you want us to be an accountant like Like, you know, it's your fault. Like you opened us up to this like creative world. And she's a very creative person, like loves reading, loves art and all that sort of like always took us to the museum as kids, always to art galleries and stuff like that. But in her mind, I think she's like, oh, I'd love it if you just did a Monday to Friday. Yeah.

I'm like, this is your fault. Yeah. My parents, it's funny, they raised us to be really free thinking and deep thinking and challenge everything a lot. But they were just hoping that we would then come to the same conclusions about life that they did, which is like, you know, quite conservative and Catholic. But I sort of was saying to my mum, yeah, you can't have it both ways. You can't raise kids who are really open-minded and creative

and free-thinking but then want them to think the same as you. It's really interesting the impact our parents have on the way that we are in the world. And your mum sounds like such a special person too. Yeah, she's great. Yeah. And your brother as well. I love that you rib him a lot in the show too.

I went to see that show at the Melbourne Comedy Festival. That's hysterical. So you're an all-rounder. Can I ask you about what it's like to specifically make your job your creative endeavour now? Like what was it like launching off into the world as a comedian? Yeah, it's funny because I started it, I started comedy as a hobby. Like I wanted a creative outlet and, you know, it's that whole thing

like your side hustle became your main hustle and now I'm doing comedy as a job. I'm thinking about, oh, I need another hobby. Like comedy just can't be my only thing. So now I'm finding like, and it's so hard now because my schedule is so all over the place. It's a bit hard for me to pick up something, but I'm like looking into,

I'm doing exactly what I did when I started comedy and like looking up knitting classes and oh maybe I'll buy a keyboard and I'll learn the piano I'm just I'm looking for those sorts of things now I'm buying cookbooks so I can, you know, spend my spare time cooking and that sort of thing. So, yeah, it's been great to do my hobby as my job, but I'm also conscious that it's healthy to have other things going on. Is that because you think once you make it your job, some of the joy gets taken out of it because it's like

it has to pay the bills and it's work as opposed to something you do because you just are enthusiastic about it. Yeah, some of it definitely feels like work. There's some jobs you get, you're like, oh, I'm working for this. And then other jobs I'm like, I can't believe this is a job. Like I can't believe I'm getting paid to do this. I think me looking for hobby is more like a mental health thing because I know I have the tendency to just fixate on comedy like I could

do it all day every day and I'm lucky I've got a partner and a dog and other things that I'm like oh hang on no I've got other things to do. And I think that is why I want a different hobby because it's like an escape away. Otherwise I'd just be thinking about comedy all the time. Like I think about it all the time now but it'd be good to be like fixated on, oh, I've got to learn a new chord today or something different for the mind I think to focus on what do you when you say you're thinking about comedy what are you actually

thinking about are you collecting jokes are you reading about approaches to comedy yeah like yeah even often when I'm reading I'm reading like a comedian's biography or I'm listening to a comedy podcast yeah jokes always like sort of are in your head and you're always thinking sometimes you're thinking like oh that could be a funny joke or oh maybe I'll do the joke this way or you're just thinking of like tags in your head or just random stuff even when I I'm watching TV sometimes, I'm like, I'll say to Paul, my partner, I'm like, oh, let's watch this show. And he's like, is this about another comedian that wants to make it? And I'm like, actually, yeah, like there's just so much.

They're all like, I watch specials on Netflix. Can you give us a couple of your favourite comedians at the moment? Yes. I mean, I love Maria Bamford. She's definitely one of my all-time favourites. I mean, I love Ali Wong as well. And Michelle Wolfe I've always been a huge fan of. And I remember seeing her show at Melbourne Comedy Festival and just being like blown away.

I was like, wow, that was the best show I've ever seen. Yeah, I would say they're my top three. What is it that you look for in them? What is it that blows you away by their work? I think they're just so clever and they've worked so hard at their jokes. Like you can really see the work that's gone into their jokes and they're just such efficient writers.

