Melbourne International Comedy Festival comedian Q&A: PickUp Comedy, Nerds Are Sexy

Calling all nerds of Melbourne: your home-grown, funny-boned, sex-positive comedy rock duo PickUp have a musical comedy show made just for you.

PickUp Comedy, Nerds are Sexy

What can people expect from your show at this year’s Melbourne International Comedy Festival?

Nerds Are Sexy is an hour of live, original music comedy for Nerds, Geeks, Gamers, Trekkies, Jedis, Pokemon trainers and anyone that gets a bit too passionate about things.

It’s about why nerds are sexy and why we get a bit nerdy about sex.

AUSSIE COMEDIANS TO SEE THIS YEAR

WHAT TO SEE IF YOU DON’T LIKE STAND-UP COMEDY

Funny Music Monday is THE late night party at the festival.

Late night on Mondays we’ll have some of the hottest stars of the festival in to show us amazing things funny and musical.

What have you been up to since last time you were here?

This will be or sophomoric offering for MICF and since last year we’ve gathered five star reviews across the country, played the main stage at PAX, started hosting a weekly cabaret event at The Butterfly Club, and drawn comparisons to Tripod and Die Roten Punkte.

It’s been pretty wild, and a lot of fun, and we’ve been working hard to whip up some killer new tracks.

Who should see your show, and why?

Calling all nerds of Melbourne: your home-grown, funny-boned, sex-positive comedy rock duo PickUp have a musical comedy show made just for you. Whether you’re mad about Pandemic, obsessively analysing every frame of Jodie Whittaker’s Doctor Who or spending every waking moment waiting for Red Dead Redemption 2 to download, they have songs and stories to celebrate your passion (whatever that may be).

This show welcomes everyone but it’s particularly for the nerds.

We performed a number of the new songs in Perth and it was the local nerds who were in tears of laughter, whispering references to each other, and coming up to us after to tell us that we’d sing their lives to them.

It was pretty overwhelming, but I think Melbournites will get this show on a whole new level.

What’s your No.1 tip for people coming to see a show at the comedy festival?

Be nice to the people handing out flyers.

Yes, they’re irritating, yes, they’re wasting paper, and yes, they’re everywhere… but it’s a hard festival for artists, and they have all been working hard to make something funny and entertaining just for you and they just want you to know about it.

Also: take a punt on a lesser known comic. Talking with your friends about a terrible show can be much more fun and funny than seeing a great show!

And you never know, you might unearth a hidden gem of the festival and you can say you saw them before they were cool.

Which other comedians/shows are you keen to see at this year’s festival, and why?

I have a face — Jude Perl, because she’s hands down the best comedy songwriter in the world right now. We saw this show at Melbourne Fringe and we WANT TO SEE IT AGAIN!

1900-Lisa-Skye — because Lisa-Skye is our hero. We want to be Lisa-Skye when we grow up.

Taranoia — Tara Leigh Dowler, because she is going to be a superstar. Formerly one half of Pink Flappy Bits, this is her first solo-show and from what we’ve seen so far it’s going to be a banger.

What stands out to you about Melbourne and/or its people?

It’s so nice to be back in Melbourne after touring.

Melbourne crowds heckle less, laugh more, and are much less tolerant of racism/sexism/homophobia/transphobia/all-isms-and-phobias — which is great.

Melbourne crowds really reward clever humour.

Who or what is your comedic inspiration, and why?

So many. We’re music comedy nerds. Tripod for their harmonies, their ingenuity, their silliness. They’re 20 year veterans of stage, television and radio.

They’re probably the reason we became music comedians.

Anything else you want us to know about you or your show?

We’re all about being positive — Sex-positive, body-positive and nerd-positive and everyone is welcome in our space.

We present a united male/female perspective on issues that can sometimes be divisive and try to bring joy and celebration.

Have fun!

PICKUP COMEDY, NERDS ARE SEXY, APRIL 12-21, THE BUTTERFLY CLUB, DOWNSTAIRS, BOOK TICKETS