Comedian Maren May was born and raised in Germany, but she has spent almost all her adult life living in Australia.
What began in 2010 as a six-month backpacking trip after finishing high school has been a 15-year adventure in a new home.
And while she has fallen in love with the Australian way of life – the culture, the beaches, the weather and the people – she said one of the best things about living down under is that her audiences aren’t filled with Germans.
“It sounds like a stereotype, and Germans don’t like it when I say that, but I’ve had Germans in the crowd that really liked me but their faces don’t show that,” May said.
“The Australian approach to going to a comedy night is much nicer, it’s more, ‘I’m going to a comedy night so I’m going to laugh’.
“Germans are more like, I liked the last joke but I don’t like this one, so tell us the next one. It’s a generalisation, of course, but I like it here.”
May comes to Drysdale’s Potato Shed later this month with Women of Wit 2025, a lineup of Australia’s (and Germany’s) best female comedians, including Claire Hooper, Freddie Arthur, Sarah Maree Cameron, comedy legend Denise Scott and local Teagan Stotz.
Women of Wit began in 2018 as a way to give women a safe space to get into comedy, but soon became an annual hit, both as a launchpad for new performers and a showcase of the nation’s funniest women.
May, who was part of Women of Wit last year, said the experience of being part of an all-female lineup was “beautiful”.
“I think it’s sometimes a bit underrated how it does make a difference,” she said.
“Sometimes the lineup might only have two women out of 10, and it’s understandable, the audience has to adjust a little bit. The material will be a little different.
“Lineups like Women of Wit are so important, I’m so excited to be part of it again.”
Women of Wit is at the Potato Shed on Saturday, July 26.
