MICF2025: LENA MOON INTERVIEW – RUBE GOLDBERG MACHINE
The Melbourne International Comedy Festival for 2025 is almost here and we catch-up with writer and comedia Lena Moon to talk comedy… and her new show!
Welcome to Impulse Gamer Lena! So right off the bat… you’ve spoken openly about your experiences with ADHD. How does your neurodiversity influence your comedic process, and are there any unexpected ways it’s helped or hindered your creativity?
This is a big question. I could easily talk about it for hours (as is the hyperverbal hyperactive ADHD way).
It’s funny, post diagnosis I became an expert in ADHD – at least I thought I did. I think I believed that simply by having it, I knew everything about it – which isn’t true, obviously. But there’s a strange process when you get the diagnosis, of learning what is you as a person, and what is the neurodiversity, and I’m thankful that being creative has helped me to explore that.
As far as making comedy goes, I think the reason I found improv so appealing, and stand up/ sketch quite challenging pre-diagnosis was that Improv is about learning tools to hone instinct, which is absolutely something you can do with written work, but I really struggled to remember my material when I first started.
I’m a few years out from my diagnosis, and I have spent a lot of time building a life that I can sustain with a neurodivergent brain. So the main impact it has on creating, is that I have to be strict with myself; strict with my time, hitting my deadlines, making sure I am swimming laps to help myself feel good and prevent overall burnout. Doing the big picture things to give myself the best chance to create sustainably. It’s boring and unsexy, because I’d love to just walk into a room and write my show on the walls, but then I’d be so tired I wouldn’t be able to perform it and none of my clothes would be clean.
Your comedy often explores the absurdities of modern life, particularly from a millennial/Gen Z perspective. What everyday annoyances or societal trends are currently fueling your comedic inspiration?
I think what is interesting about this show, it being my first solo, is that it’s quite personal so the lens is pointed inward a bit more than outward. Which is not to say there are no gripes, of course there are gripes. Mostly I come for jean sizing, office managers who make their own signs, and of course, the big industry that is primed for a take down: cryptic crosswords.
Australian humour has a reputation for being self-deprecating and dry. How do you see your comedy fitting within that tradition, or where do you diverge from it?
I have my moments, same as any. One of my big goals for this show was to like myself, both while making it and performing it as well as the content fuelling it. I dont think writing a show full of self deprecation would allow for that. That said, I tell a few objectively embarrassing stories in there so I might be lying as I type this answer.
You’ve built a strong online presence. How important is social media for connecting with your audience and developing your comedic voice, and what are some of the challenges that come with it?
Twitch streaming – I don’t think I’d be able to do comedy without it. During lockdown it became my main source of income and it left me room to be able to write shows with my sketch comedy partner and best friend Annie Lumsden. Relying on stream income can be challenging though, as I feel like my audience is my boss which is a weird dynamic. Sometimes it can feel like I’m not being entertaining enough to earn my crust, which isn’t typically the case, there’s a lot of reasons why things ebb and flow. It has taught me to never expect anything and to just be grateful.
What’s the most unexpected or memorable reaction you’ve ever received to one of your jokes or performances?
A few spring to mind, they’re always small and unexpected. In 2023 Annie and I opened for Aunty Donna at Hamer Hall. I had always said to Annie that my dream was to have an audience full of Donna Fans’ Girlfriends; in that I wanted gals who love sketch to come and see us. That Comedy Festival, after we did the Hamer Hall gig, we did our show and a girl came up to us afterward with this incredible enthusiasm and she said “I saw you both open for Aunty Donna and I told my boyfriend – we have to go see them. I just loved what you were doing SO much” and her boyfriend was standing there with her, a little awkwardly, as if he didn’t want to bother us. It had the vibe that he had been dragged there BY her, and I could not have been more proud to put on a show where girls were dragging their boyfriends to. Little did I realise, what I actually wanted was to have an audience full of Donna Fans’ Girlfriends and their boyfriends. Now that I’m writing this, it’s very obvious and I should have known that.
Who are some of your comedic influences, both Australian and international, and what do you admire about their work?
I went to film school straight out of high school and when I was there I learnt to look at films for moments of inspiration to add up to a whole, instead of just a ‘good’ movie. So even ‘bad’ films had good in them. That’s kind of what I think about comedic influences too. I’m looking for the moments, their specific thing that makes them special; how they wield their tools, what makes them amazing – that’s what I find inspiring and influential.
In no particular order: Annie Lumsden, Celia Pacquola, Nicolette Minster, Emma Holland, Caleb Hearon, Sophie Buddle, Anne Edmonds, Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Rachel Dratch, Zach Woods, Claire Hooper, Julio Torres, Zoe Coombs Marr, Michelle Braiser, Mish Wittrup, Maria Bamford, Kristen Wiig, Taylor Tomlinson, and the entire ensemble of improvisers in Something Good – the improv team I perform in every week .
You’ve dabbled in various comedic formats. Do you have a favourite medium – stand-up, online sketches, podcasts, etc. – and why?
Not really, stand up the newest one for me and I’m enjoying the challenge; It’s a lot different to the other types I have done. It’s probably overly earnest and a bit lame to just say but I love comedy and doing it in any way I am able to.
What are some of the biggest misconceptions people have about being a comedian, particularly a female comedian in Australia?
Maybe that we’re supposed to have the answers to everything? I think there’s this pressure because we’re commenting on things that we’re supposed to then also provide solutions. To that I say, “no thank you, I am not the government”.
If you could collaborate with any other comedian, living or dead, who would it be and what kind of project would you create?
Honestly anyone on the list of influences above – but I think me and Sophie Buddle should play sisters in some kind of Sundance darling indie comedy film about a family who ultimately finds their way back together after some kind of fracturing. Bonus points for a scene where she and I air out our years of pent up sisterly grievances through a cracked bathroom door because my character has a UTI and can’t stray too far from the toilet.
Beyond comedy, what are some of your other passions or interests that you’d like to explore further?
I love video games. I would love to make one. And I have a screenwriting degree, so I would one day love to make a TV show. I also have a few documentaries kicking around in my head I’d absolutely love to make. Lastly, I would also like to learn how to make buttercream icing without pushing it too far and accidentally turning into sweet butter.
Check out Lena at www.lenamooncreates.com and also her new show at… www.comedyfestival.com.au/browse-shows/rube-goldberg-machine
About the Author
Andrew Bistak When he's not trying to save the world, Andrew enjoys travel (although loathes turbulence), going to the movies, reading and being a dad to his two dogs (and now twins) with his wife.
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