Melbourne International Comedy Festival comedian Q&A: Vanessa Steinberg, Not Quite White

Be prepared to be traumatised or transfixed with an hour of laughs covering everything from dating advice to dermal fillers with comedian Vanessa Steinberg.

Vanessa Steinberg Melbourne Comedy Festival 2019.

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

An hour of unapologetic, profanity laden laughs as I recount my experiences as an extremely vain, ageing narcissist attempting to navigate the matrix without self-imploding.

I cover everything from dating advice to dermal fillers to Jewish converts and ‘spiritually conscious’ communities.

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The audience is guaranteed to be either traumatised or transfixed ... hopefully both.

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

It has been over 10 years since I last performed at MICF and, during that time, I went to film and art school, made several short films, one of which I sold to SBS, the other which screened at Cannes and then proceeded to effectively over-educate myself further in a diverse range of disciplines.

I now have a Masters Degree in Counselling with a forensics major, which enabled me to work in cult-exfiltration as an operative/counsellor, in prison as a dance therapist and with a refugee community with survivors of torture and trauma.

I have also simultaneously repelled and attracted a vast array of personality disorders into relationships over the past 16 years and unintentionally alienated my now grown-up son whilst infantilising my daughter.

I have effectively failed at being a human but have had lots of fun along the way and caused enough joy to mitigate the destruction.

Who should see your show, and why?

Everyone who is on any sort of psychiatric spectrum, discovered and diagnosed or not, and anyone who wants to feel better about their own attempts at surviving existence while maintaining some shred of self-respect and dignity.

I have an honesty that will hopefully ingratiate itself into the psyche of those who witness it and help enable them to spread the word that ‘real’ is the only romance worth having and that vulnerability is a true measure of a person’s courage.

Anti-Semites and racists are more than welcome to come and attempt to heckle.

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

Be kind to me.

I’m really a sensitive introvert pretending to be a b..ch.

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

Maria Bamford because I adore her humour and her gentle and hapless delivery.

Urzilla Carlson because I find her to be an uplifting and exciting energy who exudes fun and positivity and Fern Brady because of her accent and cynicism.

What stands out to you about Melbourne?

I’m from Melbourne, born and bred. Nothing stands out for me.

Who or what is your comedic inspiration, and why?

Ali Wong for her unassuming and infectious narratives that are honest and hysterically funny.

Joan Rivers for being a trailblazing legend whose resilience and strength are admiral examples of the indomitable stamina of the human spirit.

Steve Hughes for the brilliant political oratory and unapologetic delivery, Bill Hicks for the same.

Jim Jefferies for the drunken revelry and self-deprecating expose and the ‘Australianness’ of his comedy and Khaled Khalafalla for being one of the sweetest and funniest Muslims out there who is doing great PR for his people and for the face of ethnic Australia.

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

Come and see it.

VANESSA STEINBERG, NOT QUITE WHITE, APRIL 4-17, LOOP PROJECT SPACE AND BAR, 19-23 MEYERS PLACE. BOOK TICKETS