Alexandra Hudson takes top gong at NSW RAW Comedy finals

Ballina woman Alexandra Hudson was fresh out of Covid isolation when she hit the NSW RAW Comedy stage, but as soon as she touched the mic what came out was comedy gold.

Ballina woman Alexandra Hudson was fresh out of Covid isolation when she hit the NSW RAW Comedy stage, but as soon as she touched the mic what came out was comedy gold.

Ms Hudson, 34, only began comedy in late 2019 but already her skills have seen her become a powerhouse in a “thriving” North Coast scene and beyond, which was proved when she beat 17 other competitors in the state’s Open Mic competition on March 22.

Nudged into the craft by friends, Ms Hudson who lives with cerebral palsy and works as a sole trade disability carer, said her ‘smartass’ nature was the perfect fit for comedy.

“In the first week (of Mandy Nolan’s comedy course), she said why are you here and I said ‘I have a disability I have stuff to share about it’,” Ms Hudson said.

“I had always been looking for a space but I had never thought about comedy at all.

“I thought stand-up comedy was going to be the most intimidating I’d do but I actually realised it’s the space I have the most control.

“Out on the street someone can say something to me and I don’t know they’re going to say it and I’m not expecting it, but when I’m on stage, I’m up there with the microphone and I’m telling the stories I want to tell.”

Ballina woman Alexandra Hudson will compete in the NSW RAW comedy final in Melbourne. Picture: Contributed

Ms Hudson said she hoped her act had helped non-disabled audiences to re-evaluate disability and “translate the pride” she felt.

“I love my disability, it’s made me who I am and there are so many misconception about us,” she said.

“I’m now able to express that in a comedic way and have people mostly laugh at themselves

“My disability isn’t the butt of the joke, the audience is.

“I think it’s been a really great space, in that circumstance, I’m starting conversations with people in a really positive way.”

Her success had also forced home the barriers would-be disabled comedians and performers faced to even get to the stage.

“I would love to have more disabled (people doing comedy). There are some of us for sure but there’s also a lot of barriers,” she sad.

“I’m privileged, I’m mobile, so I can relatively easily navigate spaces but even spaces that I find accessible I can still stumble my way up stairs, and a lot of other people, wheelchair users can’t even do that.

“There’s heaps of places where the venue might be accessible but the stage definitely isn’t and I think that is an important point to raise in terms of why there potentially aren’t a lot of disabled comedians.”

With the RAW Comedy finals going ahead on April 10, Ms Hudson will be finetuning her act across the North Coast.

Beyond that, she was stoked for whatever came next.

“I have no kind of endgame, I didn’t think I’d end up here,” she said.

“For me it doesn’t matter where I end up, I’m just happy to be doing it.”

Catch Ms Hudson before her RAW Comedy finals performance at the Lennox Comedy Gala at the Lennox Head Cultural Centre on April 1.