“Two friends follow their dream of creating a sketch show, but as the night goes on they realise their dreams might be a little out of reach. It’s comedy, it’s burlesque, it’s slap stick, it’s Sweaty Pits’ debut show, it’s harder than they thought. A sketch show for those who question what they are doing with their lives and then do it anyway.”
Sam About Town was curious to find out more! Luckily co-creators Frankie McNair and Miriam Slater were happy to oblige.
SAT: Welcome to Adelaide Fringe! Excited?
SP: Excited?! Adelaide Fringe has late night churros, rides, and some of the best performers in the country! You better believe we are excited! CHURROS!
SAT: You wrote your first sketch together in 2016 and have been developing ideas since. Can you tell us more about this show and what inspired you to write it?
SP: This show is an absurd, silly, self reflection on what happens when you riff with your best friend too hard and two years later you are somehow holding an hour long show in your hot little hands. How did we get here? We don’t know. But thank you for having us. The actual show is made up of our favourite sketches and leads to us questioning if what we love doing is valid enough to peruse it with as much vigour as we currently are. It’s heaps meta.
SAT: How did you come up with the zany name for your partnership, “Sweaty pits?” We don’t have to bring air freshener with us, do we? I mean, it’s pretty hot in Adelaide at the moment…
SP: The idea actually came from laughing at our insecurities! When we are doing what we love on stage we actually look kinda gross but that’s real and we wanted to embrace that. We work hard, we play hard, we stress hard, we sweat hard. Bring a poncho.
SAT: Has performing always been a passion? Have you performed separately prior to forming Sweaty Pits?
SP: Hell yeah! Yah boiiis actually met in drama class in college and we’ve both done a bunch of weird stuff separately and we still do! It’s so important to have your own passions so you can fill your creative cup and bring that energy back to the pit. Mimma is actually in another show in Adelaide called Evangeline and Frankie is a stand-up comedian too.
SAT: You have sold out shows at a variety of festivals around Australia, so you are no novices, however this is still your debut show. Is it daunting or do you have it down pat by now?
SP: We still get real sweaty palms (and pits) before every show because it’s daunting but it’s also exciting! It’s so incredible that we get to share this thing that we made with everyone and we have been genuinely moved by the response of Pity Party so far, and also a bit surprised because it is our first show! We’ve done the show a few times now so we know it well but the exciting thing for us is that the show is constantly evolving each time we perform it, because we want it to be the best that it can be. We might tweak certain parts of the script or add in different choreography and it keeps it “fun and fresh”…like a sensual fruit salad.
SAT: You tackle issues close to your hearts and manage to do that with positive and infectious energy, including through humour. What do you hope audiences will experience and will they leave with a message?
SP: Our first hope is that people have a good time! Our favourite thing to do is make people laugh (including each other on stage). We do look at some themes that are important to us and we hope that using comedy allows people to receive these messages without feeling alienated. We think it’s important to use our platform to talk about some stuff as well as being silly gooses. Quack.
SAT: You mentioned that you have combined your two loves – comedy and each other – what is it like working together? Do you bring different skills and ideas to the writing and performing?
SP: It doesn’t feel like work. It can be a bit stressful at time organising tours and shows, but I guess it feels so natural for us to be silly together that it’s more of a joy than anything else. Countless times we’ve gone out for dinner and it’s just turned into us brainstorming a new sketch and finding new weird characters while eating in public, and we wouldn’t have it any other way. Individually we have strengths so when we combine them Capricorn and Virgo unite!
SAT: You’ve said that “if it makes us laugh, it goes in the script.” Can you tell us more about your process of writing?
SP: That’s kind of the process. Almost all of our of our ideas come from making each other laugh and then we just expand on it and think “how can we make this bigger?” That’s how it all started. We were at the gym and started doing these eccentric mum characters to support one another and couldn’t even finish our workout we were laughing so hard. Then we wrote down what we had said and done and MILF Camp was born!
SAT: You reside in Canberra. How did you find out about the venue A Club Adelaide? How are you finding working with the venue and planning a show from afar?
SP: We asked a few locals about it and they had nothing but positive reviews! It’s been a dream working with them. We mainly organise everything via email and Kerry truly goes above and beyond! We can’t wait to meet the team in person!
SAT: What is in store for Sweaty Pits after Adelaide Fringe?
SP: Hold onto your ill-fitting hats! After Adelaide we are taking Pity Party to the New Zealand fringe festival, 12-16 March at Fringe Bar. Then home to the Canberra Comedy Festival, 20th March at Courtyard Theatre. Quick nap. Kiss our house plants. Then Melbourne International Comedy Festival, 26th March – 7th April at Belleville. VA VA VOOM!
Pity Party! is performing from From Feb 25 – Mar 3.
Loft at A Club Adelaide,109 – 111 Waymouth St, Adelaide
Tickets and more information here
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