Join award-winning writer, filmmaker and podcaster Taku Mbudzi for a chat about the serious business of being funny on stage and screen.

Her special guest for this episode is renowned comedy producer Janet McLeod, also known as Melbourne's Fairy Godmother of Comedy.

Janet runs Local Laughs, which at 20 years, is the longest running comedy room in Australia with a sole operator/programmer...and one of Taku's fave spots to perform.

ABOUT THE PODCAST

Started in 2017, with more than 100 episodes, 30 guests and 40+ hours of audio content to date, Taku Mbudzi discusses storytelling and writing with her creative collaborators and community. Her previous guests have included film directors, screen producers, authors, actors and of course, comedians.

Subscribe to Two Words with Taku on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music or wherever you find your favourite podcasts.

ABOUT YOUR HOST

Taku Mbudzi is passionate about using humour to inspire others to speak up and out for themselves. She has 17 years’ experience sharing her stories on stages and screens across Australia.

In 2021, she was selected as one of four filmmakers across Australia for The Kaleidoscope Project, a joint ABC and Screen Australia initiative. Her humorous kids' film Gugu naGogo, about a 12-year-old budding astronomer living in a small Australian town, is currently streaming on ABC iview and won an Audience Award at the 2023 New York International Children’s Film Festival.

Beyond screen and audio platforms, Taku's stories have earned her recognition on stage as a two-time State Finalist in the RAW Stand-up Comedy Competition at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, in both Western Australia (2015) and Victoria (2023).

She is also an active participant in The Moth StorySLAM live events in Melbourne, based on New York’s global storytelling sensation, The Moth Radio Hour podcast. She recently performed at The National Theatre in St Kilda as a 2023 Finalist in The Moth’s Melbourne GrandSLAM Storytelling Championship.

ABOUT JANET MCLEOD

With over 25 years' experience producing and programming live shows, Janet's curatorial skills are frequently called upon by organisations and arts festivals across Australia and in the UK including Edinburgh Fringe, Melbourne International Comedy Festival, Glen Eira Storytelling Festival, Soho Theatre, Melbourne Fringe, and Fringe World in Perth.

She has managed over 60 separate projects in her professional career, including long-standing weekly comedy events Planet Comedy and Local Laughs. (Image credit: Alan Moyle — Local Laugh's 20th birthday celebration, June 2023)

An active champion of women in comedy, Janet was one of the originators of Upfront Comedy - now a hallmark event at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival - and has since produced all-women comedy show like Miss (you) and Frockin' Hilarious in Melbourne.

IS THERE REALLY AN OPEN MIC?

Yes! After the conversation and Q&A, there are three 5-minute open mic spots if you want to try standup comedy for the very first time. Simply add your name to the list on arrival, and you'll be in the draw for a spot.

Janet and Taku are both advocates for creating safe spaces and will only give encouraging feedback, if you want it. To ease your nerves, the open mic part of the night won't be recorded.

See you there!

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Please note: this event will not be live-streamed. All recordings will be edited for clarity later, and not all comments or parts of the conversation will be included. The episode will be published in Season 5 of Two Words with Taku, due out later this year.