British comedian Harry Stachini is making the most out of his first visit to Australia.
Over the last few months he’s performed in Perth, Adelaide and is now set to take the stage at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival with 'Best Of The Edinburgh Fest'. Joining Stachini in the hilarious line-up are Mark Simmons and Andy Askins, who will be performing sets that have wowed audiences in Edinburgh.
“All of our personas are so different,” Stachini explains. “It’s a good hour of stand-up and it's the best display of a comedy buffet. There’s something for everyone. If you like one liners – we’ve got that. If you like stories – we’ve got that. If you like musical comedy – we’ve got a bit of that.”
Stachini’s set is a condensed version of his hit comedy show, 'Grenade', which had a sold-out run at last year’s Edinburgh Fringe. “The show is the reason I’ve been selected to come here. It’s called 'Grenade' and it’s a metaphor for a problem in your life that you know you should be dealing with. You can either sit on it or pull the pin and see what happens.”
'Grenade' is inspired by a pivotal moment in Stachini’s life where he pulled the pin on a relationship and confessed to his long-time partner that he didn’t want to get married. “The start of the show is the build up as to why it was the best decision to pull the pin.”
“When I say that I hear people in the room [imitating a gasping sound] and I know I’ve got the back of a joke to it and some people go 'you can’t say that – that’s mean', but the joke is on me. The fact that I said it like that.”
While some comedians might look to push the envelope and be controversial for laughs, Stachini prefers to focus on his own experiences. “There is such a thing as low-hanging fruit, but nothing I ever do is necessarily the first thought I had. I’m pretty on it with my writing. I write every day, whether it’s an hour or a couple of hours, but the danger of overstepping the mark – I don’t think it's beneficial to be risky for the sake of being risky. I think if someone got offended by me talking about my experience of something – I’m not going to get bent out of shape about it. I’m telling you about my experience around it, what my family is like, what my relationship is like.”
What Stachini enjoys seeing is people being able to have a laugh and relate to his experiences. He’s had many men comment on how 'Grenade' reminded them of their own relationship experiences, and he’s also enjoyed seeing audiences of various generations resonate with his words.
“I had a 13-year-old boy yesterday and he was the youngest person I’ve ever performed to, and when I was talking about puberty he was laughing his head off because he’s obviously going through it, but then there’s someone who's 70 and he’s laughing because that’s a universal experience.”
In addition to 'Best Of The Edinburgh Fest', Stachini is also part of a podcast, 'All Made Up', with fellow comedians Lewis Coleman and Ben Hart, which he hopes to bring to Australia as a touring show in the future. “I’m looking to bring my live podcast over to Australia. . . It’s a gameshow with three hosts, and if you are the guest you are the lead writer and you join us in a writers room and we make a story out of nothing. We do it with a live crowd and get a lot of suggestions.”
Harry Stachini performs as part of 'Best Of The Edinburgh Fest' at Athenaeum Theatre (Melbourne International Comedy Festival) 26 March-20 April.
