Backyard Stories – Festival Club

Backyard Stories is an event unlike any other on the Festival Club circuit. Every year, host Claudia Nankervis supplies five comedians with a theme and invites them each to tell a story. Historically, the theme’s presence within these stories has ranged between present and barely there. But this, year Nankervis must’ve been cracking her whip behind the scenes because her talent delivered five excellent stories, each exploring the night’s theme of “challenge”.

Lou Wall applied the word to themselves, with a listicle of the ways that their personality and manner have challenged others over the years. Amy Annette considered the culture of body shaming that pervaded her adolescence in the 2000s, reflecting on how it challenged some and left others unscathed. Takashi Wakasugi expressed his deep regret at never having conquered the challenge most important to him; growing a mustache. Anisa Nandaula explained the strange and unjust impact that working at Bunnings had on her love life. Paul Foot spoke about the legal challenge his father mounted against his mother in a childhood-defining custody battle.

Backyard Stories is the one of the festival’s best offerings for seeing comedians outside their comfort zone, in a context where humour and sincerity are given equal footing.