Local Adelaide comedian Billie Duncan only started doing stand-up after losing a bet. The deal was when her musically inclined friend finally released an EP, Billie would give stand-up comedy a go.
“We laughed about that for a couple of years and then one night I got a picture of his EP, so I started writing jokes,” Duncan says, and soon she suddenly found herself on stage at the Rhino Room’s Monday open mic night.
Having been a “drama kid” and a “really nerdy English kid” in school, comedy was something Duncan always wanted to try. But growing up in small-town Mount Gambier didn’t provide much opportunity to get on stage.
Duncan says she always found the jokes coming easily in social situations but was never sure if she had the “chops” for stand-up comedy. But after seven years, it’s safe to say she turned out to be at least decent and she has frequented local stages ever since.
“I love being on stage,” says Duncan, “I just love making people laugh.”
Comedy is just Duncan’s side gig that she squeezes into the demanding schedule of day – and often night – job as a high school English teacher.
“Comedy is a big labour of love, especially when you do a job like teaching and you are often doing stuff outside of the classroom,” she says.
Duncan is bringing both of her passions together in a unique blend of English teacher and comedy for her show L!terature at this year’s Adelaide Fringe.
The show is Duncan’s own “spark notes with sparkling” for three classroom classics: George Orwell’s 1984, Arthur Miller’s The Crucible and Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray.
“I want to bring these classics out of the page and into a nice glass of wine,” Duncan says.
“It’s a show that doesn’t take itself too seriously. Even if you haven’t read any of the books, I’m hoping people will leave and be like ‘I reckon I could probably talk shit with someone about 1984‘.”
This Fringe season will be Duncan’s first on her own, but her third as a performer and she says, “there’s nothing like the Adelaide Fringe”.
After a brief stint in Melbourne that saw her spending more time in Covid lockdowns than on the local comedy circuit, Duncan says Adelaide’s comedy scene is one of the most inclusive she’s come across.
“It’s really, really welcoming, especially for an industry that is often quite divisive,” Duncan says.
“I think being someone who’s not a bloke has helped a lot, and it’s a lot easier here to get on stage without needing a penis.”
Since the impromptu beginning of Duncan’s comedy career her own brand of teacher comedy has resonated with crowds.
The idea for L!terature was inspired by a conversation between Duncan and her husband after she tried to explain 1984 to him.
Of the three books the show covers, Duncan says she’s partial to The Picture of Dorian Gray “because it’s such a beautiful, campy, quotable book”.
As a queer person herself, Duncan’s queer representation in the show was a necessity and she says Oscar Wilde was the obvious choice.
“I often say… [Oscar Wilde] is the first man to ever serve cunt.”
L!terature will almost be a recreation of that initial conversation with her husband – set in an intimate venue and bantering about some classic literature over a few glasses of wine. But Duncan says even if you aren’t up for drinking you simply need to be “in the spirit of drink”.
L!terature, Curiositeas and Ibis Grenfell St, until 23 March