Zoe Coombs Marr: Bossy Bottom

Zoe Coombs Marr has been performing as her alter ego, misogynistic Dave with the neck-beard. At this year’s Melbourne International Comedy Festival (MICF) she comes “baaaaack … as herself”.

Having heard Zoe – yeah, that’s right, we’re on a first name basis – on a podcast in the past, we were keen to see her do a solo show. For her first year as herself, instead of award-winning Dave, she did not disappoint.

She tells the audience at the start of the night that she is just doing jokes tonight, no gimmicks, props or complicated callbacks – and goes on to prove herself wrong in hilarious ways.

Zoe talks about her relationship with her partner, her family, and most of all, her audiences, telling us she thinks of us as a collective whole. We are like Drew Barrymore in the movie 50 First Dates: she has to keep wooing and winning us back.

She speaks out about feminist issues, like her sexuality, homophobia, and her experience as a female standup comedian in an incredibly male-dominated industry. Whilst these issues might seem a bit heavy for the Comedy Festival, Zoe is clever about how she presents those issues in her standup.

She will have you laughing along to anecdotes about her parents, who give her suggestions for material, to her partner, who is absolutely not a fan of Dave. She lays down a heap of groundwork throughout the show for upcoming jokes, and does it so well that you don’t even realise she’s setting up for the joke that’s coming up in 15 minutes.

Although MICF was the last leg of the Bossy Bottom tour (that we know of), Zoe is an MICF and Australian comedy circuit regular, so if you haven’t seen her yet, make sure you do the next time she comes round!

She’s sooooo much better than Dave, like, honestly. *in Zoe’s straight girl voice*  

Zoe Coombs Marr: Bossy Bottom 
Melbourne International Comedy Festival 2018
zoecoombsmarr.com
comedyfestival.com.au/2018/shows/zoe-coombs-marr-bossy-bottom