MICF: Alanah Parkin Interview – Garage Sale
The laughs are about to start in Melbourne because wait for it… the Melbourne International Comedy Festival is back and it’s bigger and better than ever! To celebrate, we catch-up with Alanah Parkin to talk laughs and more importantly, their new show.
Welcome to Impulse Gamer Alanah… So, “Garage Sale” is your debut solo show. That’s a big deal! What took you so long? Were you scared? Did you have stage fright? Or were you just waiting for the perfect garage sale to inspire you?
It is a big deal! And I was definitely scared. I also just really love working collaboratively — ensemble improv and theatre devising are my usual things, so I was worried that going it alone might deliver me a Big Bad Combo of More Stress and Less Fun. But it hasn’t felt like that at all — I’ve been bouncing all of my increasingly anarchic ideas off my wonderful director and partner, Isaac Haigh (MICF Best Newcomer 2023). And I’m privileged to be surrounded by a community of comedians who’ve been willing to share wisdom and give feedback on every facet of putting on a solo show. So I haven’t felt lonely or in over my head yet. I guess it’s not as different from creating collaboratively as I thought.
So, where did this inspiration come from? Was it from a particularly memorable garage sale experience? Did you find a hidden treasure? Or maybe a cursed object?
Last year, a couple around the same age as the characters in my show had a garage sale on my street. While I was there, I got introspective. There’s a real intimacy to a garage sale. It’s a glimpse into the past, present, and future of its hosts. Every object on display is a physical representation of years of memories and experiences. I always find myself wondering about the hosts’ lives, and about the stories of the things they’re selling. Where did this porcelain doll come from? What memories does this Walkman hold? How many unruly barbecues has this stubby holder seen?
I didn’t leave the garage sale empty-handed. Where else would I have been able to pick up a copy of 1964’s It’s a Small World: 18 Favorite Folk Songs Sung By Disneyland Boys Choir Under Direction of Paul Salamunovich on vinyl? They also threw in a cassette, still wrapped in the plastic it came in: Songs and Music from Hair & Godspell. I do not own a cassette player, but it was free, so it doesn’t matter.
Tell us what we can expect from Garage Sale?
Garage Sale is a narrative character comedy that follows the journey of Greg and Denise — a Narre Warren South couple in their 60s — nervously preparing for their Big Move to the retirement village up the road. It’s something of a fever dream, complete with outlandish characters, improv, song, dance, and audience immersion. It also has a lot of heart. Ultimately, Garage Sale is the story of an ageing couple grappling with a bit too much at once: Love, longing, secrets, regret, and the bittersweet feeling of leaving their youth behind.
You’re playing both Greg and Denise, right? That’s impressive. How do you switch between the two characters? Do you have a special technique? A secret handshake? A magic word?
I play Greg, Denise, and a whole smorgasboard of other wildly unanticipatable characters, yeah. It all happens through the power of voice, physicality, some technical magic… and far too many lightning-speed costume changes for my own good.
What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever found at a garage sale?
Last week I drove over two hours to a garage sale in Ballarat to buy one single prop for this show after spotting it on Facebook Marketplace. It is by far the most ridiculous purchase I have ever made at a garage sale, both because of the obscurity of the object and the distance I travelled to retrieve it. Unfortunately it’s also a big spoiler, so I cannot tell you what it is until you come and see it for yourself on stage.
What are you most looking forward to at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival?
Outside of finally debuting a solo show, it’s gotta be the atmosphere. The atmosphere at the Comedy Festival is always unbeatable. It’s just such a treat to be surrounded by artists, and to get to see all of the ideas that come out of their big, beautiful, weirdo brains year after year.
Which comedian this year would you be fan-girling for?
I can’t pick one (I’m very bad at making decisions), but I want to urge punters to go and see the weirdos. Stand-up isn’t the only type of comedy out there — the Festival is filled to the brim with sketch, theatre, improv, clown, circus, burlesque, and heaps more. If you like weirdos, go see Taylor Griffiths, Pedro Cooray, Sophie Power, Piotr Sikora, Blake Everett, Hannah Camilleri, Ben McCarthy, and Holly Bohmer. I’m also SO excited that The Bear Pack is back this year. Those two are world-class improvisers.
Finally, what do you hope audiences will take away from “Garage Sale”?
I hope audiences will allow themselves to be fully immersed in both the chaos and the heart of Garage Sale. I hope they find some nostalgia in the show’s suburban setting, and in the familiar characters we meet there. Mostly, I really hope they laugh.
Check out Alanah at www.alanahparkin.com and of course, the MICF at www.comedyfestival.com.au/browse-shows/alanah-parkin-s-garage-sale
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