Steph Tisdell - Comedian
Steph is a comedian known for her work at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival Gala, Hughesy We Have A Problem, The Project, and for winning the 2014 Deadly Funny National Grand Final.
Steph is also a part of the Aboriginal Comedy All Stars line-up and performed at Edinburgh Fringe and London's Soho Theatre.
Steph's website: https://www.stephtisdell.com/
Steph on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stephtisdellcomedy
Verbatim from the transcripts — each quote links to the moment.
“I think when you've got so much free time, you just naturally, if you want to keep on progressing and growing, you just do that, I guess.”
“if you get into comedy for money, then you're a fuckwit.”
“I'm never gonna learn what I'm capable of unless I remove the safety blanket and force myself to fucking swim.”
“if we can't even get in the position, to get in the position of reverse cowgirl, how the fuck are we going to get representation on screen?”
“if you can make people laugh about it, you can make them fucking think about it.”
“People just do stupid shit. People don't know how to be when they feel awkward. And that's the one thing that universally makes people awkward.”
“perfection isn't real.”
Should you get into comedy for the money?
Tisdell argues getting into comedy for money is the wrong motivation ('if you get into comedy for money, then you're a fuckwit'); she reframed her own ambitions after losing paid work in 2020, realizing the career isn't fundamentally about money for her.
How do you learn to love or forgive yourself?
Tisdell suggests it's less about 'loving yourself' and more about forgiving your own mistakes and faux pas, recognising you're human and that perfection isn't real, rather than holding onto every error indefinitely.
While on a rule-bound 'say yes to everything' trip inspired by Yes Man, Tisdell got drunk in Dublin, was dared by new friends to try stand-up, and climbed on a chair in a random bar to riff for about ten minutes, receiving free drinks in return.
Tisdell wrote a joke about her ginger boyfriend just before a Just for Laughs taping, got it approved last-minute, and it brought the house down on first telling; she later built her acclaimed Melbourne Comedy Festival Gala set around it plus a closing line about Aboriginal representation.
Tisdell describes a woman with no apparent Aboriginal appearance loudly claiming kinship with strangers at a NAIDOC event after apparently discovering Indigenous heritage via an ancestry test, which Tisdell found both awkward and genuinely funny.
Drawn from the episode transcripts.
While on an extended, loosely planned trip to London and Dublin inspired by the film 'Yes Man', she adopted a rule of saying yes to any opportunity (short of drugs, arrest, or death). A friend in a Dublin bar dared her to try stand-up, and she climbed on a chair in a random pub and riffed for about 10 minutes, later doing proper open mics back in Brisbane.
From episode 818→Tisdell wrote the joke just before performing at Just for Laughs, swapped it into her set last minute after getting producer approval, and it got a huge reaction on first telling. She then used it again, along with a closing line about Aboriginal representation, when she hosted the Melbourne Comedy Festival Gala in 2019.
From episode 818→She was scared of being accused of tokenism, feared racist backlash, and felt she lacked 'permission' because she didn't grow up on Country, despite knowing her family and heritage. Mentorship from comedian Kevin Kropinyeri and the Deadly Funny competition helped her find confidence to address it on stage.
From episode 818→Every episode featuring Steph Tisdell on The Daily Talk Show.
