Zoë Coombs Marr is a performer, writer, artist and comedian who makes intersectional feminism funny. She is one-third of the contemporary performance company post, and has performed stand-up comedy extensively in Australia, the UK and the US, sometimes as a retrograde male comedian named Dave. Most recently Zoë created, wrote and hosted ABC TV’s Queerstralia, a fascinating look into the untold LGBTQIA+ history of Australia.

Rhys Nicholson has become a familiar face on screens around the world, appearing on Taskmaster, The Imperfects and as a regular judge on RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under in addition to their very own Netflix special. Off screen, Rhys’s stand-up career has sent them across the globe, and in between all that they’ve also co-opened a new comedy venue and released their first book, Dish: Spiels, Scoops, Emotional Outbursts and the Occasional Recipe.

Zoë and Rhys have been friends for over a decade, and in 2016 were married at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival in the lead up to the same-sex marriage plebiscite. The marriage didn’t work out. Now, for UMAC’s Coffee and Conversation, these two gay divorcees reunite to talk about the things they actually do love: the books, performances, divas and legends that have inspired their creative journeys.

This is a free event, but bookings are required. Standing Room filter coffee will be available for a gold coin donation.

You can catch Zoë and Rhys’s new shows at this year’s Festival — Everything Single Thing In My Whole Entire Life and Huge Big Party Congratulations.

Presented by University of Melbourne Arts and Culture in partnership with Readings.

University of Melbourne Arts and Culture