IT wasn't until Eddy Rockefeller moved to Newcastle that she realised she could give standup comedy a try.
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"I moved here six or seven years ago, the best move I've ever made," the 29-year-old comedian, singer and musician says.
She grew up in Narromine, then moved to Tamworth and from there to Newcastle. Since 2018 she's been running open mic comedy events. Rockefeller recently wrote and began performing a comedy show, and in June, she won a $1000 grant from Awesome Newcastle to create a standup comedy night specifically for, and to encourage, women comedians.
She first moved to Newcastle for better music options.
"I broke up with my partner of four 1/2 years, and I wanted to move here for the music scene," Rockefeller says. "I'm not a country music star."
At four she started learning classical violin and piano. Her mum and both her sisters teach music. By 16 she'd picked up guitar and vocals and continued to learn.
The move to Newcastle was her first after living with her partner in Tamworth.
"It was rocky when I started in Newcastle. I rolled a car down a hill; it wasn't even my car," she says. "But I love the people, the scene, the creative spirit, I love the beach. I'm so used to being inland."
Once she arrived she realised it's easier to make money from cover gigs, and original music gigs are harder to get. She began to dabble in the comedy scene. She found that comedy was creatively easier than music; music required more tools and people.
"What I love about comedy is that I can just sit down with a pad and write comedy. It's a very solo sort of thing," she says.
Five years ago worked as a social media assistant for open mic nights with Joanna Leigh at the Mayfield Hotel.
"I started running these tall tale nights, doing the promo. I'd rock up and people would be telling stories. I thought 'I can get up and tell a story'. I got up and did that and (local comedian) David Gairdner came up to me afterwards and he said 'you should come to Crown and Anchor.'
That's when she learned Newcastle had actual standup comedy nights (called Clown and Anchor) and she went along to one to do a set. She was intimidated by how prepared everyone else was. She went home, wrote a set and came back much better prepared.
"I got hooked. I got addicted. I started showing up at every single comedy event," she says.
Three years ago she started running her own open mics, Punchline Comedy at the Stag and Hunter Hotel which are on the first and third Wednesdays of the month. It became so popular she started looking for more venues to run events. She organises all of them and often hosts and performs, too.
"I was running three before COVID. COVID hit, everything shut down. We came back from COVID, it just grew after that. People were so keen to get out. I went from one night to 10 in a month," Rockefeller says.
Her nights are now called FACE (Free and Affordable Comedy Events). She created a website, faceopenmiccomedy.com.
"I've had venues approach me to run gigs which is so different and great. It just shows when you put effort and appeal and build it, it does start getting easier," she says.
Six months before COVID, she started getting serious about her own comedy.
"The crazy thing is the reason I started taking it seriously was because my dog died. I didn't want to be in the house because she wasn't around," Rockefeller says.
She started writing for hours of the day at coffee shops and found she was improving and getting endorphin hits from being on stage. In her hour-long show she performs her best bits from her repertoire.
"It's basically dating and relationships and I called it 'The Art of Falling in Love', but I did think later I should have called it The Art of Falling," she says.
"It's basically a show about what not to do. It's a great show for anybody who has had a terrible dating life and wants to feel better about their own life. Trust me, I can do it."
She debuted at the Newcastle Fringe Festival and went on to Dubbo. She's signed up for the Sydney Fringe in September.
She still incorporates music into her performance, but she doesn't consider herself musical comedy. People encouraged it when she started comedy, but she didn't want to be pigeonholed.
"It wasn't that I didn't want to do it, I wanted to make sure I was developing in standup as well," she says. "Then when I had an idea for a comedy song I did it. I don't want musical comedy to be my only thing."
She still teaches and gigs music while organising, promoting and running her many comedy events during the week.
If that's not enough, she's about to launch The Whole Shebang.
Rockefeller wanted to create a women's showcase with local and travelling acts. She believes women don't typically get up and try comedy because there are usually so many men on stage.
She's hoping this monthly event will change things. The grant money she received will help cover the cost of the acts, and proceeds from some of the ticket sales will go to women's domestic violence and homelessness support, Jenny's Place.
"The Awesome Newcastle grant will set me up for the first three months counting ticket sales, and I hope after three months I'll have a sponsor come forward and then I can continue to do it," she says.
She's thrilled to watch the Newcastle comedy scene evolve.
"We've never had more comedy in Newcastle, and not just for open mics, but also the booked rooms, so Civic Comedy Club, Watt Street Comedy, and Newcastle Comedy Festival. We're becoming a hub. We also need more comedians, so I'm trying my best to indoctrinate people," Rockefeller says.
