She's seen it all, and Nurse Georgie Carroll is bringing her award-winning 'Sista Flo 2.0' back to Melbourne for audiences to see it all again too.
Georgie – who is also a best-selling author of 'Off The Charts' – is here to make it all feel better and to administer the LOLs this comedy festival season, as she deals out all the nurse banter and jokes she can.
Her video documenting 'the three stages of nursing' went viral with seven million views (and counting), and she's recruited a huge overseas following too.
Her combination of nationalities, plus life at home and in the hospital, has provided a 24/7 training ground, and her broad-spectrum appeal has proven to attract audiences of all types.
We chat to Georgie ahead of 'Sista Flo 2.0''s encore season at Melbourne International Comedy Festival.
Tell us what you’re bringing to MICF. How would you describe 'Sista Flo 2.0'?
One raucous hour of Hospital Grade staff room banter from Nurse Georgie.
Why did you decide to do an encore season this year?
Because it is the best hour I have written, it won Best Comedy at Adelaide Fringe '22 and not everyone has seen it yet. The show is an absolute joy to present and I am addicted to it.
To a Georgie Carroll newbie, how would you describe your stand-up style?
Meatballs, comedy meatballs, come get your meatballs. Meatballs are made with love, fill a hole and feed a crowd. No one is miserable after meatballs.
What do you love most about this festival?
Bumping into old friends and making new ones. The performance is obviously my favourite bit but I love the rhythm of the festival day; lie in, brunch, afternoon nap, get ready for show, tickle a few hundred people for an hour, party, sleep, repeat.
You were born in the UK. What was it about Australia that made you decide to eventually settle over here?
I had never visited Australia before migrating, The husband had been to the Ashes and fallen in love with the Adelaide Oval. He is not the adventurous type but I had wanderlust and applied for visas unbeknown to him and he just kind of went along with it. We have no regrets, the UK is excellent too but we have found Australia to be a much kinder environment in every sense.
You’re a nurse, a comedian, and you’ve written a book in the last few years too! What was that experience like?
It is a surprise to my nursing colleagues that I wrote a book, as hospital documentation has never been my strong suit. I loved it, I wrote it in those couple of years of Zoom gigs and live shows getting pulled, it's where I poured all my funny. I am very proud of it, I am an author now, I tell everybody.
As someone with so much happening, how do you balance work and life best? Is there a right way to do it?
Well, obviously, my life is in complete balance at all times, except for the health bit, I am not unwell but I live fast and furiously, having worked the wards for decades, I understand there will be a price to pay. You have to die of something, right? Every time I focus on the health bit I get less funny. Come to my show, I'm sacrificing myself for your enjoyment. The nurse will see you now!
Nurse Georgie Carroll plays Athenaeum Theatre (Melbourne International Comedy Festival) 29 March-23 April.
