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<p>Stepping into Aunty Donna’s office, I feel like Neil Armstrong diving into a timeless dimension of space. </p>

Culture

Stepping into Aunty Donna’s office, I feel like Neil Armstrong diving into a timeless dimension of space.

It’s like entering into a different world, where logic becomes obsolete, giving way to a transcendent kind of comedy that leaves you asking the question, ‘Why Is This So Funny?’

You ask this question after experiencing tummy nauseating laughter at a sequence that does not follow the traditional set-up punchline narrative that we as a culture have been hardwired to identify and react to. This indoctrination of the traditional form of comedy is why when I first saw Aunty Donna live, I felt lost, like a ship without a wheel in the middle of the ocean.

But like your first sips of sour beer, after a few hits, those sips become increasingly sweet. Aunty Donna is almost an acquired taste, in that you must leave all that you’ve come accustomed to knowing about comedy, at the door. Aunty Donna has extended the art form beyond what any of their peers are doing anywhere in the world. Their sketches are lightning quick with wit, sometimes audiences will miss hilarious split-second jokes, that if they re-watched on YouTube, would leave them crying with laughter.

As the interview starts, I ask about how they first met, naively expecting a logical answer.

“Fergus, before we start. On any podcast we feature on, we are contractually obliged to mention all the sponsors of our own podcast” Broden tells me with a stern look on his face.

Broden’s fellow member, Zach, bursts out with laughter as Broden spends three minutes detailing the particularities of each product sponsor.

Again, I naively ask a straightforward question, and to my amazement – the boys go into an improvised sketch that leaves me in stitches.

One of their sketches ties amazingly into the University of Melbourne’s breadth subject program – something Zach is aware of due to his girlfriend studying at the University.

Midway through the interview I realise that my voice is the pencil running itself through Einstein’s E=MC2, I should just sit back and let these comedic geniuses do their thing. And they provided my tummy with a workout it hasn’t seen since I bought the Ab-King-Pro late one night back in 2010.

After the interview we’re all exhausted. We sip the iced coffees and bananas I brought, often reserved as a post-marathon snack for recovery. We devour them after what feels like our own comedic marathon.

Aunty Donna are pushing the next frontier of comedy further and further, it would be wise to see them for the experience. You may not get it straight away, but when that water turns to wine you’ll quickly intoxicate yourself on the joy of laughter with thousands of other human beings. No other feeling can be compared but for warming the soul and leaving your brain rushed with endorphins, without even taking a step on a running track.

Bravo, Aunty Donna.

You can listen to the podcast of this interview by searching ‘The Ferg Neal Show’ on ITunes.

You can see Aunty Donna perform their two shows (New Show: World Tour Edition and Big Boys) at The Athenaeum Theatre on Saturday the 28th of October. You can by tickets at Ticketek.com or on The Aunty Donna website.

 

 

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