From surgery to stand-up, laughter really has been the best medicine for comedian Georgie Carroll who is presenting her new show this year.
With 18 years experience in emergency and intensive care nursing, Georgie has traded stitching wounds for stitching sides with laughter.
“I just want to make people laugh real hard,” Georgie says.
“I'm not going to change your world, I might remind you of something you've forgotten but I just want you to go feeling way better than when you walked in, much like a nurse in a hospital. I'm going to make you feel better without drugs, whereas the hospital would load you up.”
Georgie's new comedy show is called 'Nurse Georgie Carroll: Treat Yourself', which she's currently administering around the country. Taking up comedy later in life at the age of 35, Georgie says before then she would not have been the type of person to attend something like a Fringe Festival. She's performed at Fringe World in Perth and Adelaide Fringe here in Australia.
“I probably would have thought it's a bit of wispy nonsense but since I started it's become such a beautiful new part of my life,” she says. “It's taken me travelling, given me excitement and adventure and joy. It's like a puzzle that will never be fixed.”
So how does a nurse become a comedian?
“That was a complete accident,” Georgie explains. “I did not know that comedy was an art form, I thought it was like karaoke where you just get up and have a go.
“So I went and watched a comedy night, which was an awful bit of comedy – a whole night of people taking about being stoned and stuff I didn't identify with. I asked if I could have a go and the promoter said yes. So I got up and had a go, told a couple of nursing stories and I very much felt like I blew roof off. In hindsight it was a bit of a poxy set but I just love the feeling of people laughing.”
It's no surprise a nurse would make an excellent comedian because we all know that nurses have the best stories. Besides that, their work demands they be able to see the funny in dire situations.
“It's called 'the gallows' humour,” Georgie says.
“We definitely have to debrief and laugh, and sometimes you laugh the hardest after some really dark stuff but you're not laughing at the situation. You go back to the staff room and have a right good laugh. You have to find some fun in it or you'd be admitting yourself.
“[Nurses] are the best people to invite to parties because we don't take anything too serious and we are definitely very plain speakers. We judge everybody but we still care for them. They know that no matter what we're saying about them we're still going to look after them.”
Georgie Carroll Tour Dates
26 Feb-2 Mar - Brisbane Powerhouse (Brisbane Comedy Festival)4-17 Mar - The Garden Of Unearthly Delights (Adelaide Fringe Festival)
21-23 Mar - Hotel Grand Chancellor (Laughs Of Launnie, Launceston)
27 Mar-12 Apr - European Bier Cafe (Melbourne International Comedy Festival)
9-11 May - Enmore Theatre (Sydney Comedy Festival)
