Kate Dehnert is an Australian (the lowest UK class of all, but unlike you, she is free) comedian who deals in sound and characters. Her show Echo was nominated for Best Independent Show at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival and she was a BBC Studios Audio Comedy Writer. She also got a concussion the other day because she stood up into a fuse box real hard.
What is your show about?
At some point in your life, your life explodes. This is mine. Another one’s coming at some point but I’m going to put that down to a bad dog shampoo business I start in 2032 (I have the gift of sight, I know). So a bad breakup took down my entire life outside of the relationship, and after I pulled myself back together this show primal screamed out of me. My plan was to quit comedy after this show because only eight people tops were meant to come per night. But the show kept selling out and now I’m being taken to your fair cities, which also happen to be the locations of the clusterfuck kicking off… on the two year anniversary of it all kicking off… so life is weird and now I’m some kind of ouroboros in an off-shoulder top. Oh also it’s 1/3 play, 1/3 standup, 1/3 rave.
Tell us about your comedy style.
It’s not my fault I think like this, I just do and I’m sorry. I am Premium Stupid™. I care about high gag rate, being an idiot, being funny, and I definitely don’t care about being important, I’ve just done a show that people highly relate to (unfortunate). I don’t really think about my ‘style’, I don’t think that’s my job.
How does it feel to be performing at the Edinburgh Fringe?
WEIRD. LOADED. EXCITED TO EAT A CARDAMON BUN FROM SÖDERBERG. I had to leave the UK because of (WATCH SHOW TO DISCOVER, now that’s marketing), so to be brought back by others because I made this show is wacky. It’s ruined my plans of quitting comedy post Melbourne Comedy Festival, getting a temp job, and blazing out for a year on weekends while I restored my savings after financial ruin. The party animal and fiscal planner inside of me is livid.
Have you got any tips for comedians going to the festival for the first time?
A cardamon bun from Söderberg.
What have you been working on?
I’m building a 3D printer so I can have anything I want. Like a gun. Or a spatula.
Who are the funny women and non-binary comedians you would recommend seeing at the Fringe this year?
Birds by Alex Hines and Sarah Stafford, Frankie McNair, Lou Wall, Emma Holland.
Keep up to date with and follow Kate Dehnert on Instagram.
Tickets and information for Echo can be found here!
