Monday, April 20, 2015

Michele A’Court launches Stuff I Forgot to Tell My Daughter in dazzling performance


Feminist, comedian and writer Michele A’Court dazzled a capacity audience at the Bruce Mason last week. Her brand of quick-fire, droll, laugh-out-loud sketches had the audience of, mainly women, in stiches. Hosted by the North Shore Libraries Foundation and publisher Harper Collins, Michele A’Court took to the stage after a warm and insightful introduction by her friend, journalist and publisher, Finlay Macdonald.

Adapted from her sell-out, solo comedy show from 2013 and riffing on the theme of her newly published, bestselling memoir, Stuff I Forgot to Tell My Daughter, Michele A’Court entertained the crowd with anecdotes from motherhood – the really, really important stuff like feminism, work and marriage; and the practical, need to know on a daily basis stuff like how to store ginger and stop your tights from snagging. Stuff that, having been liberated from the daily grind when her daughter left home to go flatting , she suddenly found the time she'd never had as a parent – to think about being a parent.

"When I speak at school and university graduations,” says Michele, “I tell other people's kids all kinds of important things about work and life and relationships. And then I'd go home and tell my daughter how to hold her fork properly. So I started making a list. A list of all the things I had forgotten to tell my daughter. Because often we're so busy telling our kids to sit up straight and do their homework we forget to talk to them about the Big Things – social activism, finding your tribe, the power of youth.”

After a lively set that left the audience hungry for more, Michele took questions from the audience and then signed copies of her book. John Graham from Paper Plus was on hand to do the honours all but sold out of copies that he’d brought along to sell.

Named ‘Female Comedian of the Decade’ at the 2010 NZ Comedy Guild Awards, Michele A’Court is a professional stand-up comedian and writer. She is a regular guest on TV and radio, including TV3's award-winning comedy show ‘7 Days’ and Jim Mora’s, ‘The Panel’, on Radio NZ National. 


Report by Sarah Thornton

Thornton Communications Ltd

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