There's no like waffle or fad or anything like that. They're just like, boom, here's the joke, which is weird because like a lot of some of my jokes can be like quite story-based. But, yeah, I always and and I know, I think maybe that's the thing I, because my, a lot of my jokes are quite story-based. They start out with a lot of fluff and irrelevant stuff. And then I look to these amazing joke writers that are like very succinct and efficient and to the point. And I'm like, oh no, I need to be like that a bit more and I trim down my stuff. But, yeah, I think they're definitely the ones that I love.

What would be your advice to people who want to write comedy? What are some of your best tips and tricks? Just go for it. Like if you've been thinking about it, a lot of people come up to me and go, oh, I've been thinking about doing comedy. I'm like, just start. Like you just have to do it. Like if you've been thinking about it, a lot of people come up to me and go, oh, I've been thinking about doing comedy. I'm like, just start. Like you just have to do it. It's one of those things that like I was like this,

I was like practising in my lounge room. I'm like that's not really going to get you anywhere. You just have to keep going. And I think putting little challenges in front of yourself, that's what helped me. I need like a deadline and putting little sort of challenges like, oh oh I want to do this room by this point or something like that would be good and then just yeah watching comedy listening to it there's no right or wrong way how how you do it and a lot of people like write differently some people just never write anything

down they just write in their heads and say it on stage whereas I have to write everything down and then say it and look over it and like really pour over it but yeah just you just have to keep going you just have to like do it even if it's not very good you just have to keep chipping away I I think. That's something I really learnt. You talked earlier about that sort of idea of perfectionism and it's sort of unachievable, really. I think that's the best thing about comedy is, like, you can never be, you can never finish it. Like, you'll always be able to get better at it.

And even if you've been doing it for, like, 30, 40 years, you could be like the worst in the room and whatnot. So yeah, I think it's just more about the act of doing it. What's that like when you have a gig and I'm sure it doesn't happen very often to you, but when it all goes pear-shaped and there's not a laugh in the room or you've put out this joke and it's just awful. I'm used used to it now but when we call it bombing and when i first like your first bomb or like the first year or two when you bomb it's oh it's almost debilitating it's almost like you think about it i don't know you think about it all the

time but i think as you like get more experienced do more gigs you're like oh whatever like it's comedy you're gonna wake up tomorrow everyone's gonna keep going no one in the crowd is gonna be like oh do you remember that bomb like they're not whatever no one cares it's like all fabricated so I think yeah I'm used to it now I'm over it which is it's it's good and bad thing like yeah I just don't feel like I know when it's gone badly but I'm like I'll just come off stage and be like that wasn't great and then that's it move on move on I mean if maybe if it was like a high stakes gig like if I bombed at the gala or something like that, I'd feel, I'd probably feel a bit different and be like, oh my God, that was terrible. But even I did the Just for Laughs TV set a couple of months ago. And I remember coming off stage, I was like, I did not enjoy that.

Like I stumbled over a few words. They were just things like I just didn't feel like I hit it. But I'll look back on it and it'll be fine. So it's kind of a lesson to like what's in your head or what could be going on at the time might be very different to what people see. Are you a perfectionist? No, like I want to do, I like to be good at things,

but I'm definitely not,'ve no i'm not a perfectionist um i'm very much i'll get to a point and be like yeah that's good enough like i i could be pushed more and that's why i love i have a director for my festival shows which is great because he pushes me more like when i'm ready to be like, oh, that's enough. I'll just tap out of that one. That's good to go. He's like, oh, maybe. I'm not.

