Women Like Us | Wollongong Comedy

With 50 sold out shows to their credit, you can’t afford to miss comedy geniuses Ellen Briggs and Mandy Nolan in Women Like Us when they come to Wollongong Comedy for two nights only!
Armed with a repertoire chock full of Mum jokes, Mullumbimby hippy digs and witty, intelligent tales about waxing, trying on clothes and having to deal with snooty shop assistants, (and that’s just the tip of the iceberg) their humour is warm, sometimes politically incorrect and always entertaining.

Mandy and Ellen met when Ellen was writing a book and it was becoming funnier but not funny enough so she decided to do Mandy’s comedy course.
Ellen had no intention of getting up but Mandy persisted and Ellen ended up doing 5 minutes of stand up comedy at the end of the course and feel in love with not only performing but with Mandy too.
Ellen admits that she was in love with Mandy from the minute she saw her –  ‘scared …… and in love‘.
Mandy describes their connection as a classic ‘teacher crush’ but she could see Ellen’s potential.
Both being straight, married and with kids, they both admit that the only time they can be together is when they are on stage.
Adjusting to life on the road, it’s been smooth sailing for this comedic duo, ‘unless you count the times that Mandy is behind the wheel‘. says Ellen.
Mandy admits it’s all is all about breaking the rules.
‘Sometimes you have to cross double lines to score a park‘, says Mandy, describing Ellen as ‘really judgy about that‘.
This however is nothing compared to Ellen’s hotel booking techniques, where she describes the rooms as previously been visited by serial killers who have left their bed bugs!
So how do these two working mums juggle life on the road with family?
Mandy says having lots of ex husbands has really helped as it’s cheaper than child minding. Mandy explains ‘Look we talk about the kids on stage so they’re all tax deductible.  The kids are in on the whole scam.’
Ellen on the other hand has a different approach. ‘I yell a lot, and make my family feel very guilty about how hard I work.  I only have teenagers so they absolutely love that I’m away so much‘.
With their own life experiences becoming a part of their material on stage, Mandy says she never phones home for clearance before a gag but keeps a rule that what they say on the road, stays on the road.
Ellen’s husband gets a real kick out of attending her local gigs. At the end of each gig he pretends he has just arrived and will ask audience members ‘she didn’t say anything about me did she?‘ just to watch them squirm.
Asked if they try to convey any deep and meaningful messages in their shows, Mandy says ‘Constantly. I want them to think I’m smart, beautiful, and the kind of woman they want to give all their money to. I am also happy if  end up giving them permission to like themselves‘.
Ellen on the other hand admits that she is pretty blunt and she says what she means. ‘I leave the subliminal messages for around the house‘.
With 50 sold out shows to their credit, the ladies concede it’s due to a lot of hard work. They often put up their own posters and take their own embarassing pictures in their undies.

Mandy says ‘If my husband dies I may never get a root again. I’ll do anything to sell a ticket. I lost my dignity years ago. And  our show is excellent so people who have seen it are happy to tell their friends in other places to go along. We also occasionally threaten people, but we’ve never carried through. Yet‘.
Ellen has her own theory on the show’s success ‘We knew we were onto something great.  We are out there telling the stories of ordinary women and that’s not something you hear very much so I’m not surprised that the word has got out.  We have big mouths too.  That helps.  What we are is really happy that people are loving it so much.’
Being relatable to their audience has also played a huge part.
‘Being fat, over looked and disappointed with my lot. We really appeal to most of Australia who aren’t rotten with privilege‘ says Mandy.
Ellen agrees ‘Women can see themselves in us, and men love that they’re not married to us.  The name of the show says it all – Women Like Us. We are all the same underneath the fluff.  And we have a lot of fluff.  We’re from Mullumbimby afterall‘.
Mandy recently headlined International Comedy Festival’s Roadshow right here in Wollongong.
‘I love Wollongong. I couldn’t believe I had never been there. Wollongong is so clever to have a city so close to Sydney and not be in Sydney. They have nailed the ocean side living thing. You also have enough bogans to balance your hipster quota, so you are doing ok’ said Mandy.
When comparing their personalities to a bowl of cereal, both Mandy and Ellen chose a suprisingly healthy option.
Mandy: ‘All bran. I’m just a regular girl‘.
Ellen: ‘Porridge with fruit and honey because I’m white and lumpy but sweet and I will give you the shits at some stage‘.
So what can we expect from Women Like Us when they reach Wollongong Comedy on 22nd and 23rd of September?
Ellen says ‘2 hours of 2 middle aged women telling it like it is, be it your future, your past or your right now.  It’s like therapy…just cheaper and a whole lot funnier‘.
Don’t miss your opportunity to see Ellen Briggs and Mandy Nolan in the hilarious Women Like Us when they come to Wollongong Comedy for two nights only! 50 sold out shows can’t be wrong!