Effie – Hello, Good Thanks, Better Out Than In
Effie Stephanidis (Maria Coustas) is one of our most loved comedians. The star of Wogs Out Of Work and Acropolis Now is returning to the stage with a show that reflects on the times in which we live and actually brings out the funny side. Is there a funny side in these dark times? Well if we weren’t living it I guess we could certainly appreciate the absurdity of it all. It takes a comedian of Effie’s ilk to bring it home and give us a good belly laugh on those little things that have become the new normal, or, “The New Abnormal” in Effie speak.
The character, Effie, was created by Coustas who describes her as a “love letter to my childhood growing up in Collingwood, Melbourne.” The character is essentially a working class girl who is into being Greek and speaking her truth. She has a big heart, a big ego, big hair and, like everyone else, was shell shocked when lockdown came. She couldn’t get her hair done and had to tease it herself to hide the regrowth. By the time she got to the supermarket all the toilet paper had gone” According to Coustas, she then, consoled herself with legumes and horizontal sex with her husband Shane. Her daughter, Aphrodite, had to be homeschooled but Effie is not scholastic. Disaster! Something we can all relate to.
Hello, Good Thanks, Better Out Than In is a fitting title for this new show which deals with the frustrations of these scary times.
“Comedy is therapeutic and healthy. It’s a way of creating a distance between what pains us and what makes us happy,” said Coustas.
Expect to be a participant too as half the show is improvised and you may be one of its stars.
Apr 24. The Concourse, 409 Victoria Ave, Chatswood. $45+b.f.
May 8-9. The Factory Theatre, 105 Victoria Rd, Marrickville. $45+b.f.
Tickets & Info: www.sydneycomedyfest.com.au
By Renee Lou Dallow