He'll say like, oh, maybe have a think about this one a bit more. And, yeah, I appreciate that extra push. Do you, this is probably a horrible question to ask, but do you ever feel pressure being a woman in comedy, like you've got an extra thing to prove, or do you think that industry has moved so far from that? Yeah, I think it's, yeah, I think it has moved on from that. But if you're the only woman on a lineup which still happens yeah you feel

like you're like oh you don't want everyone to the audience to leave being like well the woman wasn't funny like then you feel the pressure of representing all women but yeah I do feel like it's changed so much but then then, yeah, every so often. What was the – like it used to be you'd be like one of two women on like an A-person lineup and that really doesn't happen much anymore. Like on the weekend, last weekend, I was on an all-female lineup but it wasn't – it just worked out that way. It didn't – it was just that. And the MC that we got was like, oh, do you want me to say

that it's an all-female line-up? We're like, nah. Like it's just, this is just it. Like no one's going to notice that it's an all-female. Yeah. So I think a lot of it's changed a lot. Yeah, it's sort of that idea of being allowed to just be a person and a human as opposed to having to have any kind of overlay about, I don't know,

being a woman or being part Chinese Malaysian or, you know, wouldn't it be great if we can all just show up and just do our thing because that's who we are and not for any of those other kind of agendas? Yeah, it's quite interesting. It strikes me that you are someone who is enthusiastic about many things and about life. Why is that?

Why are you so enthusiastic about, you know, everything, pushing forward, doing things, making things? Yeah, it's definitely certain things like I get and this is I think this is a who thing I don't know but I'll get like fixated on stuff and I'll be like oh and comedy is one of those things where I could just like spend the whole day doing it or cooking like I'll really get into the zone with that but yeah there's certain things I'm just definitely not into. But I do like to, like if I'm, like I love travelling, I love like exploring and, you know, when someone says,

hey, you want to do this? I'm like often the person that's like, yeah, I do. Often I'm not like the leader. I don't come up with the ideas but I'm that I'm the person that's like yeah I'll come and do that with you so I think I don't know I think in my head um you just have to yeah I don't know take take the opportunities with it when they're there like if you're gonna if I'm to go and travel somewhere for a gig, like I want to do all the cool things in that city or all the, yeah,

I just don't want to like go and do the gig and go home. You want to just do all the cool things in life in general. I think that's really great life advice. Jump in, do all the cool things, explore and see what happens. Yeah. Because you just like, you just never, you never know what's going to happen in your life. Like I've had a few things recently where like an old boss of mine

passed away and another guy I knew in high school passed away and I was like, wow, like you just never know. So you may as well do it. And I think especially after the last couple of years where we were all locked up and limited in what we could do I think people are just going like yeah just do it whatever just book the holiday go and do whatever change jobs quit your job all that sort of stuff go eat some noodles make some curry, go build a man out of a pillow and scare your kids.

Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Thank you so much, Lizzie. I really value this conversation. Oh, thanks for having me. So much. It's been so interesting. What's next for you?

What are you doing next? Well, I'm just gigging around and sort of at that time of year where you start preparing for next year. Like I had a meeting last week about what do I want my poster to look like? So the festival cycle is ramping up again. So all the comics now are sort of in this phase of like building shows, testing material, that sort of thing so that when festival season starts early next year we've got stuff to tell yeah which is exciting

it's a good time of year yeah do you get nervous about preparing that or is it fun and absorbing it's fun it is nerve-wracking though because a lot of the time you're testing like new stuff and new ideas and that can be daunting but also a lot of fun because if they work if the idea works then it's like yes it's a good feeling yeah here's my last question what do you rely on what habits what mindset do you rely on to be a comedian and be a working creative? I think a book that was really inspirational to me was the Gilbert book, Big Magic.

Have you ever read that? Yes, I love that book. So I think I read that in my first year or two of comedy and it really struck a chord with me because I was like, yeah, and how she talks about the idea that, you know, you've got to be this like starving artist type person to be a creative and she's like, no, I'll write 200 words of my book in a coffee shop before a meeting.

