What happens when a comedian with ADHD has one too many seltzers and decides to try his hand at comedy? You get to see Gerard Maroney performing ‘White Girl Wasted’ at Fringe World in Perth.
Hailing from Perth, Gerard possesses a manic style of observational comedy that has kept him in the comedy game for a decade.
“I called my show ‘White Girl Wasted’ because I live the white-girl-wasted life drinking seltzers,” Gerard explains.
“The morning you wake up after having too many seltzers, one does not get a hangover – there's nothing in them. Because I drink seltzers, my nickname at work is ‘white-girl-wasted’ and I thought: ‘great show title, I’m going to use it this year’.”
Take a walk, or clumsy stumble, with Gerard on the wrong side of conventional comedy for an hour of awkward laughs and over-the-top energy.
“My show is about an ADHD comedian doing a Fringe show, so it’s not written around one theme, but a series of jokes put together to make the show,” he says.
“I just hope the audience sits back, relaxes, has some laughs and enjoys the show. Get away and have a distraction from whatever is getting someone down.
“I have found audiences need to realise I'm an alternative comic. I could see peoples’ eyes blown like, ‘wtf?’ if everything said is literal. I consider myself the average boy-next-door comic; everyone else says I'm alternative.”
Whatever you want to call him, Gerard is anything but your average comedian. He’s the kind of guy who prefers to work things out as he goes, like how he got his start in stand-up comedy.
“I signed up by email to try a spot at open mic comedy,” he says.
“I had never been, but that night I jumped up and boy did I bomb. All I did was shake and sweat, barely got a word out. Been in the game ever since.”
Gerard fostered acclaim for his 2021 Fringe World show ‘Work It Out’, which was lauded for its meta-humour that critics commended as 'super-refreshing'.
“I’m looking forward to a Fringe Festival not overwhelmed by COVID,” Gerard says.
“I did my first Fringe show in 2021 and again in 2022. With all the eastern states and international acts coming it’s exciting to see Fringe becoming big again and not trying to get an audience during lockdown times.”
Gerard Maroney plays Behind the Fridge Door at Convenients 29 January, Ronnie Nights 22 January and 17 February, The Paramount Room at Paramount Night Club 3,4,10,11 February and Allstars at The Aberdeen Hotel (Fringe World) 30 January-12 February.
