Everyone does it. Darwin collected it. Elvis died on the toilet doing it. Poo brings us together. So wash your hands. 

On the Origin of Faeces is a scientific and comedic investigation into the excellent world of excrement and gut bacteria. How do astronauts poo in space? Did ancient cultures worship poo? What lurks in a gut microbiome? The answer lies within ourselves. 

Alanta spent a fair bit of her 20s working in sanitation, inspecting Ugandan drop toilets. If one stares into a latrine for long enough, the latrine starts to stare back into you. Alanta was left with more questions than answers. What makes a healthy poo? Do our gut feelings account for more of what we do than we give them credit for? Forget Elon Musk and his lust for space, is the microbiome the final frontier of human discovery? 

Humanity is fundamentally a walking digestive tract. Excrement is the only thing some people ever produce. This show takes a bottom up approach to some scientific scat chat, as we dive into the bowels of the matter to learn about poo horoscopes, DIY faecal transplants and why dogs defecate on a north-south axis. 

This is a shit show. Join science comedian Alanta Colley for a festival of effluvia exploring how gut bacteria makes us who we are and how we feel about poo. So grab a stool and join us for a diarreally good time. 

Alanta’s debut solo show Parasites Lost sold out its entire run at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival and was given an Inspiring Australia Science-Arts Grant to perform in FRINGEWORLD Perth in 2019. Alanta’s second solo show Days of our Hives about bee keeping and bee losing attracted more beekeepers than any other show at a comedy festival. Alanta’s nerdy concoction of evidence-based comedy and personal confessions has been warmly received by audiences across Australia and internationally.

Alanta is a public health practitioner, comedian and storyteller based in Melbourne. She runs Sci Fight Science Comedy Debate year round at Howler Melbourne, where scientists and comedians come together to debate serious issues in a ridiculous manner. She’s performed for the Gates Foundation in Seattle, is a regular guest on ABC Radio with David Astle, has appeared on ABC TV News and in Frankie Magazine. She also moderates for the Transitions Film Festival. Alanta is also a good source of protein and has been used in traditional medicine in the treatment of syphilis, guinea worm and can be used as a viable alternative to fire wood.

'A delightful presence on stage and enchanting storyteller.' Squirrel Comedy

'Alanta is an experienced and gifted orator.' WeekendNotes

'Horrified but laughing.' Gates Foundation employee

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