Aloha! My name is Jamie Mykaela and I am a comedy-cabaret weirdo from Perth. If you are reading this, it’s too late. For some reason Pelican has let me loose on their website to write a tour diary and the power trip has begun. I’ve made it, Ma! I’m writing for a student magazine for a university I don’t even go to! A regular Perthonality!
But like most Perthonalities – you probably haven’t heard of me. I should probably explain what I do and why you should care. What I do is really, really weird. I play the ukulele, I wear silly costumes (typically either pantsless or pantsuits), I yell a lot while I’m sitting on people’s laps, and I alternate between popping party poppers attached to my nipples and fighting the patriarchy through the magical power of dance.
I know. It’s a lot.
And for some reason, last year this “art” took me to Adelaide, Newcastle, Sydney and Edinburgh (that’s in Scotland!) and now it’s taking me on another tour around Australia! It’s pretty batshit, I’m not going to lie – considering what I do is some weird combination of Play School and an acid-fueled fever dream, I’m pretty lucky.
In this tour diary, I’m going to be spilling the beans on what it’s like being a solo touring performer. No production companies, no big budget, no sanity left by the end of it. You’ll be following me while I am debuting my second solo show – Jamie Mykaela’s Napoleon Complex – and wandering around the country in other people’s shows such as Tomas Ford’s Craptacular, Late Night Gameshow, and FartLab 2. Oh, children’s theatre. How I love you!
But this diary isn’t about all the shows – it’s about all the daily experiences of solo performing. The anxiety, the successes, the low audience numbers, the casual sexism, the inspiration from seeing amazing people perform, the late nights, the early mornings for children’s shows (yay!), and the crippling imposter syndrome that lingers over your head when you’re in green rooms with people you’ve being watching on YouTube since you were a faux-goth preteen.
Not to mention when you’re versing Sammy J at a high stakes game of Chubby Bunny in front of 500 five year olds cheering you on as you inevitably vomit marshmallow mush into a garbage bag. Totally relatable, right?
But we start in Perth. As of today, I have finished writing the first draft of Napoleon Complex with my partner. It’s weird. It’s very weird. We’ll probably have to cut the bit where I dance around The Moon Café with an 11.6 inch dildo to the Round The Twist theme song – but that’s okay, it’s all part of the process.
So feel free to join me in this tour diary to hear all about the hilarity, the insanity, and the chaffing from wearing leotards way too much. It’ll be weird, but we’ll get through it. I hope. I’ll keep you updated!
Much love,
Jamie Mykaela x
P.S. Pals, if were thinking about coming to see my show you can find it here and if you use the code PAYME you can get a cheeky little discount at the checkout. Or you can wait for RushTix, ya cheap shits.
If ya just wanna have a wee stalk you can find me on Facebook, Twitter or on my website.