‘Best year yet’ – how becoming a mum delivered a hit show for Amy Hetherington

With a national tour behind her, comedian Amy Hetherington is rapt to be back in front of a home crowd with her hit show Juggle.

Darwin comedian Amy Hetherington is set to wrap up the “best year” of her decade-long career with six local shows after spending the past year touring the country.

In February, she won the Fringe World Perth Best Overall Comedy with her show Juggle, inspired by the challenges of parenthood, which helped kick off a “massive year” on the road playing shows across Australia.

While writing, she was inspired by her own experiences with parenthood as a first-time mum to toddler Ruby.

“The show was completely about that chaos and finding your identity after becoming a parent,” she said.

“A lot of mums kind of give up on a few things or lose themselves a little bit so the show is about a bunch of dumb things I did to try and reignite myself and find my sexiness a little bit after becoming a parent,” she said.

“It’s a bit of an overshare, but that’s my comedy style and the message of this show is letting go of that perfection and Instagram bullshit parenting, like it’s okay to have things go wrong and it’s okay to feel a bit psychotic.”

Comedian Amy Hetherington with partner Paul Brandis and their daughter Ruby who inspired her latest show Juggle.

Born in Albany, Hetherington now calls Darwin home and is keen to end the year on a high in front of a home crowd.

“I’m really excited to do some final shows in Darwin because I think Darwin audiences are really the best in Australia because they know how to laugh at the crazy things that happen here,” she said.

“I wouldn’t have the success that I have had this year without the people in Darwin supporting me,

“So if we’re doing a wrap up of the year, as much as I’ve done some cool things, it never would have happened without the people in Darwin behind me.”

Hetherington will kick off the first of her final shows this weekend at Top Floor Comedy Headliner on Friday, November 17 and at the Humpty Doo Tavern on Sunday, November 19. Other performances include: November 23 and 24 at the Darwin Entertainment Centre; Top End Comedy at Brown’s Mart on December 7; and The First Time Comedy Show at the Darwin Hilton on December 16.

The comic will be back on the road again next year, hitting the ground running with a Western Australian tour in January.