For over ten years, comedian, actor, composer, writer, musician and singer Gillian Cosgriff has been bringing her shows to FRINGEWORLD Perth. When she’s not here, the WAAPA graduate can be found directing award-winning TV, writing rom-coms, performing in musical theatre and collecting comedy awards along the way.
This year is no exception. She’s back in Perth for Fringemas, debuting a brand new show, Life, Oh Life, where she’ll talk and sing about, well, life. Gillian spoke with Magazine 6000 about the new production, her process for creating fresh work and what it’s like to juggle so many creative hats at once.
You’re touring Australia with your new show Life, Oh Life, which explores life and time as concepts. How did the show come into existence?
In the space of the same week I was listening to the 1998 pop masterpiece, “Life,” by Des’ree and also came across the Walt Whitman poem, “O Me! O Life!” for the first time. I’d been thinking a lot about how technology is eroding our humanity, and both Des’ree and Walt made me have a good think about what it means to be alive. Practically, all my shows seem to follow the same process of coming into existence: reading, listening, procrastination, panic, writing, SHOWTIME.
Should I prepare for an existential crisis throughout?
Not unless you’re already having one. If you are mid-crisis though, please come to the show, you make the most interesting audience members. Ideally, you will come away from the show with something to take the edge off any crises!
You use music as a vessel for your comedy. What does your creative process look like when writing songs for your shows?
I used to write songs first and then build a show around them, but in recent years I look at what I want the show to be about, what it has to say, and then work out the song ideas that will best help that structure. In terms of practically writing songs, my voice memos are full of half-ideas for melodies or chords, all with names like, “never gonna first sketch 1,” “wrong timeline v2 draft,” “Fm C Db bridge elevator vibes rough”. Absolute chaos.
As a WAAPA musical theatre graduate, you wear many hats: actor, composer, writer, musician and singer. How do you draw on those skills in your live shows and other projects?
I love all my metaphorical hats. I always wanted to have a career that was varied and interesting, so a big hat collection has been a great asset. When I’m working with other people it helps me to see where they’re coming from, and when I’m working alone it allows me to look at my work from a bunch of different angles.
Looking back on your time at WAAPA, did you feel drawn to comedy back then, or have opportunities to explore it during your training? When did you realise this was something you loved?
When I was at WAAPA I discovered cabaret as an art form. I didn’t really have much experience of cabaret as a genre, and it was the bridge for me between theatre and comedy. I never imagined I’d end up working primarily in comedy, but once I started to make solo work with my own songs it felt more exciting than anything else. Exciting and comfortable and terrifying simultaneously.
What are you most looking forward to about performing Life, Oh Life for the first time?
I always love debuting a show in Perth. I’ve been doing Fringeworld since 2014 and I have audience members who’ve come back every year, which is such a delight to me. This is the third show I’ve made where I have a question for the audience, and I’m really intrigued to hear their answers.
Gillian Cosgriff’s show Life, Oh Life is on at the State Theatre Centre WA, Tuesday 27 January – Sunday 1 February