A journalist who doubles as a comedian? Now, that's a rare breed.
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Ange Lavoipierre is that rare bird: an ABC journalist who has developed a second career as a stand-up comic in the last five years.
Lovoipierre is returning to Newcastle for a show, almost a year after she featured in a Heart Open event at the Lass O'Gowrie. She's playing the new Newcastle Comedy Club on Friday, February 4, with a brand new show, I've Got 99 Problems And Here Is An Exhaustive List Of Them.
Lavoipierre's comedy has met with critical acclaim and she's developed a growing following. She will play a run of shows at Adelaide Fringe (February 18-27), followed by a run in the Melbourne International Comedy Festival at the Butterfly Club (April 4-13).
As for that dual occupation, she's comfortable with both tags these days.
"I do call myself a comedian. A journalist. A comedian," she says. "I got into it by being a comedy cello accompanist. It's taken five or six years to have the courage to say, 'Yes, I am a comedian.'
"If there is anyone I wouldn't tell, it's a member of the public who I just met because the next question is, 'Tell us a joke.' That's the worst thing you could hear. Everyone else I tell."
It seems like it would be difficult to work for the ABC, the strait-laced public broadcaster, and then double down as a serious comedian, where no subject is off limits. And it is.
Although involved podcast development and new feature stories, Lavoipierre also performs comedy segments on the ABC radio network every week.
"They hired a journalist, but they kind of get a comedian for free," she says "It's definitely weird, walking those two worlds."
She's not ignorant to the dichotomy of the roles.
"For a long time it was source of massive anxiety: 'I can't be both of those things. At some point, this is going to blow up in my face. It has to.'
"I'm still waiting and progressively less worried."
It's not a far reach to think comedians command more respect from the public than journalists. I put it to Lavoipierre that comedy is an honourable profession: people attend because they think 'here is somebody who is going to make sense out of things that don't make sense to us'.
She responds without hesitation: "I think so much of journalism is preoccupied with trying to get to the core of a matter, and really, make the world intelligible to people, and so often, as journalists we fail really dismally at that," she says. "And I found comedy is a much neater tool for getting to the core of things sometimes."
In her first comedy show, Lavoipierre would privately engage a member of her audience to pretend he was her dad and she would interact with them during the show. Her second comedy show featured her performing mostly in her underwear, and giving out bones to the audience. The message: expect the unexpected.
While it would appear she is a natural, performing comedy was never on her radar as child or teen. She still finds it's not easy putting yourself, your comedy, out there.
"It's exciting and terrifying to nail your colours to the mast for a full hour," she says. "It's probably more terrifying than exciting, but ask me after I've finished the next few tours."
The new show, I've Got 99 Problems And Here Is An Exhaustive List Of Them, addresses some serious topics, believe it or not.
For me, this show was about taking an honest look at the extent to which we engage in magical thinking to suit ourselves on a day to day basis.
- Ange Lavoipierre
"For me, this show was about taking an honest look at the extent to which we engage in magical thinking to suit ourselves on a day to day basis," she says. "And yes, I guess, the extent in which we are able to deceive ourselves in the process."