For more than three decades, Mandy Nolan has navigated the world of comedy. In her show 'The Candidate', she divulges all the deets about that time she ran for politics, came breathtakingly close, and then lost.
Mandy was the Greens Candidate for Richmond in northern New South Wales, and she's ready to tell her story.
'The Candidate' is about what it means to be a woman in the male-dominated world of politics, and is inspired by women like Grace Tame and Brittany Higgins. It's the story of a stand-up comedian who dared to step into the political ring to push for action on climate change and housing: "Nothing can prepare you for the insane adrenaline sport of campaigning," Mandy says. "Not even three decades as a stand-up comic."
Mandy had her own stalker, lived through a flood where her campaign manager lost her home, and tried to back science in an electorate home to Pete Evans and tribes of conspiracists. . . So, you could say she's seen some things.
Before she tells audiences all about them, though. . . Mandy pens an open letter to the 'stale pale males' of Canberra.
“Sorry blokes, but it’s the end of men.
Well, the end of men like you. Stop hiding in your suits! We don’t just need the truth and integrity of ICAC, we need an authenticity commission – an UNJAC.
Let the t-shirt tell the truth of who you really are! It worked for Zelensky.
You fellas have had what is known as ‘a long turn’. Patriarchy has been raging for, what is it, 6,000 years? I’d say you’ve had enough time to get it right and you just seem to keep messing it up.
It’s not like you’ll have nothing to do. There’s heaps. Like caring for kids and your elderly parents? There’s raffle tickets to be sold outside newsagents for kid’s hospitals and school canteens that need someone to heat the pies. It’s the stuff we have been doing because you’re ‘too busy’.
Oh, sorry, there is a catch. It’s unpaid.
So please vacate Parliament, and hand it over to the Aunties. 151 Aboriginal Matriarchs. Women who lead with wisdom born from lore and lived experience. Electorates won’t be named after old white men anymore, new boundaries will line up with country, and be named in alignment with the Aboriginal nation. The Aunties will sort us out. They’re resilient, they are resourceful, they are compassionate and fierce. They don’t take corporate donations and won’t lead us into catastrophic climate change.
They’ll fix it.
And maybe in 200 years they might decide to give a white man a voice. . . Or maybe not.”
Well, the end of men like you. Stop hiding in your suits! We don’t just need the truth and integrity of ICAC, we need an authenticity commission – an UNJAC.
Let the t-shirt tell the truth of who you really are! It worked for Zelensky.
You fellas have had what is known as ‘a long turn’. Patriarchy has been raging for, what is it, 6,000 years? I’d say you’ve had enough time to get it right and you just seem to keep messing it up.
Image © Belle Stewart
It’s not like you’ll have nothing to do. There’s heaps. Like caring for kids and your elderly parents? There’s raffle tickets to be sold outside newsagents for kid’s hospitals and school canteens that need someone to heat the pies. It’s the stuff we have been doing because you’re ‘too busy’.
Oh, sorry, there is a catch. It’s unpaid.
So please vacate Parliament, and hand it over to the Aunties. 151 Aboriginal Matriarchs. Women who lead with wisdom born from lore and lived experience. Electorates won’t be named after old white men anymore, new boundaries will line up with country, and be named in alignment with the Aboriginal nation. The Aunties will sort us out. They’re resilient, they are resourceful, they are compassionate and fierce. They don’t take corporate donations and won’t lead us into catastrophic climate change.
They’ll fix it.
And maybe in 200 years they might decide to give a white man a voice. . . Or maybe not.”
Mandy Nolan plays Melb Town Hall - Regent Room (Melbourne International Comedy Festival) 30 March-23 April.