Like it's just something you have to fit into your life if that's what you want to do it's not going to be this like magical moment in a retreat that you go to every year it's just going to be part of your every day and I think that's super important message because it's a lot of work like there's a lot of work and normal boring admin stuff that goes into a creative job I think and I don't know what one thing also is just turning up and not like doing a good job but not you don't have to be the best at it you just got to be consistent I think that's important that's the best advice I. You've just got to be consistent. I think that's important. That's the best advice I think I've ever gotten. You touched on it too, to just keep going,

which sounds like the simplest advice but is actually the hardest, I think, to do. And I think that's super valuable. And it's so funny you bring up Liz Gilbert's book, Big Magic, because I'm reading it again at the moment. I find I pick that book up every few years and I have it by my bed because sometimes I just need a friend to be like, stop taking yourself so seriously. It's fine.

Relax, you know. And it's so joyful. It is. And she uses that example of her friend who just, she ice skates. She did it when she was young and she's just picked up ice skating for a creative outlet and now like you know a lot of her anxiety is gone or her depression is gone or something and I'm like yeah that's it like you don't have to do a creative thing for it to be your job or anything it's just if it makes you feel good yeah but I love that book I really

enjoy it and often she's got a podcast too like too that I often listen to when I'm a bit like, but yeah, that's a really good one too. Do you still feel a bit meh sometimes about it all? Do you have those moments where you go, oh, God, this is all embarrassing and not good and I'm terrible and everything? Yeah. Oh, yeah, like all the time, even at gigs. Like gigs can still be so terrifying and you rock out and you're like,

oh, gosh, and in your mind you're like, oh, they're all younger than me. They're not going to like me. I don't know. Yeah, but then other times you find that you like judge the audience too much before you even get started and you're like, oh, that was really fun. But, yeah, there's definitely times where I'm like, oh, I don't want to do this. I don't feel like doing this.

And you just have to do it, which I think is an important lesson as well, doing something when you don't feel like doing it. Yeah. Yeah, I think that's even like with the gym, right? It's very rare that once you're there, you're like, oh, I wish I didn't come to this hellhole. Like you're usually just in it by that point, aren't you? But it's that weird hurdle between having to actually go to the thing

and do the thing that's the most terrifying. Yeah, yeah, that's right. Well, thank you so much for your time, Lizzie. Oh, my pleasure. Thank you for having me. I'm really excited to see your new show. Oh, you are so welcome. I'm really excited for your new show for next year.

So you'll be at the Melbourne Comedy Festival and people can follow you over on Instagram. Is that probably the best way to? Yeah, that's probably the best place, yeah. Thank you. Oh, thanks for having me. You've been listening to a podcast with me, Claire Tonti, and this week with the wonderful Lizzie Hu.

For more from Lizzie Hu, you can find her on her website, lizziehu.com, where you can find links to her upcoming shows, her Instagram and social media, and also you can just go and watch some of her comedy too. She's got lots of beautiful videos up there as well. So I highly recommend going to check out her stuff. She's definitely one to watch on the comedy scene here in Melbourne. Now, for more from me, you can head to clairetonty.com where everything I do is. And you can also head over to Suggestible Podcast, which I make with my husband, James Clement, and that comes out every Thursday. We recommend you things to watch, read, and listen to and make

fun of each other along the way. And it's a whole lot of fun. So I'd love you to check out Suggestible as well. And I haven't told you about this, but I am also writing an album of music and I just finished this week, I think the last vocal for it. It's been a huge undertaking and a massive lot of nerves and excitement and a joy to actually make some art that I've been wanting to make probably for my whole life, really. So I can't wait to share some of that music with you. That will be coming out in January, the first single. And there is a live show coming up. Tickets aren't on sale yet, but if you want to put in a save the date, it's on the 12th of February at 3pm at the Wesley Anne in Norsket.

So that's next year, the 12th of Feb. I'll tell you a little bit more about the album in the coming months, I guess, or weeks, but that's it for starters. Okay, have a wonderful week. I'll talk to you soon. Thank you as always to Royal Collings for editing this week's episode.